Baseball season's fourth week came and went with several surprises and some solid performances. Here are the fantasy studs, the players who have me concerned, and the potential pickups from the week of April 26th – May 2nd.
Fantasy Studs
Paul Konerko: .389/4/8/.538. Konerko quietly leads the majors in home runs. Konerko, usually forgotten on draft day, is good for 20 plus home runs every year.
Robinson Cano: .417/4/5/.462. Cano has been a machine this year. If his head is on straight all season, he will be an MVP candidate.
Kosuke Fukudome: .476/3/8/.633. It seems every April, Fukudome starts out on fire and then fades as the season moves on. Take advantage of him now.
Carlos Gonzalez: .417/2/10 with three stolen bases. This year’s fantasy man crush is off to a great start, proving he is no Chris Davis.
David Freese: .440/2/10 with one stolen base. If Freese continues to hit like he did last week, Felipe Lopez won’t see the light of day at third for the Cardinals.
Francisco Liriano: 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 19 K’s in 15 IP. Liriano has been a joy to watch this season. He is throwing strikes consistently and looks like a serious Cy Young candidate.
Josh Johnson: 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 20 K’s in 15 IP. I have always been a fan of Johnson’s and if Roy Halladay wasn’t traded to the National League, Johnson would have been my NL Cy Young pick.
Yovani Gallardo: 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA and 15 K’s in 13 IP. Walks are Gallardo's lone weakness. Once he tames his control — watch out.
Chris Carpenter: 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 12 K’s in 13 IP. After giving up five home runs in his first two starts, Carpenter hasn’t allowed a long ball in his last four outings.
Heath Bell: Three saves with a 0.00 ERA and nine K’s in four IP. Bell is averaging 14.40 K’s/9 this year. He has established himself as a premier closer.
Reasons for Concern
Alex Gordon: Gordon was hitting .194 with one home run in 31 AB’s before being sent down to Triple A yesterday. I have lost all faith in Gordon as a franchise type player for the Royals.
I see him being a mediocre player for Kansas City. The Royals will cut ties with him, then he will go to a team like the Red Sox and hit .320.
Joe Mauer: Mauer is week-to-week with a bruised heel. His injury is not overly concerning but anytime the best catcher in the game goes down, it’s worth noting.
Nate McLouth: Since coming over to the Atlanta Braves from the Pittsburgh Pirates, McLouth really has done little. He is hitting .172 with a .299 OBP.
His job is safe, but he is no longer an impact fantasy player and should not be in your regular lineup.
Cameron Maybin: Perhaps Maybin will never be the player everyone thought he would become. He is hitting .247 with a .311 OBP and has 32 K’s in 97 AB’s.
I have Maybin on my fantasy team and I have watched him quite a bit this year. He has zero approach at the plate and apparently goes up there without a game plan.
You have to wonder how much longer the Marlins are going to stick with him.
Potential Pickups
Wilson Ramos: If Mauer is out for an extended period of time, Ramos will get the majority of starts behind the plate for the Minnesota Twins. Ramos went 4-for-5 in his major league debut yesterday against the Cleveland Indians.
Mike Stanton: Stanton is hitting .346 with 11 home runs and a .495 OBP in 22 games in Double A this year for the Marlins. The Marlins won’t be able to hold him down in the minors for too much longer, so pick him up before someone else does in your league.
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