Fantasy Baseball Daily Info: Matt Carpenter Leads Reinforcements at Second Base

By Ben Hargrove

With Ian Kinsler, Aaron Hill and Chase Utley on the disabled list and Martin Prado and Rickie Weeks slumping, several second basemen who may not have been drafted in some leagues have offered fantasy baseball daily, weekly and season-long owners good replacements.

Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals

As of press time, Carpenter was fifth in MLB in runs with 58 and was in thirteenth in the majors in batting at .317. Carpenter had a .360 BABIP but his 2012 BABIP was .346. In May, Carpenter hit .352 with 18 walks and only ten strikeouts.

Carpenter hit .294 with 6 homers, 46 RBI and 44 runs in 296 at bats as a 26-year-old rookie in 2012.  In the postseason, Carpenter homered off of Giants pitcher Matt Cain. Carpenter is also eligible at 1B, 3B and OF. 

Jedd Gyorko, San Diego Padres

23-year-old rookie Gyorko joined the Padres this season after two straight minor league seasons of at least 25 homers, 100 RBI and a .310 BA. Gyorko struggled in April, but hit .303 in May with 6 homers, 12 RBI and 20 runs. In June, he hit .325 with 2 homers and 5 RBI. Gyorko also has 3B eligibility as a result of filling in at third in April when Chase Headley was on the DL.  Despite playing in San Diego, Gyorko has an extreme home-road split in the other direction, with a .944 OPS at home vs. .670 on the road through 60 games. While Gyorko is currently on the DL with a groin injury, he is expected to be back soon.

Kelly Johnson, Tampa Bay Rays

Johnson, now 31, has not had much fantasy relevance since 2010, when he hit 26 homers with 13 steals and a .284 BA for Arizona.  Johnson had what had become a typical month for him in April – 3 homers and a .227 BA – before exploding in May with 7 homers, 26 RBI and a .330 BA.  But Johnson was struggling again at the start of June and missed a couple of games with back trouble. 

As of press time Johnson had 39 RBI and 11 homers. Johnson also had six steals. The lefthanded Johnson had hit all 11 of his homers off righty pitchers.Johnson still has 2B eligibility in many fantasy baseball leagues despite primarily playing outfield for Tampa Bay. 

Daniel Murphy, New York Mets

Murphy was third in runs scored among second basemen as of press time despite playing for the weak-hitting Mets.  He typically batted second, in front of David Wright, and sometimes led off. The lefthanded Murphy hits much better against righties and on the road. His splits as of the end of June were .818 OPS vs. righties against .532 vs. lefties and .659 at home against .770 on the road.   

Ben Hargrove writes on a variety of fantasy baseball daily topics for DraftStreet.             

Waiver Wire Catchers

By Ben Hargrove

The following catchers are still available in some season-long, daily and weekly fantasy baseball leagues.                

Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Boston Red Sox

A red-hot start to June raised Saltalamacchia’s batting average to .262 and OPS to .781 as of the end of the month. Saltalamacchia, now 28, has not hit above .235 since 2008 and has never had an OPS above .750. Saltalamacchia’s 31 RBI and 25 runs are almost halfway to his career highs.  He has eight homers.  His numbers make him a top choice as a waiver wire catcher. Saltalamacchia hit 25 homers in 2012 but also had a .222 batting average.  

Saltalamcchia, a switch-hitter, has an OPS against righties of .841 as opposed to .589 against lefties. His career mark against lefties is .587. Saltalamacchia’s OPS at home is .912 vs. .632 on the road, but those splits were more even in his previous years in Boston.  Saltalamacchia’s 2013 BABIP is .395.

Jason Castro, Houston Astros

Castro, the tenth pick in the 2008 amateur draft, has been hampered by injuries in his career. Finally healthy in 2013, he has taken over the number 3 spot in the Astros lineup and has been DH 10 times as the Astros try to keep him active when he is not catching. Castro hit .292 in May with six homers and 13 RBI. Though he struggled in early June, Castro was hitting .269 with 11 homers, 27 RBI and 33 runs as of press time, making him a decent choice if you are looking for a catcher.

 

The left-handed Castro’s OPS against righties is .847 as opposed to only .638 against lefties. (His career mark against lefties is even lower - .413.) Castro has a home OPS of .900 as opposed to .700 on the road. 

Yan Gomes, Cleveland Indians

One would not think that a team with Carlos Santana would find plenty of at bats for their backup catcher. But with Santana playing more than a third of his games at first base or DH, Gomes made 13 starts in May, during which he hit .370. On May 20, Gomes hit two homers against Seattle, including the game-winner in the tenth inning, and followed that up with two hits and another homer the following day against Detroit. 

After that , Gomes began to see more time in the starting lineup. Through the end of June, Gomes had caught 11 games in the month and served as DH once  Even after a slow start in June, Gomes was hitting .268 with six homers in 112 at bats and an .806 OPS. Gomes may be a good choice in daily fantasy baseball leagues.  

Ben Hargrove writes on a variety of season-long, daily and weekly fantasy baseball topics for DraftStreet.