StarFantasySports.com: 4/6/2007 - Reyes Gets The Save For Tampa Bay

Every day I will be looking over the performances & trends from previous baseball games to help you make educated decisions about your fantasy baseball roster. Here are a few players from yesterday’s action:

Crisp is struggling out of the gate. A player who was identified as a good rebound candidate for this year was Coco Crisp, but so far he’s been anemic. While he did finally get an RBI single yesterday, his batting average currently stands at .100, leaving many owners to consider dropping him. Crisp broke his finger in April of last year and it went downhill from there. While he did steal 22 bags, he only hit 8 HR and batted .264, way down from his career norms. This year he was to be fully healthy, but reported a sore left shoulder in spring training and appears to not be recovered from that. Crisp has always made good contact through out his career, though his walking ability still could use a boost. His growth in slugging percentage the two years prior shows that more power could be on the way. He has the tools to be a .300, 20 HR, 30 SB player, which would make him a top fantasy outfielder. The key thing is he needs to stay healthy, which at this point is questionable. I wouldn’t drop him yet & if you could acquire him cheap, I might make that move because he may get healthy, but you’ll need to monitor his status all season long. That breakout may not happen until 2008 with a truly healthy season.

Hudson’s next step may be power. For several years, Orlando Hudson had held steady, providing not much growth or decline until last year, when he finally received 579 AB’s, upped his walk rate & batting average and became a productive fantasy 2B. At the age of 29, it looked like that may be his peak, but early on this season, he’s showing growth in power. In 2006, he raised his slugging from .412 to .454, the highest of his career. In spring training this year, he slugged .623 and has continued it on early this season, where he currently sports a slugging percentage of .647. It’s too early to tell if this is for real or not, but 20+ HR aren’t out of reach. Another bonus is that his strikeout rate has gone down since 2004, making a .300 season not so far fetched as long as he continues to show good plate discipline with the walks he’s taking. In NL Only leagues where quality 2B is scarce, you may look into acquiring his services before it’s too late.

Reyes gets first crack at saves for Tampa Bay. There was uncertainty on who was going to close in Tampa Bay, but after last night, it looks like it’ll be Al Reyes for now. Reyes came in and pitched a perfect 9th inning for the save and struck out a batter as well. Throughout his career, Reyes has been a journey man, but for what reason is hard to figure out. He’s always has had a good strikeout rate during his career and while he can be inconsistent with his walks at times, he’s shown good strikeout to walk ratios too. He is coming back from Tommy John surgery & is 35 years old, so who knows what can happen. The year before Tommy John surgery, he was stellar with the Cardinals, going 62 2/3 innings with 67 strikeouts, only 20 walks, 5 homeruns allowed & a 2.15 ERA. He holds the essential skills to be a closer and if you are looking for saves, he actually makes a very viable option.

Morris solid last night, but there still are warning signs. Matt Morris had a horrible year last year, which he blamed mostly on injured ribs. Fully healthy, Morris had a sub par spring, which led many to believe he wasn’t healthy after all. After his first start, some may think he’s back to his old self, but hold the phone. He went 6 innings, gave up only 5 hits, however he walked 2 batters & struck out only 2 as well. Last year Morris’ downfall was the fact that his strikeout rate continued to plummet while his walk rate climbed. If you can’t strikeout anyone anymore, you certainly can’t start walking batters, which he has failed to realize in spring training and his first game of the regular season. He could still rebound, but as of now, I wouldn’t touch him.

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