Center field is the premier position in the game, but for fantasy baseball players, we’ve noticed that right field is a little more advanced in terms of offensive production. That being said there are few disappointments on the center field side. Mike Trout and Andrew McCutchen are the cream of the crop and they were at the beginning of the season as well. Still, there have been a few guys that have been banged up and some that have slumped.

In the where are they now series we take a look at those disappointments to see which ones will turn things around after the all-star break. As we noted in a previous article, most fantasy league players have only six or seven weeks of regular season action left. That might be enough to make that push you need to get into the playoffs. Are any of these guys out there and available to help?

Before we dive in, let’s take a look at the rules. We are looking at only the top fifteen preseason fifteen center fielders according to Yahoo. Some players play multiple positions. If they were profiled in the left fielder article then they will be skipped this time around. We will try to keep up with who is actually in center field most of the time.

Carlos Gomez— Milwaukee Brewers (Yahoo #3)

What happened?

Gomez has had only one fully healthy month so far this year. In spite of that, he still has driven in 41 runs and scored 38 runs. A normal hitter would have about 350 plate appearances by this time in the season. He has 267 to date. If you gave him a 100 more plate appearances then he would be north of ten home runs, ten stolen bases, and 50 runs and RBI. So, there’s nothing wrong with Gomez that a little health won’t fix.

What to expect?

Gomez’s situation is made more complicated by the fact that the Brewers are likely sellers at the deadline. Gomez is signed through 2016, so he may or may not be dealt. If he is dealt to a contender then you could see an uptick in runs and RBI. The Brewers offense is not that bad, so he likely will still produce if he’s healthy.

Yasiel Puig— Los Angeles Dodgers (Yahoo #6)

What happened?

As you can see clearly from the numbers above, Puig missed the entire month of May and half of April. Otherwise, he’s been fairly healthy. However, that covers up the real problem. In three ML seasons, Puig’s numbers have steadily declined. He was the best thing since sliced bread in 2013, but now he is more or less average. That has to be more disconcerting than the injuries this season.

What to expect?

There will be someone in your league that will bet the farm on Puig having a strong second half. He very well may and if he does the Dodgers will run away with the division. After all, he’s done very little and they are running neck and neck with the Giants. When you add up the injured and the diminished performance when healthy, I’m just not sure I would gamble too much on Puig.

Jacoby Ellsbury— New York Yankees (Yahoo #8)

What happened?

Ellsbury was injured in May and missed all of June. Before he was hurt, he was producing as he always had. Even after missing the last week of May, he had 14 stolen bases. If he had continued on that pace he would have had 50 stolen bases on the season to go along with over 90 runs scored. However, missing nearly six weeks torpedoed most of his numbers.

What to expect?

Ellsbury hasn’t stolen a base since he has been back, so there is some concern that the injuries have some lingering effects. If he returns completely healthy after the all-star break, he should be good for 20 stolen bases the rest of the way. You add that to the runs scored and he could be a huge boost to someone’s roster the rest of the way.