Fantasy Baseball: BEAST or BUST Vol. IV

BEAST DOME NATION.

Today I am going to focus on a possible fantasy options with the hot Trevor Plouffe, and Bryan LaHair.

Sorry for the delay on the chat, I encourage all users to start using the BEAST DOME NATION. which is the forums.

TREVOR PLOUFFE – 3B/OF/SS

Stats as of 6/14: .232 Average. 11 HR. 21 RBI. 42 Games.

If I had to compare Trevor Plouffe to another player.  It would easily be J.J. Hardy.  Plouffe is a great hitter who has a lot of power behind his 6’2 – 200LB frame.  This is easily the hottest he will be all season with 6 HRs and 13 RBIs in the last 10 games.  Yet still he is a player that can get hot more often than not with this power he has displayed.  The best part about Trevor is he will always find a place in the lineup to play with his versatility at any position besides catcher.  The key for Plouffe will to keep the batting average above .220, if he does that he is a great SS option moving forward.  If I had to rank him today, I would not trade a lot for him as anything more than 20 HRs on the season total would be great (at 11 right now.)  But I would add him in all leagues.  If I currently owned him, I would look to trade him for a great player.  Jimmy Rollins or Emilo Bonifacio straight up would be a great deal in the long-run.  Trevor is not going to stay hot like this all season.  You can aim even higher right now and try to get J.J. Hardy which would be an absolute steal.

Verdict: BEAST (20 HRs is likely, anything more puts him in the BEAST like category.  But when playing him from this point forward, I would say BUST)

BRYAN LAHAIR – 1B/OF

Stats as of 6/14: .303 Average. 12 HRs. 26 RBIs. 1 SB.

You thought Plouffe’s start was impressive?  LaHair had 10 HRs. 21 RBIs. While hitting .361 in his first 33 games.  What has he done since?  In 21 Games he has 2 HRs and 5 RBIs.  Both of those HRs have come in the last 6 games.  One of those times it was a pinch-hit HR.  After mysteriously sitting out the weekend, LaHair has started this week with back-to-back 3 Strikeout game.  Rick Porcello pitched one of those games.  LaHair did manage to get a RBI, which looks way better on paper than his performance would really mention in his 1/7 slump.  The time is now to trade LaHair for either a mediocre pitcher, or simply let him sit on the bench until Anthony Rizzo is called up to take his place.  The pitchers I would aim to get at the very lowest is Mark Buehrle.  You could try to get someone like Clay Buchholz and win that trade hands down.  LaHair is a good example for Plouffe owners to consider when playing with a hot option.

VERDICT: BUST (The .303 average is going to be below .270 QUICK.  The Power is not good enough to trust long-term.)