It is an Olympic year, and after seeing
Jose Reyes this past weekend I am thinking he could win the gold in the 100 meters sprint. Come August the whole National League is going to wish he was in China competing and not burning up the bases. Here we go with the hot and cold:
HOT:
National League
Matt Kemp, OF, Dodgers (.324-2-22-18-7)
All
Matt Kemp needed was regular playing time, and this past week he got it. Kemp thanked Joe Torre with a week that saw him hit .407 with 11 RBI and six stolen bases. He is a five-tool guy that will make mistakes that young players will make, but the pluses of playing Kemp far outweigh the minuses. This season Kemp has a .419 average with runners in scoring position. That's hot, Paris.
Brandon Lyon, P, Diamondbacks (1-1, 2.40 ERA, 12K, .93 WHIP with 9 SV in 15.0 IP)
For those that had faith in Lyon after he blew two of his first three save opportunities this season, you are now being rewarded. Lyon has converted his last eight save opportunities and has not given up a run in his last 12 appearances. He makes sense as the closer because of his experience, demeanor, and solid stuff.
Chad Qualls has also been very good, but with his great sinker, he is better used in earlier innings when he may be needed to induce a ground ball.
Tony Pena, meanwhile, still needs to mature. The demise of
Brandon Lyon has been greatly exaggerated, and even if Lyon does go through another cold spell, he will likely remain the Diamondbacks closer for the duration of the 2008 season.
Jose Reyes, SS, Mets (.270-2-12-17-9)
Just last week we had Reyes down on the cold side of things, but a hot week that included his 15th career four-hit game, has Reyes back where he belongs. He hit .444 in the last seven days and his on-base percentage was .560. With Reyes on base that much, it means stolen bases, of which the speedster had four this past week.
American League
Jack Cust, LF, A's (.244-4-11-16-0)
Cust has taken well to having
Frank Thomas in the lineup and this past week, as he raked to a .500 average with three home runs. He is a streaky hitter, but when he is hot he can carry a team with his bat. Currently Cust leads the American League in walks and on-base percentage. Even when he is cold he can still reach base.
Roy Halladay, P, Blue Jays (3-4, 3.00 ERA, 38 K, .98 WHIP in 57.0 IP)
The Doctor is in, as Doc Halladay turned in another impressive week of pitching for the Blue Jays. Last week Halladay gave up just two earned runs in 16 innings pitched, with 13 strikeouts and a 0.56 WHIP. Halladay already has four complete games and he is also second in the American League in strikeouts, fifth in WHIP, and ninth in ERA.
Placido Polanco, 2B, Tigers (.250-2-9-14-1)
Polanco go off to a cold start, but he is quickly heating up. Last week he hit .444 with two home runs as the Tigers swept the Yankees in New York. Polanco is a career .304 hitter, but offers little else in fantasy value.
COLD:
National League
Eric Byrnes, LF, Diamondbacks (.242-3-15-20-3)
Byrnes is a self-admitted streaky hitter, and he is also battling sore hamstrings that he will probably need to play through this whole season. He may also feel the weight of signing a $30 million contract extension. Byrnes may have plenty of excuses, but there is no hiding the fact that he was very bad last week. The Diamondbacks left fielder was 2-for-24 this past week with one RBI while leaving 16 on base (10 left on base in a three game series versus the Mets alone). Byrnes stole 50 bases last year, but has only three this year. A solution may be to rest Byrnes for an extended period while he regroups and rests his hamstrings. They could also drop him lower in the batting order.
Todd Helton, 1B, Rockies (.271-3-10-15-0)
Things are not going well for the Rockies, as they've won only twice in the last nine games. Helton is usually the straw that stirs the drink for the Rox, but he slumped to a .182 average with one RBI in the last seven days. Helton is a career .330 hitter, so don't expect the slump to last long - at least his fantasy owners hope that to be the case.
Rich Hill, P, Cubs (1-0, 4.12 ERA, 15 K, 1.58 WHIP in 19.2 IP)
In Hill's last start he walked four of the six batters he faced in getting a quick hook from manager Lou Piniella. That start proved to be his last in the big leagues for a while, as he was demoted to Triple-A Iowa. Hill had a .191 batting average against him this season, but the walks were more than the Cubbies could stomach. Expect Hill to get his command ironed out and be back in Chicago shortly.
American League
Jason Giambi, 1B, Yankees (.150-5-14-13-1)
Is this the end of the line for Giambi? This past week he was just plain awful, going 1-for-18 with no runs scored. Giambi is 0-for-19 versus left-handed pitchers this season and has become nothing more than a guy that can only hit right-handers. Considering that he's due to make $23 million this year, that's not a lot of bang for the bucks.
Carlos Silva, P, Mariners (3-1, 4.20 ERA, 19 K, 1.33 WHIP in 45.0 IP)
Overall Silva has not pitched badly this season, but in his last outing against the Yankees he lasted just three innings and gave up eight earned runs. Silva is not a strikeout pitcher, with just 3.76 strikeouts per nine innings over his career and he will not win you the ERA or WHIP titles, but he has averaged almost 12 wins per season over the last four years. You just have to take the bad with the good.
Nick Swisher, CF, White Sox (.210-3-8-20-1)
Swisher has not got off to a good start for the White Sox, and last week was more evidence of that. Swisher hit .130 with just one RBI in the last seven days and the White Sox are cold as a team, as well, having lost their last five. Swisher is second in the AL in walks and seventh in runs scored, but the White Sox were hoping for more.
