(Picture from ESPN.com)
There are 13 days to Opening Day and we are ready to go. We have our Sox and Cardinals gear on. We have the itch to take a trip to The Field of Dreams and play a little catch. Even with one of the most competitive and exciting March Madnesses I've ever seen, I still can't stop thinking about baseball.
Though there are 13 days left until the season begins, Fantasy Baseball is in full swing. We had our Manchise draft yesterday afternoon and I must say I'm feeling pretty darn good about my team (for those of you interested in playing us in Fantasy sports, be on the look out around the NFL season to get in on it).
While the draft was going on, there were a few picks that really caught my eye as sleepers I think will have a break out season this year. So as always here are my Top Sleepers/Break Out Performers for the 2010 MLB season.
3. Rick Porcello and Wade Davis
Yes a twofer to start it off. I really like these two guys to make a giant splash this year in the MLB. Both are young, hearty pitchers that have great stuff. Starting with the 21 year old Porcello, the kid (and I can say that because I'm actually older than him) held his own last year as a 20 year old. He had 14-9 record with Detroit, which is incredible if you think about it. He had 89 strikeouts with an ERA of 3.96 as a 20 YEAR OLD! I think with the improvement and additions of more pitches, Porcello will up his strike outs and add a few more wins.
Wade Davis is a strong pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays that I like alot. He is already being veiwed as one of the most undervalued pitchers in the American League, and many scouts are thinking that he will be a future number two pitcher. He struck out a batter per inning in his six starts in the league last year, which will only grow. Among those perfomances was a 10 strike out shut out of the Orioles in only his third start. Not bad considering he was picked in the 22 round.
2. Yadier Molina
The guys in the Manchise League might call me a homer, or accuse me of bragging about my team, but Yadier Molina at the catcher posistion is going to be exciting to watch this year. He is one of the most underappreciated cathers in the MLB, which is proved to be true when I nabeed him in the 21st round (25 total). We are talking about a Molina here. This family was born to catch baseballs. Yadi swiped nine bags last season, had an average of .293, scored 45 runs, and 54 RBI's. The kid is only 27 years old, and is playing for a really good Cardinals team. He's been working on his swing as much as his defense this off season and with the help of Pujols and McGwire, Yadi's potential is astounding. I'm expecting big things from him this year. (If you would like a good read about Yadi, check this out http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=4361592).
1. Placido Polanco
Now that Plac is back with the Phils and playing the hot corner again I really like his opportunity in Phili. It looks like he will be the second hitter in a stacked Phillies lineup that looks to be the elite team in the NL. He is a lifetime .303 hitter and with this Phillies team, I really think his successful hitting will continue. ESPN is predicting that he should get on base so much this year that he might score 100+ runs. Third base seems to be extremely short this year so look for Plac late in the draft to man the field and be a viable starter. Oh and he has 10 career home runs at Citzens Band Park (mostly all coming in 2004-2005) which is good sign of the possible power that will come.
1 comments:
I really like your twofer at number three which doesn't make a lot of sense but anyways that's all I REALLY like. Molina is one of the best defensive catchers and has the best arm from behind the plate and everyone is scared to run on him. But the only reason Yadi is going to be a sleeper is because there aren't many good fantasy catchers. Yadi has an advantage of being on an extremely good team which will help him see pitches. The closer he is to Pujols and Holliday will help him a great deal as well. One thing you can't count on Yadi doing is adding to your teams home runs. He only had six HR's last year and 35 during his entire 6 years in the bigs. Yadi is consistent, but I don't think he'll be much for a sleeper.
And Placido Palanco is a terrible choice for a sleeper. The most obvious being the fact that he's 34. He's no spring chicken and unless he's taking to new drug don't look for his HR number to be anything special, he had 10 last season which was a high point looking at his career. His strikeouts have gone up every year since 2005 and his BA. has dropped 56 points in two years. If he continues that pace he will be a .260 hitter this year. No way he's going to be putting up 170+ hits with a .260 avg. The last thing about Polanco is that he's hurt right now and just started playing in the minors. I know we have 13 days till the season starts and he'll probably be in the starting lineup but being old and coming off an injury he will start the season slow. I hate to knock an old cardinal but put Polanco will not be a sleeper, just an average player.
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