Mitch Moreland, a notable imperialist, has been capturing the hearts and minds of fantasy owners while their villages are unsuspectingly pillaged. On the baseball field, he’s been hitting better than he has since 2009… when he was in high A ball. The boy’s a time bomb! So, will he be able to maintain anywhere near this level of production? Or will he turn it off like a light switch (just go click)? My fortune cookie says, “Signs point to yes.” Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with Exhibit A for why you shouldn’t ask your fortune cookie conflicting questions. For those of you who are familiar with Mitch, you’re probably pulling a Large Marge like me when you realized that he’s hitting over a 1.100 OPS in May. He’s doing everything a little bit better: lower strikeout rate, higher walk rate, and a higher home run to fly ball rate, which could be sustainable. Although the caveat is that he’s absolutely crushing the ball at home and against righties, so it’s hard to tell if he’s right side up or upside down. I’m thinking that he’ll likely produce closer to his numbers from last year, with slight improvement going forward. Mitch, I’ve got Moreland a feeling that you’ll still be solid the rest of the way. Anyway, here are some other players who have my attention in OPS leagues:
Adam Eaton – In February I thought Eaton could be in for a huge year. Then he got injured. Now that he’s nearing his return, I wanted to again sound the trumpets and encourage everybody to get him while you still can. They call him Adam, Adam, faster than lightning. No one you see, is a better SAGNOF than he.
Corey Hart – I’ve talked about him so many times that I’m only going to use one run on sentence in this blurb and say that if you pick him, you can be my hero, Enrique.
Matt Joyce – Last month, I said, “He’s probably on your waiver wire. If you can bench him against lefties, pick him up and do so. I’m not at all worried by his slow start and expect him to produce at a similar level to last season going forward.” I’m just trying to spread Joyce to the world and he’s likely still on your waiver wire – so pick him up!
Neil Walker – Everybody needs a middle infielder. Everybody. Walker had high expectations before going on the disabled list and, since returning, he’s hitting poorly to provide you one last chance to make it right and buy low (free?).
Rickie Weeks – Unfortunately he seems to be embracing his homophone. Yes, he should turn it around at some point, but I doubt that he’ll ever return to his .800+ OPS days. Sadly, I think his rest of the season ceiling is last season’s .230/.330/.400 line. God forbid you ever wake up to hear the news (that Weeks is on your team) because then you really might know what it’s like to have to lose.
Josh Willingham – Why are people dropping Kevin Bacon’s second biggest fan? I guess that’s a buy low (free?) option for the rest of us. I love me some Willingham.
Yoenis Cespedes – His numbers are unimpressive right now, but I’d absolutely be buying if given the opportunity. Earlier this year, I wrote, “His .280/.360/.500 line will echo Jason Heyward, minus the upside. That’s meant to be a compliment.” Si se puede, Cespedes! There’s your token Spanish lesson of the week. Class dismissed!
You can follow Tom Jacks on Twitter @votetomjacks
