Fantasy Week in Review, April 12-18

The second week of the baseball season has come and gone and what it is interesting so far about this season is that there hasn’t been a “Superstar Scrub” yet.

A “Superstar Scrub” is a guy that nobody has heard of, has a monster first couple of weeks, and everyone rushes to pick up that player.

Chris Shelton a couple of years ago and Emilio Bonifacio last year are examples of this. So far, everything has been status quo.

Let’s look at what went on in the world of fantasy baseball for the week of April 12–18.

Fantasy Studs

Chase Utley: .333/5/8/.481. Utley has once again established himself as the premier fantasy second baseman in baseball.

Matt Kemp: .333/4/8. For some reason this guy doesn’t seem to get the credit he deserves. I am not sure why, he is really good.

Ty Wigginton: .348/4/10. Yes, former New York Mets great Ty Wigginton is on this list. Hitting was never an issue for him.

Derek Jeter: .500/3/7. Jeter is very quietly off to another solid start. Jeter seems to get better with age.

Shin Soo-Choo: .579/3/11 1 SB. If Kemp was underrated, then Choo is the Babe Ruth of underrated players. All this guy does is put up numbers.

Andruw Jones: .368/3/5. The more Mark Kotsay continues to struggle, the more playing time Jones is going to get. He should be getting regular AB’s pretty soon.

Adam Wainwright: 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 16 Ks in 17 IP. When the St. Louis Cardinals needed him the most, Wainwright really stepped up last night. The kid is a horse.

Matt Garza: 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA and 10 Ks in 16 IP. My sleeper Cy Young candidate is off to a great start. He absolutely owns the Boston Red Sox.

Andy Pettitte: 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 10 Ks in 14 IP. The Andy Pettitte Hall of Fame debate will be a great one. I would still lean towards no, but it is going to be awfully close.

Fernando Rodney: Three saves with zero hits allowed and two Ks in three IP. If Rodney continues to pitch like he did last week, Brian Fuentes may never see his closer job again.

Honorable Mention

Ubaldo Jimenez: 9 IP 0 H 0 R 6 BB 7 Ks. Anytime a guy throws a no-hitter, he has to be on this list, right? From the sixth inning on Saturday night, Jimenez was awesome.

Reasons for Concern

Carlos Lee: Lee is hitting .104 with zero home runs and zero RBI this season. Someone should really tell him the season started two weeks ago. I am just wondering if he is off to an abnormally slow start or is he just done?

Brandon Wood: This was supposed to be Wood’s breakout season, but he has really struggled so far this season. Through 10 games, Wood is hitting .105 with zero home runs and 12 Ks. It’s that type of production that has Wood sitting on the bench recently.

Unless Wood strings along a couple of good games in a row, I don’t see him getting much playing time going forward. I am not sure if the Angels would give up on Wood all together, but he strikes me as a classic change of scenery guy.

Jason Bay: Bay hasn’t homered in 46 ABs this season. Bay’s slow start has gone relatively unnoticed because of the Mets having so many other issues.

But you have to wonder if Bay’s power has been zapped by Citi Field already?

Potential Pickups

Andruw Jones

Fernando Rodney

Ike Davis: The Mets DFA’d Mike Jacobs yesterday opening up the way for Davis in New York.

Carlos Santana: It’s only a matter of time before he gets called up in Cleveland. Pick up this switch-hitting catcher before someone else does—especially in keeper leagues.

Colby Lewis: 2-0 with 13 Ks in 12.1 IP. He is worth a flyer in deep fantasy leagues.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg