-Roto Words - By AJ Jackson
Mike Pelfrey SP, NYM – Pedro is hurt. Surprise! Pelfrey will see a lot of primetime runs from one of the best batting orders in the game. He is now firmly entrenched in the starting rotation so this could be the year.
Billy Butler DH, KC – He may be a DH only, but he can hit. Get him if you still can, the Royals have more pop than you think.
Mark Lowe RP, SEA – J.J. Putz goes on the DL so Lowe becomes the guy of the moment in the city of rain. He is a must have if you already have Putz and a little roster space.
Joe Saunders SP, ANA – Saunders pitched 8 shutout innings the other day against a pretty good Twins line up. With injuries to Kelvim Escobar and John Lackey, Joe should get the ball a lot this season. He is somebody who should be picked up, especially if you own Lackey. Every year the Angels have a break out pitcher; there is no reason to think that won’t be Saunders.
Kevin Youkilis 1B, BOS – This guy scores runs. He is always on base and hits in the sweet spot of an obscene batting order. Yuuuuuuuuke won’t give you many homeruns, but he will draw a lot of walks which sets him up to score a lot of runs. Youkilis is looking to continue the production he had in 2007 when he helped lead the Red Sox through the post season on their way to the World Series Championship.
Gary Matthews OF, ANA – What people don’t realize is that Matthews is batting second in the Angels line-up. That means he bats in between Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero. Matthews will see a ton of fastballs because teams will need to throw them to keep Figgins from running, and he will see a ton of strikes because nobody will want to put runners on in front of Vlad.
Mike Napoli C, ANA – Never underestimate a backstop with 20 home run potential.
Clayton Kershaw SP, LA – Kershaw is the next Dwight Gooden. At 20 years old, he is the best prospect the Dodgers have. Joe Torre practically drools over the guy and he has even said he thinks Kershaw will be ready to pitch in the big leagues sooner as opposed to later.
Nick Johnson 1B, WAS – Johnson is seeing most of the playing time at 1B for the Nats. He is worth a flyer if you have an injury risk like Albert Pujols. He could prove to be an effective stop gap down the road.
Blake Dewitt 3B, LA – The Dodgers are very weak at 3B. Dewitt, hasn’t looked bad at all in his first real playing time. It would not be a stretch to think that he could hold on to the job even after Andy LaRoche and Nomar Garciaparra come back.
Before I sign off for the day, let us discuss the often debated closer situation. I am always interested as to how people feel they should use closing pitchers. I personally do not feel that a closer is very important. There is always one who can be grabbed off of the waiver wire. Usually, the value you have to give to get a name closer isn’t worth the contribution the team gets in return. Closers really only contribute in Saves. If you look at the stats for the season to date, there are a bunch of guys who have saves that could have been had for nothing, and it is only the first week of the season. Well, that is just my opinion.
