The first couple weeks of fantasy baseball presents an interesting time for owners. We are excited to get the season rolling and probably excited about the potential our newly drafted team presents but still wary of the unknown. With that excitement comes expectations and both can drive owners to make irrational decisions in April. We're all smart enough not to drop any player we drafted in the first 15 rounds yet but if any player is starting to confirm your suspicions of a bad season, now is the time you prepare his head for the guillotine.
On the flip side, it's wise to temper expectations for potential sleepers. Plucking sleepers from the draft pool is essential to a serious playoff run later in the year but just because your 18th rounder is rounding the bases frequently so far, don't bank on that holding true by the all star break. The slow starts by established stars and hot streaks from role players do provide interesting buy/sell options on the trade and free agent market and are always interesting guys to keep on your radar throughout the month. So lets take a look at our early season overreaction roster which is loaded with men who are either causing fist pumps or throat lumps when you check your fantasy rosters.
Catcher
Brian McCann .154/0/2. Another Yankees free agent bust. Go back to Atlanta, you bum!
Matt Wieters: .357/2/6. I'm telling you, dude this is the year he breaks out at the plate.
Corner Infield
Brandon Belt: .325/5/9. Finding his power stroke. Maybe a sign of things to come.
Edwin Encarnacion: .182/0/0. Zero RBI's as a cleanup hitter is not the Blue Jay Way.
Mike Moustakas: .038/0/1. Potential and a great spring is not translating. Could be running out of chances in KC.
Middle Infield
Emilio Bonafacio: .500, 5 SB's. He gets hot for two weeks at some point every season. Ride him like a hooker; enjoy it and then ditch him and never look back.
Outfield
Charlie Blackmon: .471/1/8. Six hits, five RBi's, and a dong for the home opener?!?! Let's celebrate at the party deck!
Melky Cabrera: .325/4/5. The Melk Man delivers leadoff homers to fantasy owners' porches almost every day. Is he fully healthy? Back on the sauce? Going to flame out in a week? Melky doing his usual to perplex us.
Colby Rasmus: .100/0/0. Remember when everyone hammered the Cards for trading him? That's why St. Louis is smarter than everyone.
B.J Upton: .138/0/0. This is the new normal for B.J. Welcome to the worst contract in baseball conversation, B.J.
Pitchers
Dan Haren: 0.75 ERA, 0.67 WHIP. Might as well ride this until his arm starts hurting yet again.
Jim Johnson: 18.90 ERA, 4.50 WHIP. Already lost his job. A's usually don't hand out big money to relief pitchers. Billy Beane is throwing chairs through walls somewhere in Oakland.
Ivan Nova: 8.68 ERA, 2.25 WHIP. Continues to baffle owners. Further proof that spring training stats mean shit. Could toss a no-no his next start.
Well there you have it. We are in the infant stages of the season which has already got us thinking if we'll raise a valedictorian roster or wonder where it all went off the rails when our roster is wearing black mascara and listening to Marilyn Manson.
On the flip side, it's wise to temper expectations for potential sleepers. Plucking sleepers from the draft pool is essential to a serious playoff run later in the year but just because your 18th rounder is rounding the bases frequently so far, don't bank on that holding true by the all star break. The slow starts by established stars and hot streaks from role players do provide interesting buy/sell options on the trade and free agent market and are always interesting guys to keep on your radar throughout the month. So lets take a look at our early season overreaction roster which is loaded with men who are either causing fist pumps or throat lumps when you check your fantasy rosters.
Catcher
Brian McCann .154/0/2. Another Yankees free agent bust. Go back to Atlanta, you bum!
Matt Wieters: .357/2/6. I'm telling you, dude this is the year he breaks out at the plate.
Corner Infield
Brandon Belt: .325/5/9. Finding his power stroke. Maybe a sign of things to come.
Edwin Encarnacion: .182/0/0. Zero RBI's as a cleanup hitter is not the Blue Jay Way.
Mike Moustakas: .038/0/1. Potential and a great spring is not translating. Could be running out of chances in KC.
Middle Infield
Emilio Bonafacio: .500, 5 SB's. He gets hot for two weeks at some point every season. Ride him like a hooker; enjoy it and then ditch him and never look back.
Outfield
Charlie Blackmon: .471/1/8. Six hits, five RBi's, and a dong for the home opener?!?! Let's celebrate at the party deck!
Melky Cabrera: .325/4/5. The Melk Man delivers leadoff homers to fantasy owners' porches almost every day. Is he fully healthy? Back on the sauce? Going to flame out in a week? Melky doing his usual to perplex us.
Colby Rasmus: .100/0/0. Remember when everyone hammered the Cards for trading him? That's why St. Louis is smarter than everyone.
B.J Upton: .138/0/0. This is the new normal for B.J. Welcome to the worst contract in baseball conversation, B.J.
Pitchers
Dan Haren: 0.75 ERA, 0.67 WHIP. Might as well ride this until his arm starts hurting yet again.
Jim Johnson: 18.90 ERA, 4.50 WHIP. Already lost his job. A's usually don't hand out big money to relief pitchers. Billy Beane is throwing chairs through walls somewhere in Oakland.
Ivan Nova: 8.68 ERA, 2.25 WHIP. Continues to baffle owners. Further proof that spring training stats mean shit. Could toss a no-no his next start.
Well there you have it. We are in the infant stages of the season which has already got us thinking if we'll raise a valedictorian roster or wonder where it all went off the rails when our roster is wearing black mascara and listening to Marilyn Manson.