Tony Campana - With both Marlon Byrd and Reed Johnson on the DL, someone has to play CF for the Cubs, and that someone is going to be Tony Campana for the near-term. Campana is a small speedster that has raised his average at every stop in the Cubs' system the past three years, and while he has no power whatsoever he did manage to swipe four bags on his birthday yesterday, illustrating the type of speed that he possesses. AVG, R, and SB are as much as you could possibly expect from him, but the exaggerated value of SB in roto means that Campana probably needs to be owned in all of those types of leagues right now, and should likely be started in most until one of the other two CF's returns from injury.
Allen Craig - Craig hit in his fourth straight yesterday, and it looks more and more like the 2B eligibility isn't going to be a fluke...he's actually becoming the starter there slowly. The 26 year old Craig has always hit in the minors, posting a 308/369/517 line during his time in the system, and despite a hugely inflated BABIP thus far in 2011 he should be expected to offer production in both average and power categories. The 4 steals this year are a bit unusual for him, and I wouldn't expect a lot more there, but Craig definitely deserves a look in most formats, as he's gone from a part-timer to a "most-timer" pretty quickly.
Dillon Gee - Gee moved to 5-0 yesterday, holding the Pirates to three runs on four singles and a homer, striking out eight without walking a man. Suddenly, Gee's stats are starting to look quite a bit more solid, beginning with a swinging strike% that has moved north of 10%. Yes, there's a lot of AVG regression likely to be found going forward, but the big K rate jump this year gives a bit more credence to the fact the Gee was able to increase his K rate as he moved from A to AA to AAA in the Mets' system. In my mind, I've upgraded Gee to a spot-start worthy pitcher in two of my three leagues, but not yet roster worthy in the more shallow league.
Charlie Morton - That's four straight quality starts for Morton after yesterday's 6 IP, 3 R (1 ER) performance despite allowing 11 singles. I remain nonplussed with Morton despite a fantastic GB rate, as his BB, K, contact, HR/FB rates, and his BABIP vs. LD rate all scream out for regression and/or poor future performances. Curiously, Morton is throwing almost all fastballs this year (81.3%), yet is allowing less than 18% flyballs. I have no idea what that might mean, but it's unique to be sure. I would certainly look to sell high here on the basis of the peripheral stats.
Nyjer Morgan - The perpetually dismal play of Carlos Gomez looks like it has finally pushed Nyjer Morgan into the primary CF role, or at least the good half of a platoon. We all know what Morgan is capable of at this point: some AVG and SB, with some R thrown in depending on his surroundings. That's about it, but that's enough to justify a pickup in most formats if he's going to be playing 60-75% of the time as it appears.
