Blogs

Eric Cunningham

Platoon Battles

May 6, 2009 5:07pm CDT

Throughout the fantasy baseball season, some of the most aggravating players can be those stuck in position battles with teammates. How each owner navigates these situations can determine just how successful their fantasy team will be, especially in deeper leagues. Here, the goal will be to dissect a handful of fantasy-relevant position battles each week as an aid. While this article may be geared more towards deeper leagues there should be something here that leagues of all shapes and sizes can take away.

Boston Red Sox - Shortstop

The Candidates

Name AB R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG OPS
Julio Lugo 14 1 0 1 0 .214 .313 .214 .527
Nick Green 64 8 1 11 1 .281 .352 .422 .774

Since Julio Lugo returned from his injury, the Red Sox had been splitting their shortstop duties fairly evenly between him and Nick Green; however, according to Red Sox manager Terry Francona, Lugo was rushed back from knee surgery and he "isn't quite moving yet like he's going to." This means that the Red Sox will be very cautious with his playing time in the coming days. Offensively, Lugo has struggled. He used to be able to be counted on for a strong batting average with a decent number of steals, but ever since arriving in Boston his numbers have started to dwindle. He has only managed a .257 batting average with the Red Sox.

Green has suddenly been relied upon to become the stopgap at shortstop. He's the clear choice to play in almost all of the upcoming games, but in a few days Lugo will get his chance to come back and cut into his playing time. Green has a window of opportunity to make a name for himself. He's impressed by ranking fifth among Red Sox in OBP.

The Forecast

This isn't exactly a bad idea. Green is clearly outperforming Lugo in all facets of the game. With opening day starter Jed Lowrie not projected to return until the all-star break, Green has as much of an opening as he could ask for to make his mark. If Lugo can return later this week at full capacity, he would likely unseat Green as the starter at some point.

San Francisco Giants - First Base

The Candidates
Name AB R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG OPS
Travis Ishikawa 62 6 0 9 0 .210 .254 .274 .528
Rich Aurilia 31 2 0 5 0 .226 .294 .226 .520

Travis Ishikawa has gotten off to a poor start.
Entering the season, the Giants had high hopes for Travis Ishikawa. He had hit 27 home runs in limited time between Double- and Triple-A, and the majors and has a fantastic glove. It seemed like he was going to be able to step in and contribute, especially against right-handed pitchers, but the results have been slow to come. He's seen his playing time cut to make way for veteran Rich Aurilia.

Aurilia used to be a fantasy force at shortstop, but these days he has made his money by being a platoon hitter against southpaws. In 2008, he produced a .321-5-15 line through 137 at-bats against left-handed pitchers while producing only a .263-5-37 stat line against right-handed pitchers. This year, the Giants are actually trying to limit Aurilia's at-bats to almost primarily against southpaws, and as a result it hasn't led to much playing time. They're going to have to get him on the field more and more to attempt to get him in some sort of groove.

The Forecast

There is little doubt that the Giants have faith in this platoon. Ishikawa has been fit into the seventh spot in the lineup on a fairly regular basis, but against a southpaw, the lineup changes to fit Aurilia into the third hole or even get him to bat cleanup. In daily leagues, this is a dream platoon. The Giants don't appear to be wavering from this lineup, and if you have to deal with a platoon, it doesn't get much better than this since you have the confidence to know they won't be shaking things up. Ishikawa's numbers will have to improve, though, if he doesn't want to see his playing time cut.

Kansas City Royals - Catcher

The Candidates
Name AB R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG OPS
John Buck 55 5 3 16 0 .236 .306 .527 .834
Miguel Olivo 57 5 2 7 0 .211 .250 .368 .618

John Buck and Miguel Olivo have led similar fantasy baseball lives. Both have had moments of fantasy glory, but neither has been good enough to own on a consistent basis every year. Buck has averaged over 12 home runs and 44 RBI per season over the past five years. His batting average has never topped .245, but the power is nice seeing as he has been able to average only 345 at-bats per season.

Olivo is also a catcher with some power but not batting average skills. In the last three seasons he was able to reach double digits in home runs, but he also hasn't hit better than .263. Olivo also has the ability to bring in a handful of steals. In 2008, he was able to put swipe seven bases, which ranked him third among all catchers.

The Forecast

I don't need to tell you that it can be tough to find a fantasy catcher on the waiver wire. While neither of these players will help you at all in batting average, they will each help you gain a little bit of pop from a position that is generally devoid of it. The fantasy value of these two is virtually identical since they provide basically the same numbers, but Buck has been swinging the bat better so far this year, so he's likely to get a bigger chunk of starts for the time being.

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