Archive for First Base

Pittsburgh Pirates placed 1B Steve Pearce (ankle) on the DL; recalled UTIL Neil Walker from Triple-A Indianapolis.

The ankle injury is a tough break for Pearce, as the 27-year-old was beginning to get some big league playing time with Jeff Clement (.235 wOBA) flailing at the plate. Still, Pearce is basically a first base-only player who likely doesn’t have the bat to hold the position. The Pirates experimented with him in the outfield, but the 5-11, 200 pounder doesn’t cover much ground. The former South Carolina Gamecock owns a career .281/.354/.482 triple-slash at the Triple-A level, and his ZiPS projection (.269/.336/.455, .345 wOBA) is a little light for first base. He’s the new Chris Shelton.

Walker, meanwhile, is trying to revive his prospect status after all but falling off the map. The 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft began his career as a catcher, but was shifted to third base prior to the 2007 season. The 6-3, 215 pound switch-hitter turned in modestly productive offensive numbers in A-Ball, given that he was behind the dish at that point:

Low-A South Atlantic League (2005): .301/.332/.452, 3.9 BB%, 15.7 K%, .151 ISO
High-A Carolina League (2005-2006): .281/.331/.402, 5.6 BB%, 17.3 K%, .121 ISO

Baseball America ranked Walker as the #81 prospect in the game prior to 2005, #43 before 2006 and #74 leading up to the 2007 season. Before ’07, BA said that Walker’s power was muted in 2006 by a surgically repaired left wrist, but claimed he had “the potential to hit 30 home runs a season.” They did caution that he lack of patience could become an issue in the upper levels of the minors, and that Walker’s D behind the dish was a work in progress. “The Pirates might get more long-term production out of him,” BA said, “by shifting him to another position, and he has the athleticism to handle third base or the outfield.”

In ’07, the Bucs did move Walker to the hot corner, and he batted .277/.349/.434 in a season spent mostly at Double-A Altoona. His power improved somewhat (.157 ISO), and happily, he stopped hacking so much. Walker walked in 9.8 percent of his plate appearances, whiffing 17.4 percent. Baseball America again named him a top 100 prospect, placing him at #61 before the 2008 season.

The next two years of Walker’s career wouldn’t be nearly as sunny. At Triple-A Indianapolis, he batted .242/.280/.414 in 2008 and .264/.311/.480 in 2009. Walker popped some extra-base hits, with a .172 ISO in ’08 and a .216 ISO in ’09, but his plate approach was lousy. He drew ball four just 5.3% and struck out 20.2% in ’08. In ’09, he walked 6.7% and K’d 15.4%. Walker also missed time last year with a sprained knee and a broken pinky. The Pittsburgh native made his big league debut last September, but it was with considerably lower expectations than when the Pirates called his name back in 2004.

Prior to 2010, BA ranked the perennial top-100 prospect as just the 26th-best farm talent in Pittsburgh’s system. His scouting report was blunt: “he undermines his offensive potential by lacking plate discipline…Walker has expressed a willingness to become a super-utility player.” That, said BA, “may be his ticket to having a big league career of any length.”

With Indy this season, Walker has roamed around the diamond. He has logged time at first, second and third base, while also manning left field. He put up a .321/.392/.560 line in 189 PA. A .360+ BABIP certainly helped, but Walker posted a .239 ISO, walked 10.1 percent of the time and whiffed 18.5 percent.

ZiPS projects Walker to bat .259/.304/.439, with a .325 wOBA. His future in Pittsburgh remains hazy, though — Pedro Alvarez is going to man one of the infield corners in short order. And While Andy LaRoche will never be a star-caliber talent, he did post a 2.6 WAR season in 2009. If Alvarez takes over at third, LaRoche could be shifted to second base. Should Pedro play first, Walker could enter the picture at the keystone spot. The outfield corners are a possibility as well.

