Mathis hits the DL

Angels’ catcher Jeff Mathis will miss the next six to eight weeks with a broken wrist, bringing joy to all of you Mike Napoli owners out there. I wrote about Mike Scioscia’s inexplicable and continued loyalty to Mathis last week, advising you to just hold tight to Napoli and wait for a switch to be made or an injury to occur. Well, the injury has occurred.

Napoli’s only competition for playing time now is Bobby Wilson, who was only on the roster as the third catcher because he’s out of the options and the team doesn’t want to lose him to waivers. Hard to blame them. The 27-year-old Wilson has appeared in one game and has gotten just one plate appearance this year, though he has a reputation of being a solid defensive catcher. Never underestimate the power of Nichols’ Law, so don’t be surprised that the less Wilson hits, the more he plays because of his defense.

For you Napoli owners, you’ve finally got a chance to enjoy into some of that power. He started behind the dish tonight, but he’s batting ninth, so the RBI opportunities might be a little scarce at the outset. A homerun is a homerun though, and homeruns from catchers in fantasy is always a boost. Napoli is still available in 45% of Yahoo! leagues, so run out and grab him if you need an upgrade behind the plate.