But, the writer was wrong in one aspect, Lawrie and Hosmer do not hit in strong lineups. Sure, on paper they are strong lineups. Still, a Bonifacio, Gose, Kawasaki bottom of the Toronto lineup is not to be feared.
And get this from Hosmer's team...
The Astros have scored more runs than the Royals this year.
The only team to hit less homers are the Marlins.
The Marlins have 27 homers, the Royals, 28.
Only five Royals batters have multiple homers. This includes Miguel Tejada.
The bottom nine teams in total bases represent just three different divisions.
From the National League East, the Phils, Nats, Mets, and Marlins rank 22nd, 24th, 28th, and 30th
From the National League West, the Padres and Dodgers rank 23rd and 29th
From the American League Central, the Royals, Twins, and White Sox rank 25th, 26th, and 27th.
Nuff' said on that....
This rotoworld blurb was from a few days ago about Chris Johnson....
'Atlanta has used Johnson masterfully, platooning him with Juan Francisco at the hot corner, and been rewarded with a .349/.382/.496 slash line. According to BABIP, Johnson has been amongst the luckiest hitters in the league this year. If you can sell high, do so before he regresses to something similar to the .281/.326/.451 batting line he posted in 136 games last season between the Astros and Diamondbacks'
First, I want to be the first to call this guy, a dumbass.
Dumbass.
I'll take my chances and say it wasn't Dave.
This was a well-meaning blurb, but when there are so many things wrong, it's just not right.
There's a country song in that line.
We don't need BABIP to tell us that Johnson has been lucky in hitting .349. Go ahead, ask Johnson himself, he'll tell you he's not a .349 hitter. At the same time, ask every hitter in baseball!
Dumbass.
How has Atlanta 'masterfully' platooned him? Masterful because his average has jumped or because he's lucky?
Masterful in that he mostly faces lefties? How is that more masterful than other platoons?
Atlanta doesn't become masterful because of Johnson's luck do they? I guess they do.
This writer has it both ways.
Dumbass.
He's gonna regress in batting average? Really?
No comment needed.
Dumbass.
I drafted Johnson. Others have too. We didn't draft Johnson for his mirage of a batting average. We drafted him for power at the corner position. He has three homers and 14 rbi.
To this point, he is not a good fantasy player, lucky average or not.
This blurb makes it seem as though he's a gold mine.
If Jeff Francoeur shocks the baseball world and has two homers and four rbi in tonights game, he would match Chris Johnson in those two categories. And nobody wants to be within a frenchy of Jeff Francoeur.
Dumbass.
Sorry, had to get that off my chest....
Since we're here, let's look at other under performing .300 hitters and with two months in the books, it is time to look at players as they are, not what they will become....
Sal Perez is hitting .311 that comes with one homer and no stolen bases with just 15 rbi and 12 runs...A one category player...
Marco Scutaro is hitting .329 and that also comes with just one homer and no sb's and only 12 rbi. Scutaro does have 29 runs, which makes him a two category player.....
Torii Hunter has a .312 batting average. He only has two homers hitting in front of the best hitter in baseball. And they don't need him to steal bases, so he only has one.
With average and runs locked up, some rbi will come his way as well, he is a two and one half category player....
Let's put together an All-Star fantasy team of .300 batters who were missing from many draft lists this year....
C- Sal Perez.
I know, I know, I've already let it be known that he is not all that and a bag of Doritos. But still, a .300 hitter and besides Mauer, Molina, and Posey, finding any, let alone quiet .300 hitting catchers is a chore.
1B-James Loney.
I have to ask myself whether Eric Hosmer would be happy with a James Loney career tract....uh, probably no.
2B- Matt Carpenter.
Sure, his swiss army knife eligibility was a draw for owners, but little was known in what he'd do with day to day playing time. Only Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Joey Votto, and Carlos Gonzalez have as many runs scored as Carpenter.
His only shortcoming is that we can't play him as a pitcher, catcher, or shortstop....
3B- Josh Donaldson.
It seems every year, the A's have a surprise player.
Well Surprise! That player's name is not Cespedes.
Cespedes has one more homer than Donaldson. Aside from that, Donaldson is ahead or tied with Cespedes in every other category.....
SS- Jhonny Peralta. Absolutely hate that first name. That 'H' reminds me of a funny story though...
In out home town, we have the typical ball park with ads painted on outfield fences. Back in the 70's, we had a car dealership that was owned by Dick Mead. And he had one of these ads on the outfield signs.
These ads are seen by nearly every local when we host the Junior College Baseball Championship every year.
This tourney starts on Saturday, has its largest attendance on Memorial Day Monday with fireworks and ends the next Saturday.
On a Sunday night during the tourney, pranksters under the cloak of darkness entered the Stadium with cans of paint and a flashlight.
On Monday, a packed house saw great baseball, a fireworks display, and an unusual advertisement on the right field fence that invited baseball patrons to come see a 'Dick Head' for their automotive needs.
MI- Jean Segura.
No explanation needed.
CI- Manny Machado.
See Segura
OF-Parra, Brantley, Aoki, Markakis, and Carpenter
These hitters have gone beyond the call of duty and Carpenter just wanted to brag about his positionality once more....