Juicing Up Categories Down The Stretch

It is time to focus on the greatest upside and downside categories for the last two weeks of the season.  If you are in the hunt still, you need to focus intently on the categories you still have a chance to gain a point(s) in or the categories where your competition is on your heels.  This time of year is not about sticking with what got you here it’s about using the waiver wire to your advantage in certain categories.  Example: if you are bunched in a league with 4 or 5 teams within 10 SB of each other that category is ripe for the pickin. You look over your team and see you have 17 RBI lead over player behind you and you trail the guy in front by 20 but you can gain 3 points with just 6 more steals. Its time to make roster room for sped by dropping an RBI machine.  Get it? I knew you would. Here are some of the best category enhancers for your team down the stretch, courtesy of the waiver wire.

RUNS: Darwin Barney. He is consistently hitting in the two hole and could be hitting in front of Castro, Ramirez, and Pens. The guy has had 3 or more hits 10X this season. He could give you a few multi run games down the stretch.

SB: Nyger Morgan. The guy has found a home in Milwaukee’s lead off spot. He is currently at a dozen steals and I can see him pushing for 20 by the end of the year. His speed and OBP get him on base.

Average & HR: Derrick Lee: He hit under 250 for the Birds and is hitting over 380 for the Bucs. He has always been a 2^nd half player and this year is no different.

RBI: Marco Scutaro. Only 5 players in all of baseball have more RBI over the last 30 days then Scutaro. Hitting for that explosive team and not to mention, who doesn’t need RBI from their MI position?

Sneaky Catcher Move

Getting help down the stretch from players with multi-position eligibility can be a huge asset as you push for a championship. You get the opportunity to plug them in spots when your regulars are getting a day off, nagging injuries keep a player out, or when the elite teams start sitting their players after clinching a playoff spot.

How many Catchers right now are getting regular ABs in the 3 hole? The answer is none. But one player with catcher eligibility has been hitting in the 3 hole for over a week now. That player has both C and 3B eligibility. That player is Jordan Pacheco for the Colorado Rockies.

Pacheco, 25, has spent the entire 2011 season at Triple-A Colorado Springs playing mostly catcher (86 games) but also seeing time at third base (5 games). Pacheco hit .278 with 21 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, 50 RBI to go along with 57 runs in 97 games for the Sky Sox this season. Now he is getting time at 3B and 1B for the big league squad. To date he is hitting .296 with a HR and 6 RBI.

He was named the Rockies 18th best prospect prior to the 2011 season by Baseball America. Here is what Rockies skipper Jim Tracey said about the kid: “This kid has tremendous poise. He has a tremendous sense of awareness. And nobody on this team would argue the fact that he can flat out hit. “He can situational hit, he knows how to play the game … he’s ready to play every single pitch. That, in my mind, is what connotes a championship-caliber player.” From that quote it looks like he gets everyday at bats for the rest of the season. That’s everyday at bats with Cather eligibility folks.  Hard not to have that type of playing time sitting idle while your everyday C is only playing 4-5 days a week. I picked him up in a couple of leagues and you should too.