For now, Walker will get a little PT at third while LaRoche rests his achy back. Walker, 24, is no longer a top prospect. However, his position versatility and power make him a good bet to at least have a long career as a super-utility type.

Heading into 2010, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were a prime pick to come back to the pack in baseball’s short stack division. CHONE forecasted an 81-81 record, while PECOTA called for 74 victories and 88 defeats. So far, the Halos have limped to an 18-23 start, with a -36 run differential. Per Baseball Prospectus’ playoff odds, Mike Scioscia’s team has a nine percent chance of returning to the postseason.

During a 97-win 2009 season, L.A. received unexpectedly strong offensive performances from several hitters. The club raked to the tune of +91.7 park-adjusted Batting Runs, trailing only AL east juggernauts Boston and New York among all major league clubs. This year? The Angels have tallied -14 Batting Runs (10th in the AL).

While he hasn’t scuffled to the same extent as Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick or Juan Rivera among returning starters (to say nothing of Brandon Wood’s disastrous beginning as an everyday player), first baseman Kendry Morales isn’t mashing like he did in ’09 either.

The switch-hitting Cuban didn’t make a great impression in three major league cups of coffee from 2006-2008 (a combined .303 wOBA in 407 plate appearances). He hit well at Triple-A over that time frame (.335/.374/.518), but that line lost some of its appeal given the cozy environs of Salt Lake:

Morales’ Major League Equivalent Lines, 2006-2008 (from Minor League Splits)

2006: .261/.289/.410
2007: .278/.318/.383
2008: .276/.303/.427

Prior to 2009, CHONE projected Morales for a .327 wOBA. ZiPS was similarly unimpressed, forecasting a .325 wOBA. Not exactly stellar numbers for a player given the gargantuan task of replacing another switch-hitter who left L.A. to break the bank with the Bronx Bombers.

Instead, Morales crushed pitchers for a .306/.355/.569 triple-slash and a .382 wOBA. Though he was a free swinger (32.3 outside swing percentage, 7.4 BB%), Morales made up for it by popping 34 home runs and posting a .263 Isolated Power.

Both CHONE and ZiPS figured that Morales would regress in 2010, calling for identical .353 wOBA forecasts. However, the 26-year-old has fallen below those expectations, as his current .277/.323/.471 line equates to a .341 wOBA. His ISO is .194.

The biggest reason for Morales’ power decline is an increase in ground balls hit. In 2009, he hit grounders at a 42 percent clip and hit fly balls 41.1 percent. This year, Morales has chopped the ball into the grass 52.2 percent, while lofting pitches just 29.1 percent. Good things continue to happen when Morales hits a fly ball–his home run/fly ball rate is 23.1 percent this season, higher than last year’s 18.1 HR/FB%–he’s just not hitting as many of them.

Worm burners are death to power numbers–for example, ground balls hit in the AL in 2010 have a .232 slugging percentage, compared to .580 for fly balls. During his career, Morales has a .261 slugging percentage on grounders and an .827 slugging percentage on fly balls.

Moving forward, Morales should show some improvement. His BABIP this year is just .272, compared to a career .297 BABIP. For the rest of 2010, ZiPS projects a .285/.331/.479 performance (.352 wOBA). That’s semi-useful, but anyone expecting Morales to suddenly mash like he did last year will likely be disappointed. He’s a good hitter, but that ’09 line looks like an outlier.

The month of April was far from kind to the one they call Big Papi. He managed just a Melkyian .233 wOBA with far more strikeouts (21) than times on base (15) during the season’s first month, and all hope looked lost. As a 34-year-old DH doing this for the second time in as many seasons, baseball fans dug in with their forks and considered him done. The .390 wOBA and 27 homers he put up after June 5th last year were considered his last hurrah.

