Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Fantasy Focus: All Breakout Team

The Giants had a scheduled off day today. Jonathan Sanchez got in his regular work throwing 85 pitches in a minor league game. He got knocked around by the kids a bit, but said he was just trying to throw strikes and work on his changeup. Here's my All-Breakout team, which is not exactly the same thing as an All-Sleeper team:

C: Matt Wieters. Orioles. Wieters is back on after a disappointing sophomore campaign. I think he's going to break huge this year. Guy just has so much power and was so good in college and the minors.

1B: Billy Butler. Royals. Hit .318 last year with 15 HR's. Look for the power to take another step forward. Brandon Belt deserves mention here too. Gotta think it's almost a lock that he's up fairly early in the season if not on the opening day roster and all indications are he'll rake from day 1.

2B: Gordon Beckham, White Sox. Raked in the second half last year. Should pick up where he left off now that he's settled in at 2B. Honorable mention goes to Neil Walker of the Pirates.

3B: Chase Headley, Padres. Hate to say it, but I think Headley may be primed to be a more athletic version of Adrian Gonzalez, well, maybe not quite as much power, but double digit steals to make up for it. Honorable mention goes to Pedro Alvarez of the Pirates and Ian Stewart of the Rockies. Pablo Sandoval to have a re-breakout year!

SS: Reid Brignac, Rays. Once a highly touted prospect, he didn't develop quite as fast as anticipated, but hit a HR every 18 AB's last year after his callup. That, my friends, projects to 33 HR's over a full season...from the SS position! Honorable Mention: Alcides Escobar who I think will make the BrewCrew regret trading for Zack Grienke who seems injury prone and very full of himself for a guy coming off a down year.

OF: Jose Tabata, Pirates. If you are looking for 40+ steals with some power projection, look no further than Tabata.

OF: Brett Gardner, Yankees. Already a pretty good player, it sounds like Gardner is going to lead off for the Yankees. With a .380 OBP and Plus-plus speed, he could score 140 runs!

OF: Dexter Fowler, Rockies. Dang! I keep coming up with names from Giants division rivals here! Maybe it's just because I know the division better and am a bit paranoid? I know Fowler has his doubters, but I think he just might ultimately be a better player than Carlos Gonzalez.

OF Honorable Mention: Will Venable, Padres. There I go again, but Venable has enough power for Petco and a great deal of speed. Only question is whether he will hit for enough average.

SP: Jonathan Sanchez, Giants. He was good last year, but I think that's only the tip of the iceburg. He's always had elite stuff and now he's learning how to harness it.

SP: Brandon Morrow, Blue Jays. Another guy with elite stuff who's struggled to harness it. Ready to take the next step. Some analysts are calling his 17 K game from last year one of the most dominant of all time.

SP: Edwin Jackson, White Sox. Another guy with elite stuff who's had trouble controlling it.

SP: Jordan Zimmerman, Nationals. Now more than a full year post-TJ. Another guy with elite stuff.

SP: Gio Gonzalez, A's. A lot like Jonathan Sanchez.

RP: Craig Kimbrel, Braves. A lot of people are predicting this one. I think he will ultimately beat out Venters for the Braves closing job. What did he have, something like 17 K/9 last year? Unreal!

RP: Daniel Bard, Red Sox. Could be the closer in Boston by June.

RP: Ryan Madson, Phillies. Was a beast in the NLCS. LIke Bard in Boston, he could be the closer in Philly by June.

RP Honorable Mention: Kenley Jansen, Dodgers. If Broxton blows up again, which I think he will, Jansen is my pick to emerge as the closer as Kuo can't pitch in back-to-back games.

Who do you think is going to break out this year?

1 comment:

  1. Kenley Jansen is a beast. Very raw. Like, 50 innings pitched in the minors after switching over from catching. He doesn't look comfortable on the mount yet. I hate see this kind of thing from the Dodgers.

    I haven't seen a lot of Reid Brignac, but I will say that the Rays look loose, confident and hungry. I'm sure you've heard the chatter about Manny looking good. No joke, he looks very good. In shape. Still QUICK bat. His fall off last year was not that bad. (Power with the Sox was not there.) If he's healthy, I think he's going to put up good numbers.

    I remember 2007 draft. Giants picking 10th, I want a hitter BAD. Wanted Weiters (or Vitters) and knew the Giants were not going to land those guys. When Heyward was still on the board and the Giants took Madbum, was pissed. Funny how things work out. Anyway, the baseball world is really, really down on Weiters right now. Hope you're right. Like to see some good news out of Baltimore.

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