Doug James
MLB Tickets – Top Five Fantasy Surprises after a Month
While the most prominent players certainly can carry your fantasy team, it’s often the under-the-radar guys who can get you over the hump and help you win a championship. After a month of the MLB season, here are the five biggest surprises.
5. Vernon Wells, Outfield, Toronto Blue Jays. After a very inconsistent 2009 season, it seemed that Wells was entering the twilight of his career. Well, apparently not. After a month of the season, Wells continues to be one of the top overall producers with a .325 batting average, eight homeruns and 21 RBIs. Wells only had 66 RBIs in 2009; he might top that a week or two after the all-star break in 2010.
4. Paul Konerko, First Base, Chicago White Sox. Konerko is never going to hit for a high average, but who cares? As of May 8th, he was first in the entire league in homeruns with 12 and second in the AL with 25 RBIs. Konerko’s average of .272 is also decent and his on-base percentage is near .400. Konerko hasn’t hit 40 homeruns since 2005, but this certainly is looking like a year he might do it again.
3. Vladimir Guerrero, Designated Hitter, Texas Rangers. In his first year in Texas, it seemed that Vlad would continue his decline that started in Los Angeles with the Angels. Whether he is simply healthy for the first time in a while or he is playing with a chip on his shoulder, Vlad has been one of the top fantasy batters in the league so far. Through May 8th, Bad Vlad had a .340 average, five round-trippers and 23 RBIs. Even if he doesn’t keep this pace up, it seems that Vlad has a little more left in the tank and has a very good chance to end the season with somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 homeruns and 100 to 110 RBIs. Did anyone see that coming?
2. Barry Zito, Starting Pitcher, San Francisco Giants. Left for dead after a couple abhorrent years in San Francisco, Zito has been one of the best starters in baseball. After five starts, Zito had a 5-0 record with an ERA of just 1.49. He’s also striking out batters again at a respectable clip and has a WHIP below 1.00. Considering how low he was drafted in most fantasy leagues, managers who took a risk on Zito to start the season have been awarded for their foresight. Everyone else is just shaking their heads in disbelief.
1. Livan Hernandez, Starting Pitcher, Washington Nationals. Most people probably thought that Hernandez wasn’t even going to be in the league in 2010. Apparently this included the Washington Nationals front office, as they reportedly didn’t even return his phone calls during the offseason. Well, they’re glad they eventually did. After five starts, Hernandez was 4-1 with a ridiculous 0.99 ERA, which included a complete game shutout of the Milwaukee Brewers on April 17th – a team that has two of the premier sluggers in the league in Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun. Who knows how long he can keep this pace up, but right now he’s a must-start in all fantasy leagues.
The best of the rest: Yankee Robinson Cano has always been a good hitter, but nobody was ready for an MVP-caliber year. In that lineup, he can rack up big numbers this season, and already is. Though he doesn’t directly help sell too many <a href=”http://www.stubhub.com/mlb-tickets/”>MLB tickets</a>, Cano’s teammate Brett Gardner has also been a surprising fantasy option for his ability to swipe bags at a very high rate. After a month of the season, he had more points than Hanley Ramirez, Albert Pujols and Derek Jeter in most fantasy leagues. Also showing fantasy potential is shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who had six home runs and 22 RBIs after a month of the season. Gonzalez hasn’t hit even 10 home runs since 2007 and hasn’t reached 70 RBIs since 2004. Starting pitcher Doug Fister of the Mariners has been equally as surprising and sported a 2-1 record, a 1.29 ERA and a .80 WHIP through five starts. You might ask: who is Doug Fister? Exactly.
About the Author
<a href=”http://www.stubhub.com/”>StubHub</a> has sponsored this article, which was written by David James. Stubhub.com is one of the leaders in the business of selling <a href=”http://www.stubhub.com/mlb-tickets/”>MLB tickets</a>, sports tickets, concert tickets, theatre tickets, or even special events tickets.
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