{"id":576064,"date":"2010-05-23T18:31:30","date_gmt":"2010-05-23T22:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,yhoo:20050301:fantasy,article,yhoo-ept_sports_fantasy_experts-243101:1"},"modified":"2010-05-23T18:31:30","modified_gmt":"2010-05-23T22:31:30","slug":"closing-time-defibrillated-hart-worth-owning-loving-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/576064","title":{"rendered":"Closing Time: Defibrillated Hart worth owning, loving again"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
<\/p>\n

Just one month ago, Corey Hart’s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> fantasy value needed
\nmachine assistance to breathe. The once cherished outfielder, plagued by massive
\nswoons and general inconsistency, had played his way into a well-defined
\nplatoon with Jurassic Jim Edmonds<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> Third stringer Jody Gerut’s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> improbable cycle
\nMay 8 in Arizona
\nthreatened to wrest away additional at-bats. Patience for the 28-year-old in
\nboth fantasy and reality<\/a> was quickly wearing thin.<\/p>\n

But, naturally, he "Never Surrendered." <\/a><\/p>\n

Roughly two weeks later, Hart has stormed back. Though
\ncollectively the Brewers, who’ve dropped nine of 10, have been Miller Lite in
\nmany facets of the game, the lanky right-fielder isn’t to blame. Netting
\neveryday at-bats with Edmonds
\non the shelf, he’s exploded blasting six homers with 11 RBI since May 15. His
\nlong-ball burst has temporarily recaptured value lost. <\/p>\n

Two seasons ago, Hart, coming off his second consecutive
\n20-20 campaign, was an early round darling. Pundits and casual players alike
\nexpected the statistically balanced commodity to flirt with 30-30 greatness. At that
\ntime, many shortsightedly labeled him a poor man’s Grady Sizemore<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> However,
\nafter a gut-wrenching ’09, many dismissed his two-year run as nothing more than
\na McLouth-esque anomaly.<\/p>\n

However, based on his recent power streak owners should wash
\nthe bitter taste from their mouths, even in 12-team mixed leagues. Under the
\nhood, his stark improvement versus offspeed junk, particularly over the outer
\nportion, is directly responsible for his growth in walks percentage. And, presumably,
\nthe homer spike. <\/p>\n

Because of his increased choosiness at the dish, Hart is
\nbeating once again. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong>Evidently, Scott Rolen<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> doesn’t realize he’s supposed to be
\none groin pull from the nursing home. The oft-injured hot corner tagged two
\nround-trippers (Nos. 9 and 10) against intrastate rival Cleveland. He’s now
\nonly third to Ty Wigginton<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Mark Reynolds<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> for most homers by a third baseman
\nthis season. Incredibly the 17-year vet is owned in just 38 percent of Y!
\nleagues. Due to his excellent contact rates and previous power history, a
\nreturn to the 25-30 HR plateau is achievable. Just imagine if he played his
\nentire career on grass. <\/p>\n

