The Upside of Anthony Rizzo
Last season, Anthony Rizzo, then in the Padres organization, absolutely bombarded Pacific Coast League pitching to the tune of .331/.404/.632 with 26 long balls in 413 plate appearances. However, once he reached the big leagues, the mammoth production halted. In 153 plate appearances for the Friars, Rizzo hit .141/.281/.242 with only one home run and a 30-percent strikeout rate. That poor debut may have caused some to wonder whether his Triple-A numbers were merely a product of playing home games in the homer friendly environment of Tuscon
Rizzo’s production at Triple-A over the last two seasons clearly suggests that he’s ready to get a full-time shot in The Show and this time around he’ll be doing so in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field as opposed to playing home games at
As with any young lefty, Rizzo could face some major adjustments against big league southpaws, as the difference in talent level between most minor league lefties and the guys in the big leagues is significant, especially in terms of LOOGYs. I wouldn’t be surprised to see his numbers wane against lefties for this season, but long-term it shouldn’t be a situation that calls for a platoon partner.
Of course, being a first baseman means that fantasy owners are expecting power. Well, Rizzo has plenty of that and you need look no further than his stats for the evidence. He only struck out in about 18 percent of his plate appearances while with
We still don’t know exactly what type of hitter Rizzo will be. He’s still only 22 and has plenty of development left. He’s an immediate add in all formats due to his power upside, but there is risk with any young player, so the best case scenario would be to use him at UT/CI or have a good backup plan at 1B. His perceived value is so high right now that he could be a tremendous trade piece in a keeper league should you be willing to forgo a bit of the future for a chance to win now.
Speaking of keeper leagues, would you hang onto Brandon Beachy in a 10 team keeper league? He's at 17th round value and will have one more year (next year) at that price. If he was guaranteed to start the year healthy I'd be more likely to consider it, but the fact that he isn't I'm thinking it's not worth it. My pitching staff looks like this: Lee, CJ Wilson, Sale, Peavy, Moore, Worley, Lynn, Parker. I would think picking up a Bauer and/or Wade Miley would be worth it for this year. Agree?
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@TheGreatOne Bauer over Miley, but yeah, move on from Beachy if you're playing to win now.
We only do free agent pickups once a month, and if a guy isnt drafted, he cant be picked up until he gets called up to the majors. That's the only reason why they are still available.
I was getting ready to trade Matt Moore for Michael Bourn until Beachy went down, now I gotta make a decision. A big part depends on if I get one of those 2 starters because with only pickups every month, it's important to have depth. With Ellsbury coming back, I'm going to have a loaded OF with CarGo, Bautista, Pence, Choo, De Aza and only 4 spots (would be 5 but Billy Butler takes my UT spot cuz he's only a DH). With Beltre and Lawrie at 3B and IF, Bautista takes that OF spot.
Should I still go for Bourn? I'm hurtin in SB
@TheGreatOne @CharlieSaponara In terms of Beachy, based on prior TJ recoveries, I doubt he'll be back before June next year.
As far as Bourn goes, I'm thinking there are a lot of steals options out there right now (Davis, Revere, Crisp) and I don't know if you need to stay locked in on him if you don't need to give up high caliber pitching.
I'd also consider myself a cautious optimist. I think that Petco to Wrigley helps, but if he starts slow perhaps he will start to question himself.
@mark.schruender Interesting that you would mention him questioning him self with a slow start. I just happened to catch this tweet from Kevin Goldstein, having to do with Rizzo's makeup https://twitter.com/Kevin_Goldstein/status/217771598743224320
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@CollegeWolf Way too small of a sample size and it was his first look at the big leagues. I'm not counting on him being a superstar right away, but it's hard to imagine him being THAT bad for a prolonged period of time.
