The playoffs are here and some owners are already out of it thanks to a few players here who haven’t lived up to the hype. However, there were some early draft picks who are on absolute fire and helping some owners on their way to a fantasy championship. This edition of
MLB Status Check consists of three categories. Each category consists of three players who’s performance of the week best falls into said category. This is the biggest time of the season and owners need every player on their team to give 100%. The lack of production from some key players this week may have ruined the season for many owners.
Lived up to the hype:
Alex Rodriguez (3B - New York Yankees) - A-Rod seems to always be the center of controversy no matter what he does. Just a week ago everyone was complaining about him not producing. It seems people stopped badmouthing him after the week he put up. A-Rod put up some incredible numbers. However, he was also in the spotlight because he was the first player to have a homerun call be reviewed under baseball’s new instant replay rule. He was one of the ones who is the main reason for the rule in the first place, but luckily the umpires made the right call to help out A-Rod owners. This week A-Rod’s numbers were fantastic, a far cry from his last few weeks. Hopefully people finally stop complaining about A-Rod.
11/28, 9 runs, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 0 SB, .393 AVG
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Dustin Pedroia (2B - Boston Red Sox) - I hate to admit it, but Pedroia is the greatest cleanup hitter of all time. Not. To be fair, he has been thriving in that role, but he’s not the best ever, even though some are actually serious when they say that. Yes, some people have already said he’s the best. Pedroia has been having a great season and is in talks for being AL MVP. I don’t know if he’d be as worthy as a guy like Youkilis, but he has been good. Pedroia has surprised many people with his power surge and has been a fantasy goldmine this week. Owners couldn’t have asked for a better time for him to start producing these numbers. This very well could just be a career year for him, but does anyone really care at this point? His numbers have been terrific and he’s helped owners out more than anyone could have expected. Who would have thought Pedroia would be a five-tool player?
18/29, 9 runs, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5 SB, .621 AVG
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Jose Valverde (RP - Houston Astros) - To be fair, Valverde did not look that reliable earlier in the season. There were times in which he gave up a run or two, but he had one game in which he gave up six runs in one game. That game made his ERA rise up over a full run and is the main reason for his high ERA. However, other than that his numbers have been very good lately. In fact, this week his numbers were magnificent. He did everything a closer needed to do. He racked up a ton of saves, a lot of strikeouts, and had a perfect ERA and near perfect WHIP. This is the Valverde that owners believed in when they drafted him. He’s always had talent, but this week he finally showcased it for everyone to see. This is the most important time of the year and he finally came through for owners.
0 wins, 0 losses, 5 saves, 4.2 IP, 7 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.43 WHIP
Failed to live up to the hype:
Prince Fielder (1B - Milwaukee Brewers) - Fielder is loaded with power and is a terrific hitter. He may play horrible defense, but his power is incredible. However, it doesn’t look like he’ll even come close to the 50 homeruns he had last year. Was last year a career year? It’s a bit too early to tell, but he doesn’t look like the same dominant hitter this year, most of the time. He’s shown many flashes of his talent, but he needs to become more consistent. Hopefully he can rebound a bit and at least make a strong push in the next week or so. Fantasy owners deserve at least that much from him.
3/19, 3 runs, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB, .158 AVG
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Jermaine Dye (RF - Chicago White Sox) - Dye has had a rough time lately. His overall season numbers are quite good. I actually thought that he had a chance to be a dark horse in the AL MVP race, but thanks to weeks like this he’s fallen behind others. He’s a very talented player who seems like he always gets better with age. He did struggle this week, but he’s helped the White Sox to a better record than people expected. I personally believe that Dye will rebound in a big way. He seems to do that a lot. He’ll follow a bad week up with a very big one. Fantasy owners may wind up getting a surprise boost from him in this playoff run.
3/16, 3 runs, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, .188 AVG
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Brandon Webb (SP - Arizona Diamondbacks) - Talk about beating a dead horse. By now everyone knows that Webb is a successful pitcher who just doesn’t seem to be able to get over the hump and pickup his 20th win of the season. It may be that the pressure finally got to him because he’s got a lot on his plate. The D-Backs are in a tight race, the other pitchers haven’t been doing as much lately, and the offense isn’t giving the run support they gave earlier in the season. That means that Webb has to single-handedly shutdown the opposing offense and keep his team in position to win the game. They need this game and Webb, being the ace, needs to go into his next game and fight tooth and claw until he finally gets his 20th win.
0 wins, 1 loss, 3.1 IP, 3 K, 16.20 ERA, 3.90 WHIP
Keep an eye:
Cristian Guzman (SS - Washington Nationals) - Guzman was an NL All-Star this season and now it seems like people are finally realizing what he’s been doing this season. The Nationals don’t exactly get much recognition since they aren’t exactly the best team in the league. He set a team record for the most consecutive multi-hit games and has just been having an unbelievable week. Guzman literally did a little bit of everything. He hit for power, he drove in runs, he scored runs, he stole bases, and he had a huge average. This is what fantasy owners need from players at this point in time. Guzman may not have been the biggest name on the NL All-Star team, but he’s a big name this week. Maybe he’s finally opened peoples’ eyes.
16/31, 8 runs, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 2 SB, .516 AVG
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Randy Wolf (SP - Houston Astros) - Wolf is a very intriguing pitcher. He’s got some great stuff, but sometimes he’s a bit too hittable. This week he was completely dominant. However, it may not exactly be the best thing for the Astros as a team. The Astros won’t make the playoffs and the lower the record the better the draft pick they’ll get. Now that the Astros are winning again they’re slowly losing out on an earlier pick. Oh well, this is fantasy baseball and those who own Wolf should be very pleased. There’s a chance Wolf is still available and he may be worth a look right now because he’s a 50/50 type pitcher. He’ll either be really good or really bad, and this week he was really good.
1 win, 0 losses, 1 complete game, 1 shutout, 15 IP, 9 K, 0.60 ERA, 0.80 WHIP
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Frank Francisco (RP - Texas Rangers) - Alert! Pick up Francisco if available! The Rangers handed Francisco the closer role and so far it has made them look brilliant. Since taking over the role he’s saved four straight games and only allowed two total base runners, one of which reached on an error. Francisco has the ability to strikeout a lot of batters and pick up a lot of saves. However, he has been hittable at times, but hopefully he can stay on track and keep putting up solid numbers. He may not be the most reliable closer out there, but he could be worthy of a few saves during the playoffs.
0 wins, 0 losses, 3 saves, 3.1 IP, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.30 WHIP