Week 14 of the Major League Baseball season has came and went. The All Stars have been selected and now it is time to look at the best and worst performances of the week.
The five worst performances of week 14.
5. Matt Cain, Starting Pitcher, San Francisco Giants
Cain was expected to be one of the best pitchers in the National League this year but things have been the exact opposite and his fantasy owners are frustrated. His last start might have been the worst of the season for the veteran pitcher as he suffered a loss to the division rival Los Angeles Dodgers. He only managed to get through two and one third innings allowing eight earned runs along with walking four. That put his ERA for the week at 30.86! He is .500 on the season with a 5-5 record but the ERA is ridiculously high for such a good pitcher. His ERA is 4.85 and a lot of experts did not see this coming. It might be time to try and trade Cain if you can get the opportunity.
4. B.J. Upton, Center Fielder, Atlanta Braves
Bossman Junior has had a very unimpressive first season in Atlanta. In his past six games he has struck out eight times with a batting average of .150. In 20 at-bats he only recorded three hits with zero home runs and zero RBIs. The frustration is clearly weighing on BJ as he was ejected from the game on Sunday. His fantasy owners along with the Atlanta Braves organization are hoping he can figure his swing out but there hasn’t been very much sign of improvement any time soon. Considering the amount of money he is making you have to consider him to be one of the biggest busts of the season.
3. Giancarlo Stanton, Right Fielder, Miami Marlins
There has not been many ups for this struggling Marlins club this season and if there would be it would come from this guy. Unfortunately he had a poor week which gives little hope for his team. In his past 25 at-bats he has only recorded three hits while striking out nine times. The one positive is that he was walked six times; since pitchers realize that they can pitch around him whenever they want to due to the lack of talent beyond Stanton. He will go on a lot of hot streaks and is still very young so don’t get worked up over one bad week. I would even go as far to say that if you are in a keeper league this might be one of the main guys you would want to build around.
2. Pedro Alvarez, Third Basemen, Pittsburgh Pirates
Just one week ago Alvarez was playing great, which shows that baseball is one crazy sport that is damn near impossible to predict. He had 11 strikeouts on the week which was second most behind only the rookie Wil Myers. His batting average for the week was .200 but he did hit two home runs. He also had two walks so the lows are a bit covered up by the power. Alvarez is owned in 100 percent of leagues and will probably stay in that range for the next few weeks. I for one would not like to have him on my squad but to each his own.
1. Mark Reynolds, Third Basemen, Cleveland Indians
Everyone is well aware of how Reynolds works. He is either going to hit one out of the park or make no contact at all. This week was the lesser of the two as he failed to record a hit over 20 at-bats with only one walk. He also struck out 11 times and his stock is dropping faster than Enron. Reynolds is owned in only 65 percent of leagues and that number could drop quite a bit more if he continues this. Drop Reynolds from your team now and pick up someone who can give you a chance of winning your league because this guy is not cutting it.
Top five performances of the week.
5. Madison Bumgarner, Starting Pitcher, San Francisco Giants
Everyone expected Bumgarner to pitch like the number two guy in the rotation for the Giants this year but he has looked like the clear ace of this team. He won both of his past two starts allowing only three earned runs over 14 innings pitched. This put his weekly ERA at 1.93 to go with 14 strikeouts and a phenomenal .146 opponent batting average. He did walk three men over those 14 innings but when you are putting up the numbers that he did, you can overlook that. Bum is owned in every single league and you could argue that he should be the starter for the National League in the upcoming All Star game.
4. Hanley Ramirez, Shortstop, Toronto Blue Jays
Fresh off an injury Hanley has came out of the gates firing and he is looking great at the plate. His 11 hits in 25 at-bats put his batting average at .440 with two doubles and a triple. He also hit a home run, drove in three runs walked twice and stole a base. His speed has given him the nickname of “Man of Steal” and for good reason. The Blue Jays have been playing a lot better since he has returned and another batter on this team has gotten hot at the same time, which brings me to the third best performance of the week...
3. Jose Bautista, Right Fielder, Toronto Blue Jays
Bautista and Ramirez had eerily similar numbers this week as Joey Bats recorded 11 hits in 25 at-bats as well. He is more of a power guy and not so much speed and he showed that again this week hitting two home runs and driving in four runs. He was off to a slow start but he is now in full beast mode and has been racking at the plate. His four walks put his OBP at .517 and he is helping his fantasy owners out big time. Continue to start this guy.
2. Robinson Cano, Second Basemen, New York Yankees
The best second basemen in the American League and best player on the Yankees had himself a great week. In his past seven games he has hit four home runs while driving in 11 runs for a Yankees offense that has been near the bottom of all offensive categories. This put his batting average at .400 for the week and his four walks put his OBP at .484. Cano has to be excited for Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to return so this offense can take off a little bit. I don’t need to tell you to continue to start Cano so I won’t.
1. Brian McCann, Catcher, Atlanta Braves
The hottest hitter in baseball for the week goes to Mr. McCann the veteran Braves catcher. After he came off the DL he was struggling to put hits together but is now in full domination mode. His .583 batting average was the top in baseball for qualified players this week with 14 hits in 24 at-bats. The power is slowly coming back for B-Mac as well as he hit two home runs for the week with five RBIs. His one walk put his OBP at .600 for the week as well. For some reason McCann is not owned in 100 percent of leagues which is surprising because the catcher position is not very deep in fantasy baseball. If he is available in your league and you don’t have Yadier Molina or Buster Posey you should go ahead and pick this guy up, ASAP!