<\/a>•<\/strong>Zack Greinke<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> owners are officially uncomfortably numb after
\nthe reigning Cy Young winner’s latest debacle. Over 3.1 IP, he was spanked for
\nseven earned (9 H, 1 K, 0 BB). His basic characteristics (K\/BB, BB\/9, BABIP)
\nremain strong, but digging deeper alarming signs are everywhere. Entering
\nSunday, opponents had applied bat to ball on outside offerings 18.3 percent
\nmore often than a season ago. That combined with a slight decrease in fastball
\nvelocity along with an uptick in fly-ball percentage has those who shelled out big bucks for his services understandably concerned. Until he starts
\nmissing more bats, occasional rocky performances are very possible. Stock up
\non the Beam. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong>Owners in dire straits for suitable outfielders should pay
\nclose attention to Cleveland’s
\nTrevor Crowe<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> The switch-hitter, who has some BA and steals upside – he swiped
\n28 bags at the Double-A level in ’07 – is 12-for-37 with five runs, a homer,
\nseven RBI and three steals on the season. With Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span>
\nsidelined, he should remain a fixture atop the Indians lineup over at least the
\nnext couple weeks. You’re not dropping proven talent for him, but the
\none-percent owned leadoff man is a player of interest in deeper formats. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong>Strange happenings galore dominated the "rivalry"
\ngame between the White Sox and Marlins. Freddy Garcia<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Randy Williams<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> were
\nfeeling overly generous yielding a combined five homers. The Toy Cannon, Cody
\nRoss<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> eclipsed the outfield wall twice. The diminutive outfielder now has 24
\nRBI on the season, one more than Adam Lind<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> Meanwhile, Josh Johnson<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> who earned
\nhis fifth win of the season, failed to record a strikeout over six spotless
\ninnings. It was the first time in his career he did not K a single batter in a
\nstart. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong>Unknown just a handful of days ago, John Axford<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> earned his
\nfirst save of the season. Closing the door wasn’t easy as he gave up three
\nhits, a walk and an earned run, but his three Ks shows how lethal his stuff can be.
\nAs Behrens noted earlier Sunday<\/a>, the flamethrower has the opportunity to become
\nKen Macha’s primary end game option. However, baseball’s all-time saves leader,
\nTrevor Hoffman<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> is convinced he has another life left. The 42-year-old, who
\nmarched alongside George Washington at Valley Forge,
\npitched a scoreless eighth on Sunday. If you haven’t already, grab Axford
\nimmediately in mixed leagues. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong>Baltimore
\ncloser Alfredo Simon<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> strained a hamstring after attempting to cover first base.
\nHe is expected to miss at least the next few days. Desperate – and we mean
\nDESPERATE – saves seekers should employ Cla Meredith<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> pronto. The righty, who’s
\nequipped with very pedestrian stuff, has a 5.14 ERA and 4.50 K\/9 on the season.
\nHe does coax plenty of weak contact, but his struggles historically with the
\nlong-ball labels him unreliable. The side-armer served up a walk-off homer to Josh Willingham<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> on Sunday. Pick him up at your own risk. <\/p>\n

QUICK HITTERS:<\/strong> Though it wasn’t a clean save, Kerry Wood<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span>
\nslammed the door for the first time this season. He allowed one hit and struck
\nout one. More tumultuous outings are sure to follow in the future. … Roy Hallady
\nis mortal after all. The seemingly invincible starter allowed six earned over
\n5.2 innings pitch. Backups Greg Dobbs<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Juan Castro<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> who each committed
\ncostly errors, did the multi-time All-Star no favors. The rough outing was only
\nthe second time since 2007 Halladay had surrendered a minimum of six earned in
\na game. … Widely available base burglar Corey Patterson<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> stole his fourth base in
\njust 12 games. In terms of BA, he will be a ball buster, but the speed is very
\nreal. Frankly, he’s on the same plane as Nyjer Morgan<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> … In terms of pop, Gaby
\nSanchez<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> is Todd Helton<\/a>(notes)<\/a>-light,<\/span> but after Sunday’s 3-for-5, three RBI, two run,
\none SB performance against hated interleague rival Chicago, he’s on pace for a
\n15-70-80 campaign.… Armageddon is just around the corner. Carlos Silva<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> extended
\nhis record to 6-0 winning in Texas.
\nHis offspeed emphasis, sharp command and terrific groundball rate arrows to
\ncontinued success. A repeat of ’07 is looking more and more likely. … Ben Zobrist<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span>
\nbatting in the catbird seat for only the 12th time in his career, jacked homer
\nNo. 2. He finished with three hits, two RBI and two runs on the day. A power
\nbinge is well underway. … Toronto’s
\nBash Brothers, Jose Bautista<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Edwin Encarnacion<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> each went yard yet again. Bautista
\nnow has 38 RBI on the season, the third-highest mark in the majors. The Noise wonders if Adam B still considers him (profane)ty<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Finally on a somber note. Jose Lima<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> died suddenly from an
\napparent heart attack in Los Angeles. He was just 37. <\/p>\n

Whether you loved or loathed his animated antics, fans would
\nmutually
\nagree the pitcher was brimming with life. His terrific back-to-back
\nstellar
\nseasons in ’98 and ’99 won many fantasy owners championships, the Noise
\nincluded. <\/p>\n

Though we’re still convinced he actually conversed with
\nshrunken
\nspirits in his glove, the former All-Star’s colorful approach to the game and charismatic personality won’t be forgotten. Long live Lima Time!\n<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Images courtesy of the AP <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just one month ago, Corey Hart’s(notes) fantasy value needed machine assistance to breathe. The once cherished outfielder, plagued by massive swoons and general inconsistency, had played his way into a well-defined platoon with Jurassic Jim Edmonds(notes). Third stringer Jody Gerut’s(notes) improbable cycle May 8 in Arizona threatened to wrest away additional at-bats. Patience for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5446,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-576064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5446"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}