Up the Gut: 4/12/07
April 12, 2007
Up the Gut will be our report that we'll be posting every three weeks on the middle infielders and catchers around the league. We'll be rotating this with a corner infield report and an outfield report throughout the year.
Catchers
Hot
Mike Piazza - 13/28 (.464), 1 HR, 4 R, 3 RBI
Russell Martin - 6/18 (.333), 3 R, 1 RBI, 3 SB
Paul Lo Duca - 5/17 (.294), 1 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI
Gregg Zaun - 4/16 (.250), 1 HR, 3 R, 5 RBI
Ivan Rodriguez - 6/26 (.231), 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI
Freed from the responsibility of actually catching, Piazza is looking like he may turn out to be a top five catcher in 2007. He's both seeing and driving the ball well as the DH in Oakland, and is on a tear to start the year.... Martin's three steals last week at a position where speed is incredibly scarce make him extremely valuable. Down the road, he'll turn out to be a Jason Kendall (in his prime) type... let's just hope that he can avoid the injuries that sapped Kendall's power completely.... Lo Duca may hit double digit homers this season, but he won't produce many beyond that. He remains a nice option because of his strong average-hitting skills, particularly with a loaded lineup ready to drive him in... Zaun has a little pop in his bat, but this week figures to be an abberation. On the positive side, he's in a stacked lineup.... What's not shocking about Pudge is that he's yet to take a walk. What is shocking is that he homered in back to back games last week. Rodriguez was once an elite power option, but has just 27 homers in the past two seasons.
Cold
A.J. Pierzynski - 1/19 (.053), 1 R, 1 RBI
Johnny Estrada - 3/19 (.158), 2 R
Ronny Paulino - 2/15 (.133), 1 RBI
Chris Iannetta - 1/12 (.083), 1 R, 1 RBI
Rod Barajas - 0/6 (.000), 1 RBI
If you have A.J., you have him for his power, not his average. He's bound to pick up the pace there a bit, and should end up being one of the handful of catchers that challenges the twenty homer plateau... Estrada's strength is that he hits for average and steps up with his situational hitting. He's still batting .300 on the early season, but is slumping in the past week... Paulino started slow out of the block, but should build off of a strong rookie season... The Rockies have been on the road, and it's shown in Iannetta's play. The youngster should develop into a quality average-hitting catcher with 15-20 homer pop, but he's still a bench player in standard leagues.... Speaking of benches, Barajas seems headed there more and more often. Carlos Ruiz has shown some life behind the plate for the Phillies, and that's who they would prefer to win the job. Why? He's Barajas (very good power, mediocre average), but considerably younger and cheaper.
Injuries
Victor Martinez - Quad Strain (Day to Day)
Ramon Hernandez - Strained Oblique (1-2 Weeks)
Josh Bard - Strained Groin (2-3 Weeks)
It appears Martinez may avoid the disabled list. The Tribe is indicating that they may use him in a pinch-hitting role some time this weekend and may even try and squeeze him in as the DH. Not to escape the catcher report this is supposed to be, but will Travis Hafner get some reps over at first base to keep Martinez' bat in the lineup? Either way, expect Martinez to see a little more time at first base when he's ready to play the field.
Ramon Hernandez has been a little slow in recovering from his oblique injury. He's eligible to return Sunday, but probably won't actually get into a big league game for at least a week or so after that. He's going to spend some time getting into game shape in Extended Spring Training.
I haven't seen Bard's injury, and I'm actually kind of baffled by it. Most reports late Wednesday night were indicating that it was a slight strain and that he'd probably miss just a few games. Instead, the Padres placed him on the disabled list Thursday after he was re-evaluated. Apparently it was more serious than they initially let on. Rob Bowen will start in the meantime, while the Pads called up Pete LaForest from AAA Portland to back Bowen up.