But then something strange happened. The calender turned to May, and all of a sudden Ortiz started hitting again. Quite literally too, he hit two homers on May 1st and hasn’t looked back since. In 46 plate appearances this month, he’s sporting a .477 wOBA with six homers and 14 RBI, all three of which rank among the ten best in the game during that time. Papi’s back, right? Errr, maybe.

Ortiz’ May resurgence isn’t without luck. His .417 BABIP is completely unsustainable, especially for a guy whose speed is measured on the Molina scale. More than 37% of his fly balls are leaving the park this month, and that’s sure to come down. Even in his heyday fewer than one-fourth of his fly balls were landing in the people. He’s also hitting more balls in the air in general, 53.3% compared to his career mark of 45.5%. These will all regress at some point.

The one thing Ortiz has done better this month than last is pull the ball. Courtesy of the great TexasLeaguers.com, here’s his spray chart for April and May…

Right away you can see that Papi’s hooked way more balls into rightfield in May than he did in April. As Jack showed before the season, when you pull the ball, you’re going to hit for more power. It’s that simple. Whether being able to pull the ball has stemmed from Ortiz regaining some of that lost bat speed or just cheating like crazy on fastballs is a question for people far smarter than I. Either way, it’s a good sign for Sox fans and fantasy owners alike.

The Red Sox have a .350 team OBP and some really, really good hitters at the top of their lineup, so the RBI opportunities will be there for Ortiz. ZiPS rest of the season projections call for a .378 wOBA with 22 homers and 54 RBI, which seems a tad optimistic on the surface. Even if he settles in as a .355ish wOBA hitter with 17% HR/FB or so the rest of the way, he’s definitely worth a roster spot. That’s basically Luke Scott circa 2009, just with more men on base in front of him.

Ortiz has managed to retain 1B eligibility in Yahoo! leagues despite playing a grand total of 39 innings at the position over the last two seasons. Don’t ask me. I don’t make the rules, I just benefit from them. He’s owned in 33% of leagues, and that rate has steadily climbed over the last two weeks or so. Ortiz isn’t going to maintain his torrid May pace over the rest of the season, but he’s showing signs of life and is rebuilding some fantasy value. If you’re in an AL-only or a particularly deep mixed league, chances are he’s an upgrade over whoever you’re currently stashing in the UTIL spot or on your bench. Just make sure you keep him glued to the bench against southpaws.

Aloha, America! Another week means another look at the first base rankings. Just like last week, wOBA numbers are listed as “(Current, ZiPS Updated).”

The Machine
Albert Pujols (.403, .452)

Only a 14.3% HR/FB rate for Albert. Going to have to work for a 40-HR season, according to ZiPS.

Big Ballerz
Miguel Cabrera (.449, .419)
Mark Teixeira (.341, .369)
Ryan Howard (.347, .387)
Prince Fielder (.368, .395)

Teix and Howard switch spots, but this group stays intact.

Not Quite Elite
Joey Votto (.392, .388)
Adrian Gonzalez (.346, .375)
Justin Morneau (.486, .421)
Kevin Youkilis (.430, .405)

If Gonzalez could get his O-Swing% back down to his 2009 rate (22.7% vs. 29.6% in 2010), that would be swell. Youkilis has the lowest K% of his career, and his HR/FB% is down to his career average. However, he has been 4%-6% above his current career average the past two years, so he may see a couple extra HR’s as the year progresses. Morneau has a .486 wOBA! Holy crap.

Pure…Unadulterated…Power
Kendry Morales (.342, .352)
Adam Dunn (.400, .400)
Paul Konerko (.425, .386)

ZiPS says Konerko is on a 34 HR pace, which would be the most since he hit 35 in 2006.

Writers Block
Billy Butler (.375, .368)
Adam LaRoche (.353, .375)
Carlos Pena (.292, .356)
James Loney (.361, .357)

LaRoche has an increased FB rate, and a decreased HR/FB%. Could we see more power later on in the year?

