Thursday, May 23, 2013

Top Perfomers: May


April can be the cruelest of months, just ask Josh Hamilton, Matt Kemp or any other underperforming high profile player who have battled to find their groove through the first month of Baseball. Their views might not be shared by the players listed below however, who have all had great starts to their season and more importantly helped many of our contestants win their daily matchups. To help provide you some winning insight, below I have named my top picks to help you win your matchups this weekend.

Catcher

Carlos Santana, Cleveland
Carlos has been on fire at the plat recently, after a relatively slow start in April. Carlos offers you plenty of pop this weekend as he faces off against division rival Minnesota Twins at home. Hitting the most homeruns of his short career against Minnesota, and drawing a pitching staff that currently sports a 4.45 ERA on the road this year should allow Carlos to continue his “evil ways” (Santana, 1969) which has seen him go 9 for 18 at the plate with 3 runs, 1 homerun and 4 RBI in the last 7 days while also chipping in 1 stolen base for good measure. Viva Carlos Santana.

Corner

Miguel Cabrera, Detroit
Miggy is an obvious choice here, as last years’ Triple Crown winner and annual MVP candidate, you can’t really argue with this choice on any given day. Cementing him as the top Corner infield play this weekend is the result of a road trip to Houston and their hitter friendly ball park and generous pitching staff. The Thursday to Sunday set should be batting practice for Cabrera, and is the safest play this week as the top corner player.
Note* if you are looking for an under the radar player for this spot only one player has been hotter in the past 7 days than Miggy and that is Edwin Encarnacion, of the Toronto Blue Jays with 8 runs, 6 homeruns and 9 RBI.

Infield

Jean Segura, Milwaukee
Our top rated Short Stop after April, Segura is a 5 tool player, that consistently provides fantasy points through his base running and hitting. A relatively unknown prior to the season, this Dominican Republic born player may soon be mentioned among the Reyes and Ramirez’s of his fellow country. For the season Segura is hitting over .300 with 13 runs, 3 homeruns, 9 RBI and 7 stolen bases.  He plays at home against St. Louis this week but all of his homeruns have been in Milwaukee and he is simply the best short stop play right now but may still be under the radar which could win you some contests this weekend.


Outfield

Nate McLouth
The journeyman outfielder currently with Baltimore has had a career rival so far this year at the plate. A hitter that often struggled with his average over his career batted .346 in April and is the highest scoring fantasy outfielder over the last week. Baltimore has been on a dreaded west coast trip that concludes with a series against the struggling Los Angeles Angels and its bottom 3 pitchers but McLouth is a road warrior who is posting better fantasy points away than at home this year. Currently McLouth is batting .593 this with 11 runs, 7 RBI, 2 homeruns and 4 stolen bases over the last 7 games and is a good bet to continue dominating against a weak Angels pitching staff.

Nelson Cruz
A solid outfielder and focal point of Texas’ offense, Cruz has been outstanding in Texas making Josh Hamilton a distant memory for Rangers fans. Cruz has always been a top fantasy outfielder that has been prone to injury and streakiness but this career .260 hitter is batting .306 after the first month and has contributed 20 RBI which is the third highest total among outfielders. Cruz, like all Texas players is assisted by a solid hitters park where he is a career .300 hitter. Against Boston this weekend at home, Cruz should continue to have success against Boston’s pitching staff as he is batting .529 against Jon Lester over 17 at-bats and has also had success against Felix Doubront and John Lackey and as a whole, Boston pitching struggled mightily from 2010-2012 in Texas. Play Nelson this weekend and you will “Cruz” to a payoff.

Amped Fantasy Guru
Justin Sperdakes

Updated Rankings: Top 20 at each position!

Position Name Team Rank
1B/DH Chris Davis Bal 1
1B/DH Prince Fielder Det 2
1B/DH Joey Votto Cin 3
1B/DH Paul Goldschmidt Ari 4
1B/DH Mark Reynolds Cle 5
1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion Tor 6
1B/DH Anthony Rizzo ChC 7
1B/DH Albert Pujols LAA 8
1B/DH Michael Cuddyer Col 9
1B/DH Allen Craig StL 10
1B/DH Mike Napoli Bos 11
1B/DH Billy Butler KC 12
1B/DH Adrian Gonzalez LAD 13
1B/DH James Loney TB 14
1B/DH Yonder Alonso SD 15
1B/DH Ryan Howard Phi 16
1B/DH Mitch Moreland Tex 17
1B/DH Justin Moreneau Min 18
1B/DH Kendrys Morales Sea 19
1B/DH Freddie Freeman Atl 20

Find the rest of the rankings after the jump!