2011 Fantasy Baseball: CarGo & Others Make Strong Push Entering Final Month
Following an April that saw Gonzalez post a .222 average, the Colorado outfielder battled through two separate DL stints before hitting at a .317 clip in August. Along with the struggle to stay healthy, Gonzalez has also struggled against lefty pitching. 2010 saw CarGo hit .320 against lefties compared to a pedestrian .250 this year. Even with such callous lefty/righty splits, Gonzalez will still finish the season as a top 10 outfielder and currently 11 games back of the Diamondbacks entering week 22 of the season. “CarGo” and the Rockies may be too late in their playoff push but a strong September will avoid making 2011 a regression for the Colorado outfielder.
Gonzalez is surely one of the game’s high profile players, but he heads a list complete with other lesser names who have ameliorated wayward performances. Here’s a glance at some August rallies that have saved face for a handful of intriguing talents.
Among that list is Los Angeles’ James Loney whose 2011 campaign is a career worst. After posting a .171 average in July, Loney’s August has been a stark contrast boasting a .381 average and hitting .577 (15/27) in the month’s final week. Scouts have long awaited Loney to compliment his exceptional contact rate (a mere 13% strikeouts/AB) with an infusion of power but it looks as if he will never eclipse his career high of 15 home runs as a rookie in 2007. Even with his torrid August, Loney will need a brilliant final month in order to approach his career norms and secure his job as the Dodger first baseman in 2012.
Entering the spring training of 2009 there was a frenzied debate: Which rookie would you rather build a team around: David Price or Matt Wieters? Those who had seen glimpses of Wieters crush ACC pitching at Georgia Tech considered the question a no brainer. At 6’5’’ the Orioles rookie catcher seemed to be using 2009 as a launching pad to a career akin to Joe Mauer. Instead Wieters has struggled to adjust to major league pitching, but this past month has given hope that the young catcher has turned the corner.
Wieters has already posted a career high with 14 big flies in 2011 and with an additional 100-110 at bats coming in September, the Orioles are finally getting what they hoped for in 2009. At only 25 Wieters is still a long ways from a finished product and his .389 average in his last seven games gives rise that perhaps David Price isn’t the runaway favorite to win the great debate of a few seasons ago.
With only a few weeks until Michael Lewis’ bestselling book
Moneyball hits the big screen, the films’ star of Oakland Athletics’ GM Billy Beane has gone against his own principle: pursuing athleticism and overt skill above on-base percentage and other sabermetric stats like WHIP and WAR. Oakland’s rookie second baseman Jemile Weeks offers the flash of speed and athleticism typically absent from the A’s lineup. In a mere 292 at bats Weeks has compiled a .295 average, .333 in his last 7, and 19 stolen bases to boot.Beane has long shied away from players like Weeks who offer skills like speed and power that are rewarded with a premium price opposed to skills like batting eye and contact rate which are often overlooked. The Oakland philosophy has rubbed off on the 24 year old whose walk rate has nearly doubled since the first half of the season. Getting on base will be the key to Jemile’s future in Oakland and his base-burning speed is a refreshing additional to the traditional grind of Athletics’ baseball.
Written by Conor Gereg exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com.
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(August 28, 2011 – Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America)
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