Switch Hitting Brigade
Derrek Lee (.318, .355)
Garrett Jones (.354, .360)
Justin Smoak (.319, .327)
Lance Berkman (.357, .388)
Nick Swisher (.399, .370)

Smoak may not be putting up great wOBA or batting average numbers quite yet, but what are the odds he has a .186 BABIP with a 23.8 LD% for the rest of the year? Also, Derrek Lee falls all the way from 12 to 17. I think I’ve given him a fair shot to put up numbers, but he isn’t producing this year. On a kinder note, Swisher debuts at #22. Before the season began, I would have thought you were crazy to suggest Nick Swisher would be on this list. Now, it’s reality.

The Rest of ‘Em
Luke Scott (.349, .354)
Todd Helton (.315, .353)
David Ortiz (.326, .366)
Ike Davis (.360, .303)

Making his debut this week is the one, the only, Ike Davis. Also noteworthy is Helton moving from 20 to 23, and he may be done as a fantasy producer in non-OBP leagues.

Coors Field aside, Rockies first baseman Todd Helton has been an offensive force in his own right. Colorado’s first-round pick in the 1995 draft has a career 142 wRC+, meaning his park and league-adjusted weighted on-base average is 42 percent better than the league average. Possessing zen-like plate discipline and plus power, Helton has been a fixture in the Rockies’ lineup for 14 years.

A back injury sapped Helton’s bat and ended his season early in 2008 (105 wRC+, with a .124 ISO), but he rebounded in 2009 to produce a quality 135 wRC+. While no longer a massive power threat, Helton’s ISO rebounded to .164. Heading into 2010, CHONE and ZiPS expected some decline for the 36-year-old. The FANS were more optimistic:

CHONE: 125 wRC+, .146 ISO
ZiPS: 132 wRC+, .151 ISO
FANS: 140 wRC+, .167 ISO

Helton is still drawing plenty of free passes this season, walking in 15.9 percent of his plate appearances and swinging at just 18 percent of pitches thrown outside of the strike zone (27.4% MLB average in 2010). But his power output has dried up like a banquet beer in the blazing sun.

Among big league hitters with at least 100 PA, Helton’s .036 ISO ranks ahead of only Cesar Izturis (.021) and Juan Pierre (.007). Entering play Monday, Helton has yet to hit a single home run. Even with his on-base chops, Helton’s bat has been 15 percent worse than the MLB average in 2010 (85 wRC+).

Nothing much has changed with his batted ball distribution. Helton’s hitting line drives 27.5 percent of the time (25.3% average since 2002), ground balls 35.2 percent (35.7% since ’02) and fly balls 37.4 percent (39.1% since ’02). However, the lefty batter is pulling the ball less and hitting more to the opposite field, an approach that generally leads to less pop. Here are Helton’s spray numbers this year compared to 2009 (from Baseball-Reference):

sOPS+ is a stat that compares a batter’s park-adjusted performance in a given split to that of the league average. An sOPS+ of 100 is average, while an sOPS+ above 100 means the hitter is better than the league average.

In ’09, Helton was excellent when he pulled the ball, besting the league average by 43 percent. He also did pretty well when hitting to the middle and opposite fields. This year, his pull percentage is down, and he has been nine percent worse than the league average when he hits the ball to right field. Note the big increase in pitches hit to the opposite field, 17.2% in ’09 to 27.8% in 2010, and his abysmal performance when going oppo (40 sOPS+).

According to our Pitch Type Run Values, Helton has typically slammed fastballs (+1.50 runs per 100 pitches seen since 2002). But in 2010, he’s at -0.44 runs per 100 when he gets challenged with a heater.

It’s dangerous to draw bold conclusions from a month and a half of games. But Helton’s mild performance when pulling the ball, increased percentage of pitches hit to the opposite field and problems against fastballs paint the picture of a player whose bat has slowed. Helton likely won’t continue to “compete” with Izturis and Pierre for the title of least powerful hitter in the majors –his rest-of-season ZiPS calls for a .284/.394/.417 line with a .132 ISO–but his days of cracking lots of extra-base hits are over.

