Yep, you know me. I only cover Mariners. Though I’m not as much of a homer as JayWrong is with his San Diego Chargers, Padres, Zoos, Comic-Cons, and even Newscasters, I admittedly let my pieces of Pacific Northwest flair get the best of me last week, believing in Michael Morse. What else should I be? All apologies…I wanted to believe Morse was worth at least a HR or two but as of this Saturday morning typing, the lumbering oaf doesn’t even have a double and I’m guessing probably won’t do much the last two days. Maybe I should’ve gone with Bogusevic…but rather than wallow in self-loathing and then project it onto the internet for everyone to see, I’m looking to move on. I’m gonna suggest to you a guy who’s actually been hot over the last few weeks but hasn’t really caught on with the masses like I thought he would at this point given positional scarcity. We’re here to talk about none other than the post-hype sleeper that is Dustin Ackley and why he’ll help you for week 23 of the 2013 Fantasy Baseball season…
First note, if you play in any leagues with me, don’t even bother looking. I grabbed him last week. Sorry snitches! Trying to cheat off my writings and gain the upper-hand, using them against me. You may think you’re clever but you ain’t as clever as me! Ok, that was silly I know. Nobody from my leagues reads what I put. But nevertheless, I picked up Ackley last week to fill in for a struggling 2B/SS whoever – ‘Whoever’ is my pet name for my 2B/SS position because I don’t even know who’s in it half the time – and I gotta say I’ve been mighty pleased. In 110 at-bats in the second half, Ackley is batting .364 with 2 HRs, 13 runs and 15 RBIs to go with 1 steal. I know, I know, sounds boring but what are YOU rocking at MI these days? Alcides Escobar? He’s been trash and he’s not even serving you up steals. Asdrubal Cabrera? He’s been less enjoyable and more frustrating then auto-erotica phone sex. Worried this is a fluky hot-streak? Well, Ackley’s main problem when he started the year was for a lack of hitting the ball hard. Ackley’s LD% in the month of August is a whopping 25.4% and those underlying initial ‘boring’ stats I talked about? Minus the steals, you can prorate his numbers over 550 ABs and be closer to what many projected Ackley to be: a low to mid-teen power guy with a reasonable average. He’s not outperforming his expectations. He’s a good hitter who’s finally figured it out who’s on a really hot streak who should still have value even when he cools a bit. In all truthiness, I’m not a huge fan of his schedule this week (@KC for 4 and back home against the Rays for the final 3) but with the way he’s swinging the bat, I think he’ll be able to play above it. So go give yourself an Ack-attack as he’s only 9.4% owned in ESPN leagues as of Saturday morning.
