If Carl Crawford goes 0-for-7 in a two-game stretch in August, chances are that unless you're a Red Sox fan you wouldn't even notice it. But since that "drought" came in the first two games of the regular season, fantasy owners were suddenly wondering whether they made a bad pick.
Then, when Boston manager Terry Francona put Crawford in the seventh spot of the lineup on Sunday, the panic started to spread. Francona said it was just a temporary solution to hopefully wake up Crawford, whom he thought was pressing. Or maybe it could be a sign of how the manager plans to use Crawford against lefthanded pitchers. After all, the Rangers were pitching lefty Matt Harrison on Sunday.
Reds left-hander Travis Wood is not intimidated by Great American Ball Park, as he shows on Sunday against the Brewers. (AP Photo)
One measly little 0-for-7 streak (if you can even call it a streak) can lead to all that, leaving fantasy owners no better off than conspiracy theorists trying to figure out why the world always works against them. Then, you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief when Crawford "finally" singled in his first at-bat on Sunday.
This is how it is in the early part of the season when everything is magnified. The trick for fantasy owners is staying focused on long-term goals, even though the short-term results are anything but satisfying. Sure, you don't want to stick too long with a slumping player, but you also don't want to give up too early on proven commodities like Crawford.
That said, unless you have a trained eye for this, it's difficult to spot fact from fiction in the early going. So we'll take our best stab at it for you. We might not be right on all of these picks, but at least you'll have someone to blame (or laud) and can finally stop worrying about Carl Crawford for a few minutes.
Starlin Castro, SS, Cubs. Congrats if you snagged him in the middle rounds. He started the year with three multihit games, and that came on the heels of a rookie season when he hit .300. The youngster appears ready to blossom toward the top of the Cubs' lineup.
Drew Stubbs, OF, Reds. Power, check. Speed, check. And, yes, both have been on display during a .455 start to the season. Obviously, Stubbs won't hit this well all year, but an improvement on 2010's .255 batting average would put him on the way toward elite status.
Miguel Montero, C, Diamondbacks. Injuries kept Montero's stats down in 2010. Now that he's healthy and hitting, Montero is showing why he could be the perfect pick for those who waited to draft their catcher. He should provide some pop to go with a relatively high batting average for a catcher.
Travis Wood, SP, Reds. Pitching in a hitter-friendly ballpark in Cincinnati and against a good Brewers lineup, Wood wasn't fazed. He tossed up seven innings of one-run ball to go with seven strikeouts, building on last season when we got a taste of what he could do in 17 starts that came with a 1.08 WHIP.
Kyle Drabek, SP, Blue Jays. Drabek certainly has the big-league pedigree to build on his impressive one-hit debut against the Twins. After all, his dad Doug pitched for the Pirates (among others). Pick up the younger Drabek and hope for the best, because although he is talented, some bumps in the road are to be expected from a 23-year-old pitching in the AL East.
Carlos Quentin, OF, White Sox. Quentin is only 28 so a bounce-back season is certainly possible after he started 6-for-11 with a home run and seven RBIs in his first three games. But injuries and a career average of .253 eventually wear down his fantasy value.
J.P. Arencibia, C, Blue Jays. Arencibia hit two home runs and drove in five in the Blue Jays' opener. It reminded us of his big-league debut last August when he hit two homers against Tampa Bay. He proceeded to go 1-for-30 after that, so some growing pains still could be in store for the 25-year-old prospect.
Jeremy Guthrie, SP, Orioles. Guthrie's eight shutout innings against the Rays were impressive, as were his 3.83 ERA and 1.16 WHIP last season. But low strikeout totals and a sub-.500 record (a product of pitching for the O's) typically tend to weigh him down.
Chase Headley, 3B, Padres. Headley hit .364 in spring training and carried it over into the first series with the Cardinals. He had three hits in his first 10 at-bats, including a home run. But with a .264 career average and .392 career slugging percentage in four-plus seasons, Headley has some work to do in order to convince us he's legit.
Ramon Hernandez, C, Reds. We have 12 years' worth of big-league stats to tell us that Hernandez's walk-off homer and three RBIs on opening day could be the highlight of his entire season. He can work as a No. 2 catcher in NL-only leagues, but don't expect more.
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