Second Basemen
Hot
Ty Wigginton - 12/33 (.364), 3 HR, 7 R, 8 RBI
Orlando Hudson - 11/28 (.393), 2 HR, 7 R, 4 RBI
Kazuo Matsui - 5/19 (.263), 2 R, 1 RBI, 4 SB
Rickie Weeks - 6/22 (.273), 2 HR, 8 R, 3 RBI, 1 SB
Ian Kinsler - 6/16 (.375), 2 HR, 3 R, 5 RBI
Aaron Hill - 12/28 (.429), 1 HR, 6 R, 9 RBI
Who says second base is so weak this year? Not only did four of our five hot players hit a pair of dingers this week. Brandon Phillips, Mark DeRosa, and Kelly Johnson all did as well.... Wigginton is carrying over his phenomenal showing from 2006, and actually looking like a starting first baseman (that he is) in Tampa Bay. What's more, he qualifies at every infield position except for shortstop... O-Dogg has gotten off to his best offensive start for the Diamondbacks. He's always shown flashes of power in the past, and seems to be learning to take advantage of Chase Field. Expect him to duplicate (or possibly improve upon) the fifteen dingers he hit a year ago... Considering that everyone's been down on him for years, you can't help but be happy for Matsui with the way he has performed in Colorado. He's looking like a leadoff man, working the count and always seems to be on the move when he reaches base.... Kinsler has homered in two straight, and already has four on the year for the Rangers. After a slow and injury riddled start to the 2006 campaign, he's showing us all that he's arrived in full force.... Toss B.J. Upton in for good measure, as he's proving he can handle second base quite well in Tampa and is looking like a draft day steal.
Cold
Brian Roberts - 5/30 (.167), 5 R, 2 RBI
Chris Burke - 2/15 (.133), 1 RBI
Nick Punto - 2/18 (.111), 1 R
Dustin Pedroia - 2/16 (.125)
Josh Barfield - 1/14 (.071), 2 R
While he's not hitting for average right now, Roberts is still getting on base enough to score his fair share of runs in Baltimore... Burke may be struggling out of the gate while he gets used to playing centerfield. He should come around to hit well for average and swipe 15-20 bags... Punto and Pedroia are far from being fantasy options, but have been exceptionally disappointing. Pedroia at least has some value in keeper leagues... The biggest letdown of the early season at second, however, has been Barfield. After hitting .280 with thirteen bombs when calling Petco home last year, he has just three hits in his first six games in Cleveland. Expect a turnaround, and consider him an option to try and buy low.
Injuries
Chone Figgins - Broken Finger (2-3 Weeks)
Figgins is coming along faster than expected. He's expected to resume throwing early next week and could be back with the club by the end of the month.
Shortstops
Hot
Jose Reyes - 9/24 (.375), 6 R, 8 RBI, 4 SB
Jimmy Rollins - 8/29 (.276), 4 HR, 8 R, 8 RBI
Derek Jeter - 11/30 (.367), 9 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Aaron Hill - 12/28 (.429), 1 HR, 6 R, 9 RBI
Juan Uribe - 6/18 (.333), 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI
Not surprisingly, the top three are three of the top five shortstops. What may be surprising is Rollins' hot start. Rollins is known for being a second half stud, but usually gets out of the gate very slowly. This could be a huge breakout waiting to happen... Reyes' start should be making owners wise enough to pluck him second overall after Albert Pujols feel awfully good. He's doing a little of everything, and he's even finding ways to both draw walks and drive runners in from the leadoff spot.... Jeter's success so far this season is a combination of his strong on-base skills and a dominant Yankee lineup behind him. He hit .367 last week and scored nine runs. Apart from that, there wasn't much production in the counting categories. Then again, if he's scoring nine runs a week, who needs it? Hill could turn out to be a developing story, primarily because of the Jays' amazing lineup. He's always been a good average hitter with fair on-base skills. His hot streak is a product of the Jays' lineup, but he's capable of pulling a Freddy Sanchez and producing with Runs and RBI just based on the fact that he's a good singles hitter.... Uribe is extremely streaky, and he's suddenly rolling. He's good for power, but that's about all.
Cold
Bill Hall - 2/18 (.111), 1 R
Felipe Lopez - 7/30 (.233), 1 R
Bobby Crosby - 1/12 (.083)
Troy Tulowitzki - 2/15 (.133), 1 R, 1 RBI
Orlando Cabrera - 5/23 (.217), 3 RBI
Hall may be struggling a bit with his move to centerfield. He'll start hitting for power soon enough.... Lopez needs to get on base and swipe some bags if he wants the struggling Nats to drive him in. He's doing neither right now... Crosby has no place even near a fantasy roster at this point. He's never even come close to living up to the hype.... Tulo needs to return home to Denver, and should start mashing from there.
Injuries
Hanley Ramirez - Hamstring (Day to Day)
Rafael Furcal - Sprained Ankle (1 Week)
Cristian Guzman - Strained Hamstring (2-3 Weeks)
Ramirez is expected to return to the Marlins' lineup some time this weekend. It could be interesting to see if this slows him down at all on the basepaths.
Furcal was expected back Friday, but may take a few more days after complaining that his foot didn't feel right on Thursday's off day.
Guzman's injury has opened up playing time for Ronnie Belliard, which is probably the best thing for the Nationals. He should be back near the end of the month, but may not have a starting job to return to. That would be a good thing.
Fantasy Baseball 
