AL Player Spotlight - July 8, 2009

AL Player Profiles - July 8, 2009 1. Jason Bay (OF - Red Sox) - Bay finally broke out of his month-long slump in a big way on Tuesday night, going 2-for-3 with a HR, a double, and 2 stolen bases. It was his first HR since June 23rd (the same day as his last multi-hit game as well) and the first game all season that he stole more than one base in a game. While the June slump made him take a step backward, he is still well on-pace to break his own single-season HR and RBI records (by a decent margin). 2. Alexei Ramirez (SS - White Sox) - After a slow start, the Cuban Missile is back on track with last year's performance. In fact, when all is said and done, I will be shocked if Alexei's numbers don't exceed 2008. In 2008, Ramirez hit .290 with a .790 OPS, .251 BHIPx, 0.62 FPI, 13 SB, and HR/AB of 22.9. This season, he's hitting .276 with a .749 OPS, .257 BHIPx, 0.61 FPI, 12 SB, and a HR/AB of 26.6. Basically, the numbers are the same with him being on pace for more than double the stolen base totals. The key here, as we've mentioned in earlier posts, is the BB/K rate for Alexei. Last year, he only walked 18 times for a rate of 0.295. This year, his plate discipline has really improved, already walking 23 times for a rate of 0.639. If he can keep that up, I'd be shocked if we don't see an overall FPI improvement by the end of the year. 3. Vlad Guerrero (OF - Angels) - With your lineups locking early today (early afternoon games today), you may need to make a quick decision on Vlad's injury status. He left last night's game with a knee injury after stepping awkwardly following a play in the OF. He was replaced by Gary Matthews Jr. Vlad was able to walk off the field on his own, but manager Mike Scioscia indicated he doesn't expect to have Guerrero in the lineup on Wednesday. With the All-Star break looming, managers can sometimes avoid the DL by stringing multiple days of rest together leading up to the three off-days early next week. In the meantime, I'd keep him out of your lineups for today (and the Angels are off tomorrow anyway). 4. Paul Konerko (1B - White Sox) - With three swings of the bat, Konerko's power numbers suddenly became a lot more interesting. After his 3 HR game last night, Konerko now has 16 HR for the year for a rate of 18.3, OPS of .880, and FPI of 0.69. He now has more than half of his season total HR's since June 1st (9 to be exact) and is swinging the bat as well as I've ever seen him (I'm sure there are other hot-streaks in his career, but this ranks up there). Continue to march Konerko into your fantasy lineups when he's this hot. 5. Juan Rivera (OF - Angels) - Juan Rivera doesn't get much fantasy love from the popular press, but his is certainly proving to be a viable OF option this season. He's hitting .317 with 16 HR, OPS of .898, and FPI of 0.72. His HR/AB rate is a solid 17.8 with a decent BB/K of 0.66 to bring his OBP to .360. According to CBS, his fantasy ownership has climbed to about 85%, but that trend has only spiked over the last few weeks (it was as low as 24% dating back to Week 11 - we're currently in Week 14). There are over 100 player news blurbs posted in the member area each morning. Members can read the rest of today's player news by clicking here. Not a member? <a href="http://www.fantistics.com/join/join.php3"> Join today.