Working the Wire: Three Middle Infielders

Written By PCB Scout of www.profantasybaseball.com.

In my introduction I usually try to come up with some crafty way to segue into whatever it is I’ll be writing about in my article. Sometimes it comes easily and other times it’s like Craig Counsel’s batting stance: awkward and painful to look at.

Today, however, I’m totally baffled. See, I’m a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, and well… you know what news broke today. On one hand, the Dodgers will only be without Manny’s services until July 3, which leaves plenty of time to right the ship and win the Division.

On the other hand, what a massive disappointment! Frankly, I’ve never been a huge Manny fan. I can’t stand guys who take games off. I like guys who scrap and play hard every single night.

But it seemed like this was a new Manny; he was playing hard, running hard, crushing the ball, and making every other hitter around him better. I can only hope the Dodgers will still hit without him…I can only hope.

I am terribly flustered. So much so that I have no segue for you, so with that, let’s take a look at three middle infielders you may want to target if your team is in need of help.

Yunel Escobar, Braves: Escobar is in the top four amongst the majors. Shortstops in RBI, BA and OBP. He’s hitting .391 with 5 RBI already this month, and even has an absurd name. Come on, people! What are you waiting for?!

Listen, there’s a good chance your current Shortstop isn’t giving you what Escobar could. There’s also a good chance you’re waiting for Rollins, Reyes, Furcal or Troy Tulo to stop the proverbial “bowel movement in the bed” and start earning his salary. Either way, Escobar is available in 69 percent of ESPN and 51 percent of Yahoo leagues.

Alberto Callaspo, Royals: By now, everyone knows the Royals are off to a hot start. What most have yet to realize, however, is that Callaspo has been a big contributor to their efforts.

Callaspo is hitting .359, making him second best in the majors among Second Basemen. He’s also showing some new power with a home run and 6 RBI in the past week.

Also, Alberto is smoking left-handed pitching like strippers smoke Newports, to the tune of a .457 average. That fact alone makes him a match-ups play at the very least.

I of course don’t expect him to continue at this pace, but he hit .305 in 200+ at-bats last year, and will be getting more than that this year.

So, if your Second Baseman is on the wrong side of the Hudson/Cano region, Callaspo can be had in 86 percent of ESPN and 74 percent of Yahoo leagues.

Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians: Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: Cabrera is not a home run hitter. He’s hit 10 in his short career, and only one this year.

This year’s was a floater that carried over that joke the Yankees are calling their new right field wall.

That being said, Asdrubal has been consistently solid this season. He’s hitting .333 and getting on base at a .416 mark. To top it off, he’s also scored 21 runs, driven in 14 runs and stolen 4 bases.

Those numbers project to over 120 runs scored, 80 driven in, and 23 steals. While he’ll probably see a small downturn on those digits, it’s not unreasonable to expect 100 runs, 20 steals. Cabrera is still available in 37 percent of ESPN and 42 percent of Yahoo leagues.

Questions? Comments? Random nonsense? Email me at: pcbscout(at)gmail.com