Total Bases

by thebaselljunkie.com
Issue 1, Volume 1
March 5, 2007

Welcome!

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Total Bases, thebaseballjunkie.com's bi-monthly newsletter!  This past week has seen the first exhibition games of the 2007 season take place in both Florida and Arizona, while position battles, sleeper candidates, and injury risks are starting to take shape.  Josh Johnson and Jered Weaver top the injury risk rankings as they wait to find out if they will get have a chance to build on their 2006 breakout seasons and they both look likely to start the season on the DL.  Foreign players such as Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kei Igawa and Akinori Iwamura have generated a lot of interest in the fantasy world (not to mention Japan), while rookies Philip Hughes, Alex Gordon and Homer Bailey have keeper owners salivating.  For more in depth reviews, see below.

This week's Fantasy Baseball News

• Corey Hart (MIL) will be starting in right field for Milwaukee.  His career stats (see below) show that he's capable of putting up a very good fantasy season if he is given a full time job.  His numbers last year in limited action, (.283/.331/.468) were very good for his age.  If you prorate these numbers out to 500 AB's, he would have ended up with 19 home runs and 11 stolen bases and if that was the case, he wouldn't be as much of a sleeper because everyone would be talking about him.  He is a legit 20/20 candidate that nobody is talking about yet.  He's a great pick and likely will be available when you pick in the 20th round (or later).

  Year	Age	Team	Level	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	AVG	SLG	OBP	OPS
  2000	18	Ogden	Rk	57	216	32	62	9	1	2	30	6	0	13	27	0.287	0.366	0.332	0.698
  2001	19	Ogden	Rk	69	262	53	89	18	1	11	62	14	1	26	47	0.340	0.542	0.403	0.945
  2002	20	High Desert	A+	100	393	76	113	26	10	22	84	24	11	37	101	0.288	0.573	0.356	0.928
  2002	20	Huntsville	AA	28	94	16	25	3	0	2	15	3	2	7	16	0.266	0.362	0.343	0.705
  2003	21	Huntsville	AA	130	493	70	149	40	1	13	94	25	8	28	101	0.302	0.467	0.346	0.813
  2004	22	Indianapolis	AAA	121	441	68	124	29	8	15	67	17	7	41	92	0.281	0.485	0.346	0.832
  2004	22	Milwaukee	MLB	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
  2005	23	Nashville	AAA	113	429	85	132	29	9	17	69	31	7	48	88	0.308	0.536	0.379	0.915
  2005	23	Milwaukee	MLB	21	57	9	11	2	1	2	7	2	0	6	11	0.193	0.368	0.270	0.638
  2006	24	Nashville	AAA	26	100	19	32	10	1	4	21	11	2	12	25	0.320	0.560	0.398	0.958
  2006	24	Milwaukee	MLB	87	237	32	67	13	2	9	33	5	8	17	58	0.283	0.468	0.331	0.799

• Kelly Johnson (ATL) has seen the majority of time at 2B for Atlanta so far this spring.  As an OF he didn't hold much fantasy value, but this drastically changes with his switch to a very offensively challenged second base position.  His minor league numbers show solid speed/power potential, and he could end the year with 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases if he gets 500 AB's.

  Year	Age	Team	Level	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	AVG	SLG	OBP	OPS
  2000	18	Gulf Coast	Rk	53	193	27	52	12	3	4	29	6	1	24	45	0.269	0.425	0.349	0.77
  2001