Fantasy Baseball Bounceback Players—Middle Infielders

Here’s a look at Middle Infielders who should bounce back from 2008 seasons that didn’t meet their standards.

Derek Jeter

I don’t see a huge jump for Jeter, but I expect him to score 100 runs and collect 200 hits; which is something he didn’t do in ‘08 (88 & 179). His batting average of .300 was below his .316 career mark, and I expect that to increase to around .310. I don’t see much movement for Jeter in HRs, RBI, or SBs.

Rafael Furcal

He only played in 36 games last year, so he will easily surpass his 2008 numbers.  Assuming he stays healthy he should hit around .300 with 100 Runs, 175 Hits, 27 Doubles, 6 Triples, 10 HRs, 60 RBI, and 30 SBs. Furcal hit .357 and was one of the best players in the league in April so don’t expect to get him cheap. 

Édgar Rentería

Rentería is moveing on to his sixth team. Say what you want about him, the guy can hit. Like most Tigers, Rentería had a down year hitting. His .270 average with 69 Runs, 136 Hits, and 22 Doubles was well below what we've come to expect from him. 

He had a mere 55 RBI, but he only had 57 the year before in Atlanta while hitting a career high .332. From 2002-2007 he averaged 90.7 Runs, 173.2 Hits, 37.7 Doubles, and hit .303. I expect he’ll produce somewhere in between last year’s stats and those averages. That would put him at .287, 80 R, 155 H, and 30 Doubles.

Khalil Greene

He’s not much of a hitter, but clearly a move to St. Louis from San Diego has to help the paltry .213, 30 R, 83 H, 15 2B, 10 HR, 35 RBI he produced in 2008.  I don’t expect him to reach his 2007 numbers (89 R, 155 H, 44 2B, 27 HR, 97 RBI), but something more in line with what he did from 2004-2006 when he averaged .257, 58 R, 29 2B, 15 HR, and 63.3 RBI.

Robinson Canó

Canó digressed in 2008 hitting a career low .271. He’s traditionally a slow starter with April (.237) and May (.271) being his worst two months. Though he did hit .307 after the All-Star break, he never quite recovered from the .151 he hit in April.

His average wasn’t the only thing that suffered though. His stats were down across the board. He’s too good of a hitter in too good of an Offense to struggle again next year.  Hopefully the World Baseball Classic well allow him to hit the ground running on Opening Day.  

Freddy Sánchez

After hitting .315 in his first three years with the Pirates, Sánchez saw his average drop to .271. In 2006 & 2007 he averaged 191.5 Hits, 47.5 Doubles, 83 RBI.  Last year he had 154, 26, and 52.

 

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