Inside the Numbers: May Flowers

For a lot of fantasy owners, the game is all about numbers. In theory, this is appropriate, but only if you know which numbers are important. The common flaw is to quickly click "Season Stats" and gloat over your high homerun totals, high average, low ERA, etc. But because baseball is a long season, much longer than most crossovers from Fantasy Football Leagues are prepared to analyze, its important to consider how a player is doing recently. I wanted to look at a few players who are treated as marginal but have performed much better than their Season Stats would indicate.

Aaron Rowand: Roward is universally snubbed in every league I've participated this year, despite a great season last year. Of course, this is due to his move to San Francisco, a crippling pitcher's park. However, while Rowand's seven homeruns suggest hit power will never be the same, six of them have come in the past month. Over this span, he has hit .362. The RBIs will always be lower than in Philadelphia, but Rowand is good enough to be traded for, especially if an owner doesn't see him as the long-term 3rd or 4th OF option that he is.

Adam LaRoche: The Pirates first basemen starts notoriously slow, and despite batting .295 over the past month, his season AVG sits at a paltry .236. Over that month he has outhit Derrek Lee, ranking as the eighth-best first basemen. He's a solid fit for a utility spot on any team, and while I don't think of him as a great option, he's surely worth a look.

Kevin Youkilis: If Youk has 3rd base eligibility in your league, he's been the third best over the past month. He's hit more homeruns over that span than Chipper Jones, David Wright, and Aramis Ramirez (only losing to Ryan Braun and tying Kevin Kouzmanoff with seven). He isn't a sexy pick, but is consistently good, plays for a formidable offense, and stays healthy.

Shane Victorino: After an injury-plagued, slow start, Victorino has come back strong. Both of his homeruns and 9 of his 10 SBs have come in the past month, while he's batted .299. As Pete said, he's been a disappointment so far, but if he keeps this pace up he will be worth the pick. Maybe his owner is caught up in the season stats...

Frank Thomas, Jason Giambi: Both DHs have hit well lately after brutal beginnings. I think neither is more than a fill-in, but if you have an injury on your team and can fit one of these guys into your Utility spot, you could do much worse. Giambi has hit .286 with five homeruns, while Thomas has made the best of Oakland with a .346 BA and four of his seven homeruns.

I'll be back later in the week to look at pitchers. Until then, good luck trading.