Here are two hitters with single-digit ownership rates who deserve more attention…

Gaby Sanchez, Marlins (owned in 5% of Yahoo Leagues)

A 2005 fourth-round pick out of the University of Miami, Sanchez is keeping first base warm for top prospect Logan Morrison. However, Morrison’s ascent has been temporarily slowed by a right shoulder injury, and Sanchez is performing well.

Owning a career .302/.392/.485 line in the minors, the 26-year-old righty batter is hitting .283/.362/.469 in 127 plate appearances, with a .365 wOBA. Known for a discerning eye that allowed him to walk in 12 percent of his PA on the farm, Sanchez has actually swung at a good deal of pitches out of the zone this season (32.8%, compared to the 27.3% MLB average in 2010). He still has a solid 10.2 BB%, though, and he’s showing more power than expected with a .186 ISO.

There’s not a ton of upside here: Sanchez is a mid-twenties prospect with mid-range pop at a position where players are supposed to mash. But he’s not a bad option in NL-only leagues.

Luke Scott, Orioles (7%)

Even after popping home runs against the Mariners on May 12 and May 13, Scott’s .232/.290/.475 triple-slash looks weak. However, the 31-year-old has gotten hosed on balls put in play. His BABIP sits at .246, compared to a career .295 mark.

Granted, Scott is venturing out of the strike zone more than he usually does. His outside swing percentage, 23.4 for his career, is 31.7 percent in 2010. That explains his career-low 7.5 percent walk rate. But in more than 1,900 career plate appearances with the Astros and O’s, Scott has taken a free pass 10.9 percent while batting .262/.346/.493 (.358 wOBA). It seems unlikely that he suddenly caught Francoeur-itis.

Scott’s rest-of-season ZiPS projection is .252/.335/.478, with a .356 wOBA. Given his multi-position eligibility (outfield and first base), he’s worth a roster spot in AL-only formats.

Back after a week lost to illness, here are your first base rankings. wOBA numbers are listed as “(Current, ZiPS Updated)”. If the wOBA numbers are a couple of points off, don’t sweat it, because it’s just me writing these things up ahead of time.

The Machine
Albert Pujols (.407, .455)

Albert’s OPS is below 1.000. I’m shocked.

Big Ballerz
Miguel Cabrera (.460, .420)
Ryan Howard (.336, .385)
Mark Teixeira (.331, .366)
Prince Fielder (.346, .389)

Cabrera holds strong at number two, with Teixeira overtaking Fielder for the number four spot. It wasn’t his power surge in Boston that did it. Just kidding, it was his power surge in Boston.

Not Quite Elite
Adrian Gonzalez (.369, .379)
Joey Votto (.424, .398)
Kevin Youkilis (.425, .399)

Am I the only one who thinks Youkilis could hit way more homers if he wanted to? Also, Joey Votto is really good.

A Cuban, A Canadian, and a Fat Guy
Justin Morneau (.466, .412)
Kendry Morales (.354, .356)
Adam Dunn (.393, .396)
Derrek Lee (.304, .355)
Paul Konerko (.455, .393)

This group keeps on growing. Adam Dunn jumps up two spots, and Konerko continues his ascent back into fantasy relevance.

Writers Block
Carlos Pena (.295, .357)
Billy Butler (.364, .365)
Adam LaRoche (.371, .380)
James Loney (.337, .350)

Remember, folks, Billy Butler is only 24 years old. It doesn’t look like it will be this year, but his power will continue to develop and he will be freakin’ awesome.

Two Men and a Baby
Garrett Jones (.348, .359)
Justin Smoak (.314, .327)*
Todd Helton (.306, .354)
Lance Berkman (.288, .375)

Smoak does not have a ZiPS Update, so his number is simply his ZiPS projection. I like what he’s doing thus far, and yes, I’d rather have him than Helton or Berkman going forward.

