AL Player Spotlight - August 5, 2009

Gordon Beckham (3B - White Sox) - Gordon Beckham continued his torrid hitting on Monday, going 2-for-4 with a HR and 2 RBI against the Angels. It was his 3rd straight multi-hit game and his 7th in the last 8 games. For the season, Beckham is now hitting .316 with with an .879 OPS, 6 HR, 4 SB, and a batting eye of 0.62. Beckham was considered one of the top prospects in baseball for a reason and hopefully you maintained some patience in his first couple of weeks. He's mostly playing 3B for the White Sox now, but he has valuable SS eligibility as well. His ownership continues to climb, but still is about 75%. If he happens to be available in your league, pull the trigger, even if it just gives you that added roster flexibility on the left side of the infield.

Alexei Ramirez (SS - White Sox) - Ramirez was out for a fifth straight game with that nagging ankle issue (a slight sprain). The White Sox are insisting a trip to the disabled list won't be necessary for Ramirez, so we should see Ramirez back in the lineup at some point this week. In the meantime, Jayson Nix will continue to get playing time at SS, but isn't worth much of a look unless you're in AL-only leagues. Alexei has been slumping lately, dropping his FPI to 0.58 (down from 0.62 last year). His average is now .273 compared to .290 last year, OPS at .727 vs. .792, and AB/HR of 33.0 versus 22.9. The one positive about Ramirez's 2009 that I wrote about a few weeks ago is his continued improvement of plate discipline, posting a BB/K of 0.76 compared to a 0.29 last year. He has also swiped 12 bases, close to equaling his full season total of 13 last year. I continue to take chances with Ramirez and despite some recent slumping, I think we will see a big time hot-streak somewhere in the not-so-distant future if he can return healthy from this ankle sprain.

Johnny Damon (OF - Yankees) - Damon had a rough July, hitting just .235 with 3 HR and 12 RBI. But Damon has bounced back recently, with multi-hit games in 3 of the last four games including a solo HR against Roy Halladay last night. For the season, Damon is having another one of those "Really, Damon has those kind of numbers?" type of seasons. He is posting a 0.71 FPI, down slightly from 0.74 in 2008, but in-line with his 4-year Yankee average of 0.70. His OPS is actually the highest it has been as a Yankee at 0.865 and his AB/HR of 20.7 is also the best in his four years. The 35 year old shows his age at times, needing the occasional day off due to general soreness, but Damon's value should not be undervalued. The new stadium seems to be helping Damon's power numbers and the July slump is over.

Brian Matusz (SP - Orioles) - The fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft made his major league debut for the Orioles on Tuesday night, going 5.0 IP while giving up 6 hits, 1 ER, and 3 BB while striking out 5 against the Tigers. He earned the win. There's no doubt that Matusz should already be on rosters in keeper leagues, but he also showed last night that he has the stuff to instantly compete at the big league level. Before being called up, Matusz was 11-2 in the minors with a 1.91 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 9.64 K/9 and a K/BB of 3.8. As it goes in fantasy, if you want to take a flier on a rookie, you have to act quickly. Matusz will likely garner a lot of attention after last night's solid outing. You may get away with one more start (his next one comes on the 9th against the Blue Jays), but his ownership should see some huge spikes in the coming week.

Joe Mauer (C - Twins) - Mauer is still 2nd in the AL as he fights with Ichiro in the 2-man race for the AL batting title, but 3 doubles in last night's game raises his average to .359 (Ichiro is at .364). Mauer already has 2 batting titles to his name and we could see his 3rd batting title in the last four years. As a catcher, to win 3 batting titles while in the same league as guys like Ichiro is an unbelievable feat. Winning just one batting title as a catcher is pretty incredible. The key to Mauer's fantasy performance this year is obviously his power. He has shattered his personal-best HR total with 18 (and counting) while posting an OPS of 1.018 (another personal best from his .939 and .936 in 2004 and 2006). I know we try to minimize the value of batting average in statistical circles and Brian McCann's power probably makes him more valuable from a fantasy standpoint, but flirting with 3 batting titles as a catcher will be a hot topic if he can carry this into September.

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