Nick Johnson, 1B - Washington

When I was talking with your mom yesterday, she said you needed help with your fantasy team because it was not performing up to snuff.  I told your mom I do her a solid, so here we are.  Below are some fellas who can help you.  It is what your mom wanted.

 

Do not disappoint your mother.  I don’t.

 

 

Jerry Hairston, Jr. – 2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF – Cincinnati Reds (16% Y!, 35% Y! Plus, 9.3% ESPN)

With eligibility at six positions in Yahoo!, Hairston can certainly fill a lot of needs.  Much like Nick Johnson, who is mentioned below, Hairston could be kindly labeled injury prone.  While his line of .252/.310/.462/.772 on the season isn’t sexy, it should be noted that his splits were .156/.224/.244/.469 on May 4^th.  From May 5^th through May 23^rd, he hit .319/.373/.580/.953 with three dingers, four steals, 18 runs scored, and eight RBIs. 

 

As far as his numbers on the season are concerned, when you see a man of Hairston’s speed with any power whatsoever (his ISO is currently a high .193, but even last year it was .161) and a BABIP of .269, something is amiss.  His line to start the season is much more an aberration than his last two and a half weeks.  If you have a problem at one of the many positions Hairston currently qualifies at, feel more than free to pick him up.

 

 

Kelly Johnson - 2B – Atlanta Braves (43% Y!, 39% Y! Plus, 60.3% ESPN)

For owners looking for a second baseman late in the draft, Kelly Johnson was fairly high on the list of affordable options with potential for high-yielding returns. On Friday, Johnson was hitting .230/.309/.361/.669.  The aforementioned line when combined with his ADP of 194.2 in ESPN leagues has found him widely discarded after having been heavily drafted with players like Aaron Hill, Orlando Hudson, Marco Scutaro, and Asdrubal Cabrera enjoying enough early season success to have already left Johnson drafters with memory loss as to who he is.

 

The catch is, Kelly Johnson is not as bad as that line would like one to believe.  His BABIP of .252 through action on Saturday is .078 points lower than the worst of his last two seasons.  With his speed and gap power, a BABIP above .320 could safely be expected.  Lending more credence to an assertion that his numbers thus far have been the product of bad luck more than anything else, his K% has actually dropped 5.6 percentage points from his 20.7% in 2008 while maintaining the same BB% of 8.7%.  Furthermore, his ISO of .151 is very much in line with his .159 ISO from last season. 

 

I should note that upon being placed in the leadoff spot on Saturday, Johnson responded by going five for nine with a double, two home runs, four runs scored, and four RBIs.  With those two games on Saturday, Johnson raised his line to .252/.324/.427/.752.  If you want me to do the math for you, in two days Johnson raised those numbers .022/.015/.066/.083 (we’ll assume that fractions of a point make up the difference between OBP plus the SLG and the actual OPS…).  It is a good two days, to be sure, but could be the beginning of a hot streak. 

 

 

Nick Johnson – 1B – Washington Nationals (15% Y!, 37% Y! Plus, 27.2% ESPN)

Even Nick Johnson is expecting Nick Johnson to wind up on the DL soon.  It will happen.  You know it.  I know it.  Even your mother knows it.  The thing is, when he is healthy, Larry Bowa’s nephew hits the ball.  His .338/.441/.474/.915 split should be enough to pique your interest.  His 28 runs and 25 RBIs are nothing to scoff at. 

 

Now, surely his .397 BABIP is inflating the ratios, but he also did not hit a home run until April 24^th.  In fact, since that day, Johnson is hitting .317/.438/.500/.938 with five doubles, one triple, four home runs, 20 runs, 24 RBIs and a stolen base for good measure.  Will he continue at this pace?  Probably not.  Should he be available in 85% of regular Yahoo! leagues?  Definitely not.  Sure, he is brittle—I’ve had CD jewel cases last longer than him—but at this point, there is probably someone on your team that can get cut loose.  He is the 40^th ranked player over the last month in Yahoo!  That should justify the move in and of itself.

 

 

Rick Porcello – SP – Detroit Tigers (11% Y!, 36% Y! Plus, 18.9% ESPN)

The 20-year-old rookie has made his fair share of noise after skipping from High-A last season to the bigs coming off of a strong Spring Training.  After a rocky April capped off by an abysmal start against the Yankees, Porcello has come into his own in May.  Having earned the win in four straight starts, Porcello has allowed three runs in 24 innings, lowering his ERA from 6.23 to 3.55 along the way. 

 

Now Porcello is not big on the striking batters out (16:9 in May, and 25/15 on the season), but with a GB% of 53.5%, he may not need to.  If he can maintain a semblance of control while inducing ground balls at this clip the ERA could stay below 4.00 on the year.  Maybe hoping for such a thing from a 20-year-old is wishful thinking, but it could happen…

 

 

Koji Uehara – SP – Baltimore Orioles (14% Y!, 39% Y! Plus, 6.8% ESPN)

Yes, he had to leave his start early on Saturday and may miss his next turn with a sore left hamstring.  This is a pick-up with a little risk involved.  If you need a starter for this week specifically, you may not want to go ahead with a pick up here.  But if you have room to potentially have to stash a starter for at least a week or two, Uehara has been quite a bit better than his 2 – 3 record would seem to indicate. 

 

His BABIP is a very neutral .296, so what you are looking at in Uehara is probably what you are going to get.  What that is specifically is a pitcher with a 1.20 WHIP, a 3.45 K/BB, and a 6.75 K/9.  Of his nine starts, five have been quality starts.  Another was a five inning start in which he allowed one earned run on five hits and one walk.  In his latest start—the one he left early—he did not allow an earned run in three innings.  To put it simply, he has only had two bad starts.  Ask Scott Kazmir owners if they would like something like that. 

 

 

Josh Duggan welcomes your comments at mister.josh.duggan@gmail.com.  If you are going to heave insults in his direction, at least be funny and creative.  He is also the author of a Kansas City Royals blog, Royalscentricity, and a pop culture blog, Inconsiderate Prick.