With the announcement of the major league baseball All-Star teams, we thought it would be apropos to break down who have been the out-of-nowhere Fantasy All-Stars, the guys who were drafted late this season but have performed tremendously in the season's first half.
In PART I we will discuss hitters.
In PART II, we will discuss pitchers.
***Note: We are only considering players in the top-400 according to preseason ADP, so a player like Edinson Volquez isn't available for selection since he was outside the top-400.
FIRST BASE:
Aubrey Huff (preseason ADP - 328.9)
.281-17-54-50-2 with a .867 OPS
Aubrey Huff has been a surprise source of fantasy production this year.
Huff started the year slowly, but he has been on a tear since the start of June, hitting .344-8-24-21 over his last 31 games. While his overall numbers aren't tremendous, he has already surpassed last year's total of 15 home runs and is on pace for his first 100-RBI season since having back-to-back such efforts in 2003-04. Given the fact that he was an afterthought to most on draft day because of such a non-descript season in '07 (.280-15-72), one would have to conclude that many a fantasy owner has to be ecstatic with the early season work out of this left handers bat.
Honorable mention: Conor Jackson - .300-8-46-86-6 (299.2 ADP)
SECOND BASE:
Mark DeRosa (preseason ADP - 331.4)
.292-11-49-51-3 with a .843 OPS
DeRosa, it can be argued, is one of the top-20 most valuable fantasy performers this season because of his work at the plate and the fact that he can play a multitude of positions in most leagues (2B, 3B, OF). He hit .296-13-74 in '06 and followed it up with a .293-10-72 line last year. This year, he has already nearly matched the power number with 10 home runs, and with 51 runs scored and 49 RBI he is on pace to set career highs in both of those categories, as well. Toss in a .292 batting average, and a strong .378 OBP, and he barely beats out the great season put forward by
Jose Lopez of the Mariners.
Honorable mention: Jose Lopez - .301-5-44-43-3 (332.5 ADP)
THIRD BASE:
Mark Reynolds (preseason ADP - 316.1)
.255-18-53-57-5 with a .839 OPS
Reynolds has 656 career at-bats covering two seasons, and he is hitting a robust .268-35-115-119-5 in that time. However, his success is mitigated by a hideous lack of plate discipline, which has led to 233 career strikeouts. This season he has slightly improved his K/BB ratio (0.34 compared to lack years 0.29 mark), but he is still barely operating at barely 60% of the major league average of about 0.50. Until he learns to make more contact, or at least walk a bit more often, he will likely continue to be a streaky hitter who can blow up, in either direction, each week. He's operating at a .363 BABIP mark for his brief career, and while it's possible he could continue to produce hits at that rate, if that number regresses at all, Reynolds' average could tumble without improved plate discipline.
Honorable mention: Joe Crede - .261-15-47-36-0 (330.5 ADP)
SHORTSTOP:
Ryan Theriot (preseason ADP - 259.4)
.313-1-23-48-15 with a .755 OPS
Theriot has been a find for Cubs this year, as he is not only on pace for another season of high 20's stolen bases, he has also upped his average by .047 points and his OBP by .064 points, making him also a boon in the average category, as well. With a BABIP of .344, there is reason to expect a slight regression from Ryan in average, though the fact that he has dropped his fly ball rate from 30.5% last year to 19.5% this year would seem to signal that he might be able to keep that average up around the .300 mark as long as he continues to keep the ball out of the air. Toss in the fact that he is also on pace to challenge 90 runs scored this year, and Theriot would appear to be well on his way to being a valuable three-category performer.
Honorable mention: Jason Bartlett - .256-0-20-24-18 (314.4)
CATCHER:
Ryan Doumit (preseason ADP - 312.3)
.330-10-25-39-0 with a .957 OPS
If not for a couple of bouts with injury that have caused him to miss over 30 games, Doumit wouldn't just be a fantasy standout at catcher, he would probably be the most valuable catcher in fantasy baseball. Doumit hit well last season (.274-9-32 in 252 AB) and was thought to be in a platoon type battle with
Ronny Paulino this year. When Paulino opened the year cold, the Pirates went to Doumit more and more frequently, and they have been rewarded handsomely for that decision. At his current pace, Doumit would hit about 30 home runs with 115 runs scored over the course of an entire season, and you don't need us to tell you how valuable those numbers would be from a catcher. He certainly won't get there this season, but we wouldn't bet against a .300 season with 20 home runs, which would be a massive performance for someone drafted so late, let alone one who also plays catcher.
Honorable mention: Dioner Navarro - .318-4-33-25-0 (327.4 ADP)
OUTFIELD:
Nate McLouth (preseason ADP - 270.3),
Xavier Nady (preseason ADP -315.0),
Milton Bradley (preseason ADP - 322.1)
All three of these outfielders have been tremendous regardless of their draft day cost, and a check of your league's standings will probably find one of these three on almost every team that's in first place .
McLouth (.280-15-56-60-9 with a .877 OPS) has been one of the best all-around scoring outfielders in baseball, largely built upon his early-season success that saw him hit .312-13-41-46-5 over the season's first 53 games, a truly unsustainable rate for McLouth. Still, he is tied with teammate
Jason Bay for sixth in the league in runs, and his .877 OPS is fairly impressive. Because of his recent slump (he is hitting .223 over his last 30 games), his BABIP has dipped to .289 (right on his career mark), so it appears that his .280 mark is legit. If he can continue to knock the long ball while keeping his average at that level, he could well find himself on the 2008 fantasy find list at the end of the season, as well.
Nady (.321-12-53-41-0 with a .919 OPS), a teammate of McLouth's in Pittsburgh, hit 20 home runs with 72 RBI last season. Given the fact that he will certainly be looking for a huge raise next season, Nady's name has been in trade discussions going back to last year. Given his work so far this year, he could possibly bring a bounty in return if the Pirates chose to move him. Nady has a .358 BABIP, so he appears to have been hitting in a bit of luck so far, but his K-rate is down (18.2%), his K/BB is up (0.48) and his HR/F rate remains unchanged (15.0%) compared to last season. So while the average might dip slightly, his measures support this breakout campaign.
Milton Bradley (.320-17-54-52-4 with a 1.045 OPS) has been possibly the most out-of-nowhere guy discussed on this list given the impressive things he has done with a piece of wood in his hands. Though he has started to miss time due to injury, long the issue that has held him back from greatness, Bradley is still fifth in the AL in average, first in OBP (.439), second in SLG (.605) and first in OPS. Moreover, dating back to his work in San Diego last year before he injured his knee arguing with an umpire at first base, Bradley is hitting .318-28-84-83-7 over just 400 AB, simply massive production for a guy who has never even hit 20 home runs or driven in 70 runs in a single season.
Honorable mention: J.D. Drew - .299-16-51-61-2 (267.2), Rick Ankiel - .265-18-45-49-1(260.9) and Carlos Gomez - .269-5-30-50-21 (326.8)
