Adam Rowand, Giants

Stop smoking.  Seriously.  It’s bad for you.  Your breath stinks.  Your teeth are as yellow as a banana. 

 

Also, it makes your mother cry. 

 

I saw it.

 

In the parking lot at school. 

 

You were trying to look cool, smoking next to Billy Thompson’s IROC-Z.  Your mom drove by on the way to the supermarket, and her eyes were drawn to Billy’s Camaro (your mom thinks that only jerks drive Camaros), and she saw you there.  She wept.  Uncontrollably. 

 

Then she ran over a bicyclist because she couldn’t see through her tears. 

 

Your smoking killed an innocent bicyclist.

 

Instead of smoking, pick these guys up.  Think of them as fantasy antioxidants.

 

Adam Kennedy – 2B, RF – Oakland Athletics (17% Y!, 40% Y! Plus, 21.0% ESPN)

There is nothing on Adam Kennedy’s resume that would suggest he is capable of sustaining the preposterous .339/.410/.532/.942 line that he has put up since coming over to the A’s on May 10^th.  He is a career .277/.330/.393/.723 hitter.  In fact, even the six steals and flashes of power may be a mirage.

 

What does matter is that he plays second base, and he is swinging a hot bat.  He is not likely to be a season-long solution to your second base woes, but with guys like Alexei Ramirez, Howie Kendrick, and Mike Aviles grossly underperforming draft day expectations, the need to plug-and-play is out there for the services of Adam Kennedy, at least in the short term.

 

 

Andrew McCutchen – CF – Pittsburgh Pirates (20% Y!, 49% Y! Plus, 10.1% ESPN)

With Nate McLouth having been shipped off to Atlanta, the starting job in center field for the Pirates is now McCutchen’s to lose.  The 22-year-old rookie has long been the top prospect in the Pirates organization.  Now fantasy owners are jumping on board in hopes of catching the next break out rookie. 

 

While McCutchen may lack the prodigious power of Jay Bruce or Chris Davis, he is the embodiment of toolsiness.  In 219 plate appearances at Triple-A Indianapolis this year, he posted a .303/.361/.493/.853 line with four dingers socked and ten bases stolen (in 12 attempts).  22 of his 39 hits were for extra bases, giving him an ISO of .189.  Offering more encouragement to the Pirates’ faithful, his K% has been cut considerably—down to 11.9% from 17.0% in 2008.  Now his power will more than likely not manifest itself anytime soon, but his aptitude for ripping the ball should result in more value to fantasy owners than a speed-only option like a Willy Taveras or a Michael Bourn.

 

 

Aaron Rowand – CF – San Francisco Giants (19% Y!, 42% Y! Plus, 19.4% ESPN)

Since bottoming out on May 8^th with a batting average of .214, Rowand spent the 27 games between May 8^th and June 6^th going off.  His .371/.417/.600/1.017 split over that time in conjunction with his 20 runs, four homers, 16 RBIs, and three steals has earned him a Yahoo! ranking of 24^th over that time.

 

While no one is likely to confuse Aaron Rowand with Ted Williams, he is probably a little closer to the .309/.370/.497/.867 hitter he is now than the .214/.295/.345/.650 hitter he was on May 8^th.  In the interest of full disclosure, Rowand did leave Sunday’s game in the 8^th inning with a rolled ankle, but it doesn’t sound as though the ankle roll should keep him from trying to extend his hitting streak to 18 games on Monday.

 

 

C.J. Wilson – RP – Texas Rangers (14% Y!, 30% Y! Plus, 4.4% ESPN)

With closer Frank Francisco dealing with tightness in his shoulder, C.J. Wilson got the save opportunity Sunday.  This marked Wilson’s fifth save this season, all of which have come as Francisco was unable to pitch.  With the Rangers already having had to place Francisco on the DL once for biceps tendonitis after putting off the decision for more than a week, there is certainly a chance that Francisco will have to be placed on the DL again soon. 

 

As for Wilson, since giving up six runs (three earned) in one-third of a inning, he has posted a 2.14 ERA.  Granted, his K/BB has only been 12/11 over that span, which would seem to that there has been a measure of luck to his success thus far.  If you are chasing saves, that probably doesn’t matter too much, and C.J. Wilson is certainly a better bet than Mike MacDougal based on their track records. 

 

 

Jordan Zimmermann – SP – Washington Nationals (12% Y, 37% Y! Plus, 8.6% ESPN)

For the second time this year, I am recommending that you pick up Jordan Zimmermann.  Yes, the 2 – 3 record is not exactly appealing.  The 5.71 ERA is even less enticing.  The rest of his numbers, however, tell a different story.

 

Zimmermann’s control has been superb.  While averaging more than a strikeout per inning (54 in 52.0 IP), he has allowed only 14 walks, leading to a K/BB of 3.86.  His WHIP has been much more palatable than his ERA, coming in at 1.37.  Seeing a pitcher with a WHIP that has been kept relatively low and strikes out as many as Zimmermann does while limiting the free passes handed out via the walk, the question arises, how is his ERA 5.71?  Well, his BABIP is .351.  As such, his FIP is 3.79.  One would expect his BABIP to regress to the mean which would in turn bring his ERA back down to where it should be, and there aren’t many widely available strikeout pitchers without some fairly major control issues.  Pick him up. 

 

 

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.