Allen Craig’s Power and Playing Time
Lance Berkman’s return to from the disabled list is the last thing any Allen Craig owner wanted to hear, but the multi-position eligible power bat should still find enough time to be productive in fantasy leagues.
Currently, Craig is owned in just 61% of Yahoo! leagues, which is borderline criminal at this point. After starting at first base in Berkman’s absence, Craig is now eligible at 1B, 2B, and OF. With Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, and Berkman all being aging veterans, and John Jay being a left-handed hitter, Craig should still find enough time between the corner outfield positions and first base to receive enough plate appearances to remain valuable.
Mike Matheny stated that Jay could sit in favor of Beltran occasionally in order to get Craig’s bat in the lineup, which the Cardinals are certainly going to try to do after Craig has blasted five home runs in his first 10 games off the disabled list. Craig has picked up right where he left off in the October playoffs, which is great for anyone who held onto him as a keeper or played him during his initial return off the disabled list. While it would be nice for both the Cardinal offense and fantasy owners for him to play second base regularly and keep all of their biggest bats in the lineup every day, it seems as though Craig’s second base playing time has left along with the departure of Tony La Russa. Even so, he still maintains positional eligibility at second, and has as much power as any player at the position.
At this point, it is reasonable to expect Craig and Berkman to receive the same amount of playing time going forward, or at least comparable. Berkman will most likely get on base at a higher rate, but the power between the two should be similar going forward. ZiPS has Craig at just 13 home runs going forward and Berkman at 14, though I am probably slightly more bullish on both than ZiPS is. In contrast, Berkman is owned in 91% of Yahoo! leagues, despite the fact that most of their standard fantasy numbers should be similar going forward. Name value is likely the largest driver of the disparity in ownership between the two, so grabbing Craig or trading for him is recommended at this point if he is seen as available.
In 389 career plate appearances, Craig has a .297 average, .241 ISO, and 20 home runs with a nice 6 steals to go along with the incredible power. While the power is solid, this is likely a bit inflated by a relatively small sample size, but he still possesses enough power to be in the upper tier of second base home run totals if given enough playing time. Look for Craig to receive enough plate appearances in the middle of a potent lineup, as he continues to hit for a decent average with tons of power.
Ben has been at RotoGraphs since 2012 and focuses most of his fantasy baseball attention toward dynasty and keeper leagues.
In my ESPN league, players need 10 appearances at a position to attain eligibility for it. Craig, who I own, got nine starts at 1B in Berkman’s absence. I guess he’ll eventually get another, but it bummed me out to see Lance come back, because I’d *love* to play Craig at 1B and bench my current first sacker, some underperforming schlub by the name of “Pujols.”
Who would you rather own in a dynasty league: Craig or Zobrist? I can get Carlos Santana for either of them.
Craig’s handedness is a silly reason to keep him out of the lineup in favor of Jay. If a guy hits, he hits. The only reason to play Jay over him is if Jay is a superb CF.
But Jay is a superb CFer.
Yeah, and it is not just handedness that would cause Craig or another to sit. Beltran would be the centerfielder in those scenarios, and risking further injury to his knees and sacrificing quality of defense are also factors that are included.
I believe the Cardinal’s record thus far can somewhat be attributed to their schedule so far. They’ve played only 7 games out of the rather mediocre NL Central, and while they looked dominant in Arizona, their pitching looked hittable against a very good Braves offense. From vivaelbirdos, “After that, there will be 19 straight games and 37 out of the next 40 games for the Cardinals will come against non-NL Central teams.”
This next stretch of baseball could very well prove the Cardinals as the #1 team in baseball or just a very good team.
@Chris: Craig is 27, while Zobrist is 30. In a dynasty league, age rules. Trade Zobrist. Especially if you can get Santana for him.
I’m getting kind of sick of Craig’s playing time speculation and analysts saying he “should find time.” It’d be absolutely ludicrous to not play this guy everyday. He’s been hitting in the 4-hole since around the 2nd or 3rd game back and he’s absolutely MASHING right now. As in, the hottest hitter in baseball over the last 2 weeks not named Hamilton. With his minor league, short major league, and playoff track record, along with his prime aging, there should be no question about playing time AT ALL.
Smitty,
I agree that there shouldn’t be speculation, but there really is no way other way around it. Who would you sit for Craig to play? Beltran? Holliday? Berkman? None of them are benchable players.
Ideally the Cards go all Dan Uggla with it and force him into 2B, but it does not look like that will happen.
If he keeps on hitting the way he’s been, then Matheny will eventually put him at 2B for more PT.
Exactly, they should give him a look at 2B. I know they want to protect him since he’s coming off knee surgery and mobility may be an issue, but look at the value-add over Schumaker/Greene/etc. at 2B. They should either do that or put Craig permanently in the OF and shift Holliday or Beltran to CF with Jay spelling. However, having Jay out of the everyday lineup is kind of inconceivable since he’s been a .300 hitter for almost 300 career games now so ultimately, I think it makes the most sense to put Craig at 2B and then also get him ABs at 1B and OF when Berkman or Beltran need a blow.
Craig does have a documented injury history though so I think giving him a day off here and there wouldn’t be the worst idea. If anything, I would mix it up day-to-day with Craig being a mainstay, Jay in a super-sub role where he starts most of the time and gets at least 400-450 ABs, and Schumaker/Greene getting spot starts. It’s also a good possibility Berkman and/or Beltran goes on the DL in which case this would kind of work itself out.
Picked up Craig the other day to plug in at 1B. I have Micheal Young there, but I can slide him over to 3B over Lawrie who is not winning any weeks for me. Should I stick with this plan or keep Lawrie at 3B and Young at 1B or a 3rd option would be to drop Craig for Trumbo (who may get even less PT)? Thanks
Given the unpredictability of playing time, would you start him or Adam Dunn?
Interleague soon I think? Craig at DH is a fantasy owners wet dream.
STOP WRITING “GOING FORWARD.” IT MEANS NOTHING
“In 389 career plate appearances, Craig has a .297 average, .241 ISO, and 20 home runs with a nice 6 steals to go along with the incredible power. While the power is solid, this is likely a bit inflated by a relatively small sample size, but he still possesses enough power to be in the upper tier of second base home run totals if given enough playing time. Look for Craig to receive enough plate appearances in the middle of a potent lineup, as he continues to hit for a decent average with tons of power.”
Wow, that was painful to read. I guess we can conclude from that paragraph:
1. Incredible power.
2. Power is solid.
3. Enough power.
4. Tons of power.
So where is he on the power scale? I’m confused. Does he have incredible power? Tons of power? “Solid” power? Or just enough power?
I can’t get enough power, so I’m glad you put it in every sentence. That’s some powerful writing.