The 5 Most Underrated Players in Fantasy Baseball

I'm sure that all 4 readers that we have were crushed when I failed to post this yesterday, as promised, so my apologies. Here you go-

Derrek Lee- 1B, Chicago Cubs- Yahoo.com rank-95. Last Season’s rank-65. My projected rank-48. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Derrek Lee ranked as low as he is. Last season was a fine one for him, and I don’t see him really falling off much this season. He played a lot of last season without Alfonso Soriano, who Yahoo ranks incredibly highly. If Soriano is to have as good of a season as yahoo projects, Lee’s numbers should also improve a bit. If Soriano has a great season to compliment the consistently excellent Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee may enjoy some excellent lineup protection. Also, Lee appears to be healthy coming into this season, which has not always been the case. Expect something to the tune of 25 HR, 100 RBI, about 80 R, and a BA around .285.

Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, Washington Nationals- Yahoo.com rank-69. Last Season’s rank-342. My projected rank-35. Zimmerman’s firs t full season was a beastly one. In 2006, he batted .287 with 20 HR and 110 RBI. He got 2nd in the ROY voting. After that, Zimmerman had a disappointing season where he played 162 games, and last year he only played about 100 due to injuries. This huge dropoff in 2007, however, can be explained fairly easily. The 2006 Washington Nationals had Alfonso Soriano and his 46 HR, and Nick Johnson with 23 HR and a whopping 110 BB. In 2007, Zimmerman led the team with 24 HR. 2nd place had 16 HR, and that was the mighty Austin Kearns. In short, the team became garbage in 2007. This season, they have added Adam Dunn and Lastings Milledge to their lineup, and with Dunn’s high amount of walks and HR, and Milledge’s seemingly promising potential, Zimmerman is given a huge increase in the lineup quality that surrounds him. I think that you can expect close to 30 HR and 100 RBI, as well as about a .300 average from Zimmerman.

Brett Myers, SP, Philadelphia Phillies- Yahoo.com rank-152. Last Season’s rank- 749. My projected rank-89. People tend to forget that Brett Myers was a #1 starter at one point. His 2006 season was very impressive, and his time as a closer in 2007 was a failure. At the beginning of 2008, he got absolutely shelled every single start, and as a result he got demoted. However, people need to remember that he was transitioning back from a closer to a starter. After his demotion, he came back and absolutely dominated life in July and August, before slowing down a bit in September, probably due to an uncharacteristic inning load (190 major league innings+ time in the minors). When he came back in July/August his ERA was 2.25 in July and 1.62 in August. This season it’s fair to expect him to come back strong and not have his early-season struggles like he did last year. With Cole Hamels as the team’s solid #1 starter, Myers should flourish in the 2 spot, and have a season that looks something like 3.75 ERA, about 16-17 wins, and about 185 K’s.

Ted Lilly, SP, Chicago Cubs- Yahoo.com rank-190. Last season’s rank-166. My projected rank-106. Ted Lilly’s season last year started off abysmally. Lilly’s 1st half ERA was 4.68 compared to 3.32 in the 2nd half. The biggest difference in the 2nd half was a significant decrease in BB, as well as, strangely enough, a large decrease in K’s. Another difference in the 2nd half was Lilly’s spot in the rotation. With the addition of Rich Harden absolutely destroying anything that came up to bat against him, Lilly was moved back to the 4 spot, where he pitched quite well. Lilly is getting on in years, he will be turning 33 this season, but his style of pitching doesn’t necessarily mean a huge dropoff as he ages. Expect a respectable season with an ERA around 3.85 with about 170 K’s and roughly 16 wins.

Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP, Boston Red Sox-Yahoo.com rank-114. Last season’s rank-95. My projected rank-77. This prediction is iffy. I’ll acknowledge that now. I still believe, however, that one of my biggest man-crushes will continue to improve as he spends more time in the majors. Matsuzaka’s season last year was masterful. Somehow, over and over again, he was able to get out of bases loaded jams with 0 outs and the 3-4-5 hitters coming up without giving up a run. A lot of people called that luck, but I think that he’s just so good under those circumstances that it’s just the way he works. This season, it would not surprise me if he had an approximate repeat of last season’s ERA (2.90), but with a slightly lower WHIP and more K’s, due to an increase in IP (from 167 last year). He should win another 17-18 games, and I pick him for the AL Cy Young. That’s my bold prediction for the week.