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Fantasy Skipper: Players to target in 2009 drafts - Phillies
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This has been quite a post-season thus far. We've had a Division Series sweep, a Championship Series Game 7, and after Wednesday's Game 1 of the World Series, a 2-run bopper by my boy... Chase Utley. I know this last one isn't as dramatic as the first two, but it's still important because it helped jump start the offense and solidify a victory for the Phillies. Anyone who plays fantasy baseball with me --or I guess anyone who knows me, as I tend to broadcast this often- knows that I have a mega man-crush on Mr. Utley. I would like to be able to abstain from the obvious, and talk about Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Brad Lidge, or even Pedro Feliz... but the truth of the matter, is that the Phillies offense goes as Chase Utley goes.
To go along with him in this edition of the Fantasy Skipper, I decided to include the Flyin' Hawaiian, Shane Victorino. I mean c'mon... the FLYIN' HAWAIIAN!! Such a cool nickname. Sometimes, I like to refer to him as Shane-O. Kind of like Steve-O from MTV's Jackass, but just not swallowing goldfish or stapling his butt-cheeks together. Wow, that was a nice image... good thing I have a 'backspace' button in my brain. Continuing on...
Utley 'chased' that ball out in a hurry.
First of all, his name just rolls off your tongue... Chase Utley. He has a 5-tool skill set, and he uses all of 'em to help me every year in my Hill Park Dynasty League, and my Poker Keeper League. You don't always know what you're gonna get out of Ryan Howard --he is Philly's version of Adam Dunn (who I've mentioned as "All-or-Nothing" before) - but Utley guarantees you 100+ runs, 100+ RBI's, and barring injury, at least 30 HR's. And this all comes from the 2nd base position. The offense needs that .300 hitter with speed (41 doubles, 14 SB's) and power (33 HR's, 104 RBI's) batting ahead of Howard, particularly to get on-base, or drive in some runs before Howard has his chance to leave them on-base. As cliche as it sounds, that's exactly what Chase brings to the plate.
Its what allowed Philly to say buh-bye to Placido Polanco, who was a model of consistency, 4 seasons ago. Think about the law of averages --with positive thinking leaning to that 'C' word... CONSISTENCY- over the past 4 seasons since Utley became the starter: 150 games, 585 at-bats, 110 runs, 179 hits, 42 doubles, 5 triples, 29 HR's (including injury in '07), 104 RBI's, 62 walks, 14 SB's, and .306 AVG. Just phenomenal totals.
This is why I can't understand why he drops on so many draft boards to the bottom of Round 1. He should be a unanimous Top 5 pick every year. There are plenty of first-basemen who can put up some pop that don't need to be drafted that high. Same for certain third-basemen and outfielders. Select players that offer up the 'goods' to be a Top 5 pick are (1) Hanley Ramirez (2) David Wright (3) Matt Holliday (4) Chase Utley (5) Jose Reyes or Ryan Braun. That's the Top 5 in a nut-shell. Among the remaining 2nd basemen, I think Ian Kinsler got a boost from Josh Hamilton batting behind him (which was proof when he cooled off in the 2nd half) and Brandon Phillips and Dan Uggla are the next 2 options. Chase is still miles away from all the other 2-baggahs.
The Hawaiian was flyin' this year.
That brings us to Mr. Hawaiian, Shane-O Victorin-O. He came out of no where 2 years ago to steal 37 bases, score 78 runs, and hit 23 doubles in roughly 2/3's of a season. This year, he was hyped up too much and the beginning of his season was pretty lackluster. That being said, he ended up scoring 102 runs, 30 doubles, 8 triples, 14 HR's, and 36 swipes, all while leading the team with a .293 AVG. Shane is the total package for the fantasy manager that likes speed more, with a power compliment.
He has come up HUGE so far in the post-season, with 2 HR's and 11 RBI's in 10 games for the fightin' Phils. You can only put so much 'stock' in what a player produces in the post-season, but either way... he has guaranteed himself a slot as a starting outfielder next year, most likely complimenting Jayson Werth and Pat Burrell. Victorino is built to succeed on this team, and it's hard to place him elsewhere assuming the lack of talent. How about some predictions for next year, hmm... 110 runs, 32 doubles, 10 triples, 12 HR's, 60 RBI's, and 40 SB's. Sound realistic? That's because it is...
He is not a super-star, but in the right offense, in the right spot in the batting order, with the right mindset to steal bases... Shane-O can be the Man-O.
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