With the half way point quickly approaching, let’s take a look at some surprises so far this year, as well as some surprises to look out for. Fantasy baseball surprises come up all the time as players lose their jobs, new players gain jobs, and some players just get hot and cold. Adjustments have to be made to teams to stay competitive, but don’t react to hasty to every little report or injury to your team. A fantasy team’s chemistry is just as important with fantasy baseball as it is in the real world. There are times when owners just have to be confident that their players will turn it around and make the necessary moves to get back to where they are expected, but there are always surprises.
Fantasy Baseball Surprises:
- Raul Ibanez – This is quite a surprise as he leads the league in runs scored and batted in. Plus, he is second in home runs. The numbers are way above his normal numbers and some have speculated, but he has rejected all claims to this point.
- Torii Hunter – He has always been consistent, but with his team lacking production, he has stepped up in a big way and in the process is putting up a career numbers. He should get a chance to go to the All-Star game this year.
- John Smotlz – I know he hasn’t thrown a pitch yet, but the fact that he will be starting in the big leauges again next week at age 42 is quite remarkable and some what of a surprise. I’m sure the Braves are saying the same thing as they are in line to face him in his second start of the season.
- Zack Greinke – I have to say that no one expected the kind of numbers he has put up so far this year and the movement on his ball is truly amazing. I’m not sure who else saw this coming, but it was surprise to say the least.
- Troy Percival – Had a great season last year and looked like he was back on track again this year. However, the latest set back has him back at home contemplating retirement. He had a great run and was one of the games best closers in his prime. Thanks for winning one with the Anaheim Angels.
- Manny Ramirez – Always denied it, never thought he would be apart of it, but with Ortiz’s recent struggles it makes me wonder how productive ManRam will be when he comes back. As a fantasy owner of Manny, I’d hope that it wasn’t the juice keeping his production up.
- Adrian Gonzalez – Has been showing some power of the past few years, but this looks it will be his break out season that puts him among the leagues elite players. As a fantasy owner of Adrian, I’ve seen his production for years and realize that he was always a great player and wasn’t that surprised by this year’s output.
There are more surprises this year, and I will try to update it with more as we go along. Pleas feel free to share some comments on other players or teams that have turned out to be a fantasy baseball surprise.
People generally think that hitting the top of the ball, which results in ground balls, is caused by hitting down on the ball or chopping at it. In my 21 years of coaching baseball, rarely would I come across hitters who actually chopped at the ball. I observed that most ground balls hit were caused by the hitters hands were on an upward path on the initial portion of the swing, usually caused by the lead elbow coming up at the beginning of the swing. This incorrect action is generally known as a chicken-wing, which does not allow hitters to bring their hands to the correct palm-up, palm-down hitting position at contact.