Fantasy 40/40: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not: Hitter’s Edition

By Tito on April 24th, 2012

Who’s Hot

Matt Kemp OF LAD – Before games today, Beastmode was .460-9-22-18-1. Why isn’t he stealing more?
Josh Hamilton OF TEX – Contract year and he’s looking to get paid – straight cash, homie. He’s no slouch either, hitting .409-8-18-16-1 to begin 2013.
Derek Jeter SS NYY – DJ is looking like he’s 27, not 37. Dude is batting .411 with 4 HR already and is on pace to score 141 R. Probably not gonna happen, but you get the idea.
Freddie Freeman 1B ATL - He’s batting .481 over the last seven days with 3 HR and 14 runs driven in. After a slow start and a move in the batting order, Freeman has started to turn it on and is a nice play in standard mixed leagues.
Mike Napoli C/1B TEX – Napoli has always been a favorite of mine until recently. Why? ‘Cause everyone knows about him now. His best value came late when no one knew who he was. I let him slide by in the 5th round of drafts now and see him hit HR after HR – 6 HR to start the season, BA back down to where most believe it will stay.

Alfonso Soriano OF CHC – The aging leftfielder is 1 for his last 23 and is batting just .200 on the year. If there is a plus side, he does have 9 RBIs.
Ian Stewart 3B CHC – The replacement for Aramis Ramirez has struggled at the hot corner, failing to reach the Mendoza line after 56 ABs (.196).
Mark Reynolds 3B BAL – He’s batting a buck twenty-five so far (4-for-46) with 22 strikeouts in 48 AB.
Marlon Byrd OF BOS – The ex-Cubbie looks to regain form with his new team and add to his 4-for-47 start so far. With the better offense, Byrd could be a buy low candidate.
Ryan Raburn 2B/OF DET – A sleeper for many back in March, Raburn has been slow out of the box, gaining just one hit in his last 29 ABs. No HR, no RBI and just 3 runs scored.