The Rest of ‘Em
Daric Barton (.371, .360)
Luke Scott (.282, .333)
Russell Branyan (.263, .336)
David Ortiz (.291, .358)

Branyan is yet to hit a dinger this year, and Big Papi is showing little signs of life once and awhile. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very close to done, but he might have one decent year left in him. At least, that’s what the Red Sox are hoping.

It probably came a year or two too late, but the Royals have finally called up Kila Ka’aihue, as he takes the place of the injured Rick Ankiel. Better late than never, I guess. The 26-year-old first baseman turned into a bit of a cult hero in recent years, thanks to his ability to completely annihilate minor league pitching while not getting anything more than a cup of coffee in the show.

After posting an ungodly .463 wOBA with 37 homers in 515 plate appearances split between Double and Triple-A in 2008, the Kila Monster dropped down to “just” a .368 wOBA and 17 homers in Triple-A last year. He lost 144 points off his ISO, but his BB% and K% went largely unchanged, as did his batted ball rates according to minorleaguesplits.com. For whatever reason, the power just took a bit of a vacation.

Thankfully, it’s returned this year. Ka’aihue is hitting .304/.466/.620 (.455 wOBA) with seven dingers in 23 Triple-A games (yes, it’s obviously a small sample), and he continues to walk more than he strikes out (230 BB, 169 K dating back to ’08). I’m a sucker for guys that take ball four more often than strike three, but that bias isn’t why I’m recommending Ka’aihue for your fantasy team.

He doesn’t have the big name recognition of say, Ike Davis, but the lefty swinging Royal doesn’t have the massive platoon split either (.821 OPS vs. LHP in the minors, .881 vs. RHP). He might not have the defensive value and long-term outlook of Justin Smoak, but he’s a bit older and his power is more present than projected. Ka’aihue is strictly a 1B, so something’s going to have to give with Billy Butler and Jose Guillen if he’s to get regular playing time. My guess is that Butler stays at first, Guillen goes to the outfield while Ankiel’s injured, and Kila DH’s.

He’s available in basically all Yahoo! leagues (except mine! bwahaha), and if you’re looking for a little boost from the 1B or UTIL spots, here’s your guy. That goes double if you’re in a deep mixed or AL-only league. If you hurry, you should be able to grab him in time for Wednesday’s game.

I’ll do one shallow league guy just because he’s heating up and I’ve seen him on some wires, but then it’s back to the deep leagues of course. This triptych of ineptitude may leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, but there’s utility here despite their warts.

Nate McLouth | OF | Braves (50% owned)
It’s a mixed bag with McLouth, who was already behind the eight ball in leagues that count batting average. Since swing rates stabilize first, we’ll take a look there – and find the numbers going in different directions. Overall, he’s swinging a lot less this year (34.7%) than in his career overall (40.1%), but it’s hard to say that’s a negative right off the bat. Swinging less could, for example, lead to more selectivity and more walks. Accordingly, McLouth is reaching less (20.4%) than he has in his career (21.2%), and walking at a career high rate (14.3%). And that’s good. What’s bad is that his contact rate is down (81.3% this year, 85.4% career). In any case, more contextual clues lead to some hope. A week ago, McLouth had been dropped to 8th in the order and wasn’t playing against lefties. Though 478 at-bats against lefties is hardly an opus, his .702 OPS against lefties is close to a disasterpiece. Count it as hope that McLouth has been moved back to leadoff against righties, and you’ll get yourself a lifetime .818 OPS hitter against that hand. As long as you have daily lineups, and can wait for righties, he’s a good pickup.

