Yuniesky Betancourt: Betancourt will likely land on the DL with a hamstring injury. Despite having great contact skills, 92% Ct%, Betancourt is a hacker, 4% BB%, with little power, 2 home runs in 224 AB, or speed, 3 steals. Even with all of those negatives, the high Ct% and depressed .223 BHIP%, almost guarantees some upside from his .250 batting average when he returns.
Jeff Mathis: Mathis is showing the worst of all worlds, no power, 1 home run in 103 AB, and poor contact skills, 66% Ct%, which is leading to a .204 batting average. Given his history of hacking, 2007/2008 Ct%’s of 71%/68%, it is unlikely that we will see improvement from Mathis is that area. However, he does have good plate patience, 11% BB%, and has displayed some pop in the past, 16 extra-base hits in 171 AB in 2007. He could have a power burst in him, but don’t expect anything else.
Chone Figgins: With a .330 batting average and 23 steals, Figgins has been a very valuable fantasy player this year. The speed is no surprise, as he has displayed that skill before, 2006/2007/2008 SB’s of 52/41/34. However with little power, 1 home run in 270 AB, average contact skills, 84% Ct%, an inflated .331 BHIP%, and a history of inconsistent BHIP%’s, 2005/2006/2007/2008 BHIP%’s of .287/.261/.345/.305, expect his batting average to trend down, 2005/2006/2007/2008 batting averages of .290/.267/.330/.267.
Sean Rodriguez: Rodriguez was putting on quite a power display in Triple-A prior to his recall, 21 home runs 205 AB, but he was doing it with a very low 67% Ct%. If the Angels were to give him playing time, he could provide some pop from the MI position, but it would be at the expense of a low batting average, .200 career average in 180 AB. At this time it looks like the Angels are going with Macier Izturis at second base, which will give Rodriguez limited playing time.
Elvis Andrus: Andrus is struggling with a .257 batting average which is preventing him from getting on base enough to fully take advantage of his blazing speed, 11 steals in 12 attempts. He has a decent approach at the plate, 8% BB% and an 87% Ct%, and a depressed .245 BHIP%, so with a little better luck, Andrus could find himself on base more often, which would make him a valuable source for steals.
There are over 100 player news blurbs posted in the member area each morning, members can read the rest of today's player news by clicking here: www.fantistics.com/baseball00/. Not a member? Join today: www.fantistics.com/join/join.php3
