Hump Day Look See: 5/27/09

It’s time again for the hump day look see, a random collection of stats and thoughts to help get you through your fantasy week. the look see will appear every Wednesday evening for the remainder of the season. You can make sure you catch each installment by grabbing a free email subscriptionthrough feedburner or picking up the RSS feeds on the main page.

Those of you who have been diligently awaiting the arrival of Matt “I am the savior of the Orioles” Wieters will finally be rewarded come Friday. Oscar Meyer Wieters will make his ‘09 debut this weekend. While I am not sold on his impending stardom I admit he is among the most exciting prospects to emerge this year, or at least the most hyped.

Nolan Reimold made his debut recently with considerably less fanfare, yet has posted some quality numbers in his early season audition. Through 12 games so far Reimold is 12-46 (.261) with three home runs and six RBI’s.

Four of his 12 hits have been for extra bases, giving him an OPS of .784. He’s a player to watch, but he may find himself back in AAA or on the wrong end of a platoon with the return of Luke Scott and the coming return of Adam Jones. Keep an eye on him, if he sticks he could be a diamond in the rough.

The Chicago Cubs now have two slugging first base prospects on their roster, Micah Hoffpauier and newly recalled Jake Fox. The ‘Hoff has four bombs and 16 RBI’s in 89 at-bats to go with his .281 average and .820 OPS.

University of Michigan product Jake Fox hasn’t appeared in a major league game since 2007, but dismantled AAA pitching this year to earn the promotion. In the most impressive minor league stat line I’ve seen this year Fox torched the competition to the tune of a .423 batting average, a 1.389 OPS with 17 home runs and 50 RBI’s in 40 games. Beastly seems to be the appropriate description.

Playing time seems to be the question of the day for both youngsters. With Derrek Lee at first base Hoffpauier has seen time in the outfield, but not enough. Alfonso Soriano reportedly told manager Lou Piniella earlier this week that he would gladly return to second base to give the team more depth in the infield and allow Micah more time in the outfield. No word yet from the Cubs on long term plans for either prospect, but the way the Cubs have been (not) hitting, it would make sense to give the hot hands a few swings.

The New York Mets have called up their top prospect, outfielder Fernando Martinez. With Ryan Church on the DL and Carlos Beltran out temporarily Martinez should some playing time, how much is up to the little man in Jerry Manuel’s head.

Fernando hit .291 with an .889 OPS in 42 AAA games before getting the call. Of his 48 hits 25 were for extra bases.

He drove in 28 runs and scored 22 as well. He’s all of 20-years-old, so be patient, and be careful. If you’re thinking of him as a very short term fix to your outfield woes recognize you’re trying to catch lightning in a bottle, which is fun, but dangerous.

With the news that shortstops Jose Reyes and Jason Bartlett will both hit the DL fantasy owners are scouring the free agent pool for some short term shortstop help. Clint Barmes could provide a little help, he’s hit safely in nine of his last 12 games with two home runs, seven RBI’s and nine runs scored in his last 15 games – he’s available in more than 95% of ESPN leagues.

Ben Zobrist is hitting .317 in his last 15 games with three bombs, two steals, 11 RBI’s and nine runs scored. He’ll see more playing time with Bartlett out and Gabe Kapler struggling in the outfield – he’s available in more than 60% of ESPN leagues.

You could also look to the dynamic duo of Adam Everett and Ramon Santiago in Detroit. While you’ll need to monitor closely who will start each night the pair have combined to hit .393 (24-61) with 13 runs scored, 11 RBI’s two bombs and two steals in the last 15 games. Santiago and Everett are owned in 1.7% and 1% respectively of ESPN leagues.

Nyjer Morgan has cooled off considerably. He’s hitting .256 in May, lowering his season average to .282. He’s 11 for his last 47 (.234) with one stolen base.

Pitchers make adjustments. Hitters make adjustments. I still believe he has strong long term potential, but you’ll have to tolerate a few bumps in the road like this in order to reap the benefits later.

That seems like enough of my incessant babbling, I know you’re only here for the top 10 hitters and pitchers of the last week in Yahoo Fantasy Baseball.

I get it. You use me, then toss me aside like your cousin/prom date after what’s her face dumped you at the last minute.

I’m ok with it. So as always below are the 10 best hitters and pitchers from the last week, according to the rankings of a standard Yahoo 5 x 5 roto league. Enjoy.

Top 10 hitters of the last week:

#1 – Nelson Cruz, OF, TEX – .462, five home runs, 10 RBI’s, six runs, five steals

#2 – Mark Reynolds, 1B/3B, ARI – .344, four home runs, 10 RBI’s, six runs, six steals

#3 – Joe Mauer, C, MIN – .500, four homers, 13 RBI’s, 12 runs

#4 – Michael Cuddyer, OF, MIN – .414, four home runs, 11 RBI’s, nine runs

#5 – Alexei Ramirez, 2B/SS/OF, CHW – .400, two homers, six RBI’s, eight runs, three steals

#6 – Justin Upton, OF, ARI – .412, two homers, seven RBI’s, nine runs, one steal

#7 – Miguel Tejada, SS, HOU – .500, three home runs, five RBI’s, 6 runs, 1 steal

#8 – Robinson Cano, 2B, NYY – .433, two bombs, eight RBI’s, seven runs, 1 steal

#9 – Justin Morneau, 1B, MIN – .409, two dingers, 11 RBI’s, eight runs

#10 – Torii Hunter, OF, ANA – .360, two bombs, nine RBI’s, five runs, two steals

Top 10 pitchers of last week:

#1 – Justin Verlander, DET – two wins, 16 K’s, 0.69 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 13 IP

#2 – Adam Wainwright, STL – two wins, 16 K’s, 1.15 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 15 and 2/3 IP

#3 – Tim Lincecum, SFG – one win, 18 K’s, 0.60 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 15 IP

#4 – Chris Carpenter, STL – one win, 14 K’s, 0.00 ERA, 0.54 WHIP, 13 IP

#5 – Phil Hughes, NYY – two wins, 15 K’s, 2.08 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 13 IP

#6 – Carl Pavano, CLE – two wins, 14 K’s, 2.77 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 13 IP

#7 – George Sherrill, BAL – three saves, seven K’s, 0.00 ERA, 0.25 WHIP, 4 IP

#8 – Nick Blackburn, MIN – two wins, nine K’s, 0.64 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 14 IP

#9 – Zack Greinke, KC – one win, 16 K’s, 1.80 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 15 IP

#10 – Francisco Cordero, CIN – three saves, four K’s, 0.00 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 5 IP

Until next time kiddies….

Hazaa

If you have comments, questions, swarmy outbursts or ideas for a future Hump Day Look See segment your comments are welcome below. If you prefer the more traditional electronic mail route you can drop me a line at [e-mail]