Delmon Young | OF | Twins (15% owned)
Yes, I know. Hold your nose. Young is not the dynamic star that was once prognosticated for him. He’s very flawed. He doesn’t have much power. But this isn’t to say that he hasn’t improved. In fact, his swing profile includes some improvement in virtually every category. For such a wild swinger, swinging less has to be a positive – and Young is swinging less (54.7% this year, 61.2% career). He’s reaching at a career-low rate (36.8%), and this improvement is particularly informative because it’s part of a trend. He’s improved his reach rate in every season in the bigs. The best news is that his contact rate is up big (79.9% this year, 75.3% career) at the same time. He still swings at bad pitches too often, and his power is just barely above average, but there’s a good chance that he retains the gains he’s made in the early going. Though it’s not yet significant, it’s nice to note that he’s sporting a career high in flyball rate right now, and a .290/20/10 season is not out of reach. The hardest part will be following the lineups to make sure he’s playing.

Steve Pearce | 1B | Pittsburgh (0% owned)
Is another major league team about to give up on Jeff Clement? When is a good time to cut your losses and give up on a player? Did the Pirates already give up on Pearce before Clement? These are all good questions that won’t be answered here. Instead, we’ll just report that Pearce was recalled today and is on the major league roster. Though he’s shown a platoon split in the major leagues (.920 OPS versus lefties, .607 vs righties), those have come in a mere 378 plate appearances total. The same split is not as pronounced in the minors (.929 vs lefties, .871 vs righties) and virtually disappeared in his hot 2010 start (.353/.456/.612 overall). Maybe he’ll get some starts at first base against lefties, or maybe he’ll steal some time from the scuffling Lastings Milledge. It’s worth stowing a guy with a .889 career minor league OPS in about 2000 at-bats, especially when he’s just turned 27 and has a fire under his behind.

Ownership rates courtesy Yahoo Fantasy Sports.

Last week of using FANS wOBA projections. Promise.

The Machine
Albert Pujols (.442 wOBA)

I was going to work in an Edward Norton reference and a “Albert is good” tidbit, but I just don’t have the energy or creative juices to do such a thing.

Big Ballerz
Miguel Cabrera (.404)
Ryan Howard (.388)
Prince Fielder (.408)
Mark Teixeira (.405)

Cabrera moves above Howard to claim the second spot on this list. I am positive that this will ruin Howard’s week.

Not Quite Elite
Adrian Gonzalez (.395)
Joey Votto (.399)
Kevin Youkilis (.401)

After asking the masses how to order these three, I decided this was the best option for this week. Youk is great in OPS leagues, but the other two will provide more traditional fantasy numbers for their owners.

A Cuban, A Canadian, and a Fat Guy
Justin Morneau (.377)
Kendry Morales (.362)
Derek Lee (.381)
Carlos Pena (.381)
Adam Dunn (.385)

Pena surpasses Dunn this go around, but I’m not sure if it will stick. This internalized debate went down to the 25th hour, but I decided on Pena. Thoughts?

Writers Block
Paul Konerko (.350)
Billy Butler (.379)
James Loney (.344)
Adam LaRoche (.351)
Garrett Jones (.347)

Paul Konerko still has some juice left in his batteries, eh? LaRoche looks to be coming around earlier than I thought he would, which is a blessing for the Diamondbacks. Jones needs to put up some more power numbers in the next couple of weeks to keep himself at an ownable level.

Two Men and a Baby
Todd Helton (.386)
Lance Berkman (.396)
Justin Smoak (.325, CHONE)

If you’re in a non-keeper league, Smoak isn’t worth a look this year. Keeper leagues are another story, however, and I picked him up once the announcement was made.

The Rest of ‘Em
Luke Scott (.346)
Daric Barton (.350)
Russell Branyan (.359)
David Ortiz (.362)

Falling off of the list are Chris Davis and Nick Johnson. I know that you’re wondering why Papi stays and Johnson goes, right? Papi at least has some power potential going forward this year, something Johnson has none of. In OBP leagues, Johnson is the no-brainer choice, but otherwise Papi is probably a better option.