An All-Star Break Triple Threat Lends Fantasy Owners A Fresh Start
Tired of being the owner of a schizophrenic plus/minius .500 team? Can’t seem to elevate yourself beyond the state of mediocrity? Tired of waking up on Monday morning only to YET AGAIN find out you’ve been edged by 2 points leaving you with a 5-9 team that CLEARLY should be 10-4?
Well don’t worry kids, that’s what we’re here for.
Just because it is the 2011 All-Star break doesn’t mean the fantasy baseball talk stops.We’ve already covered 5 sell high candidates for you, and we have taken a look at some waiver wire sleeper prospects, which you definitely must check out.
Today, however, we’re going to quickly run through some players who traditionally heat up after the All-Star break, and a few other player notes mixed in for good measure.
Edward Nunez – 3B/SS – Yankees: In case you missed my last report, A-Rod is out for 4 to 6 weeks leaving a vacant hole in the Yankees lineup that will be filled with Edward Nunez.
Nunez has already filled in for the Yankees once when Derek Jeter went out, and he did a bang up job producing a little bit better than Jeter, but filling in for A-Rod is a much more difficult task.
Nunez is currently the owner of a .279/.318/.434 clip in just 24 starts with 10 SB.
If you are simply looking for another A-Rod to fill in the gap, you aren’t going to find one at this point in the season, but if you are looking for a serviceable dual-qualifier who can fill the gap then Nunez is your man—especially for AL Only formats.
Ryan Raburn – 2B/OF – Tigers: I know, I know. Boesch is out there playing right now and Raburn is nothing more than a utility hitter in Detroit, but that could all change sooner than you think.
Raburn historically heats up after the All-Star break while Boesch historically cools down.
| Before the All-Star Break |
After the All-Star Break |
|
| Ryan Raburn – 2B/OF | .225 carrer hitter |
.291 career hitter |
| Brennan Boesch – OF | .322 career hitter |
.163 career hitter |
Raburn has been labeled a disappointment thus far, but even Cole Hamels was labeled a disappointment before the All-Star break in 2010, and looked at how that worked out.
Boesche’s cool-off is good for over a .150 point drop— a huge risk to undertake—while Raburn’s historic elevation is a .066 point bump.
You might want to make the move now and reap the benefits later. As a bonus, you get a dual-qualifier in Raburn
Chris Coghlan – OF – Marlins: Coghlan has been an overall disappointment considering what he did in his rookie year, but he is also worth paying attention to once the All-Star break ends.
Why?
Well, it’s really hard to ignore a guy who historically hits .250 before the break, while .364 AFTER the break.
Coghlan offers more than just OBP as he is a guy who can also hit for power and swipe some bases for you, potentially giving your team that jolt in the arm it may need.
With so many sell high candidates and injured players out there, you could do far worse than Coghlan.
5 Players Who Traditionally Heat Up After the All-Star Break Under 40%
| Player-Position-% Owned | Pre All-Star Break | Post All-Star Break |
| Raul Ibanez/OF/34% | Career .275 hitter | Career .289 hitter |
| Carlos Ruiz/C/23% | Career .247 hitter | Career .277 hitter |
| Carlos Zambrano/SP/46% | 50-43 – 3.64 ERA | 58-34 – 3.48 ERA |
| Chris Volstad/SP/3%** | 17-24 – 4.73 ERA | 15-10 – 4.54 ERA |
| Rajai Davis/OF/40% | Career .247 hitter | Career .302 hitter |
RED= Players who are just beginning to heat up
** – Overall best value player on this list right now. Faces Cubs, Padres and Nationals before August 1st.