Shy-ron or Sharon?

Every time I glance at my fantasy baseball league’s waiver wire, I see the name “Shairon Martis” and chuckle.  Shy-ron Martis has actually pitched pretty well this year, but I am not buying his performance to date for a second!

So you think I’m crazy.  Shairon is 5-0 on the season with baseball’s joke, the Washington Nationals.  He has a 4.10 ERA on the season.

At the prime age of 22, keeper leaguers have probably already rostered this guy, hoping that they catch lightning in a bottle.  However, I highly recommend you avoid him in all fantasy leagues (except for the deepest of deep).

Shairon cannot strike batters out at a very high rate, and while wins have driven his value, the absence of strikeouts hurt.  Though his ERA isn’t great, it only shows that it is bound to take a rise…possibly to over 5.00, in the near future.  Couple his low strikeout rate with a high walk rate, and this guy is not rosterable.

To date, Martis has gotten extremely lucky, with the Washington defense keeping a few extra hits off the ground.  Opponents are batting .258 against him—which is solid, but not spectacular.  He is hittable.

Unless Martis can limit his walks, there is little ERA or WHIP upside here.  Not to mention, the Washington Nationals are one of the worst teams in baseball—so the wins upside isn’t there, either.  This guy is a ticking time bomb: let someone else pick him up and watch him blow up on them.

Quick Hits:

You want a good hitter?  Try Nick Johnson from the Washington Nationals.  Sure, I really don’t like the guy for fantasy baseball purposes—he always seems to get hurt.  Before he hits the DL this year, however, he can be a real asset to your fantasy roster.  A .320 batting average with moderate power is not out of the question for Johnson, who has one of the best batting eyes in the entire league.

Talk about players who have experienced breakout seasons to date—and the top of the list has to be Adam Jones for the Baltimore Orioles.  He left the game tonight with what appeared to be a leg or hamstring strain.  It is unknown at the current time how long Jones will be out, but some reports state that it is a mild strain.

Count me among the few who had no idea who the heck Gerardo Parra was, at least until he jacked his first home run in his first Major League at-bat tonight.  Parra is a great outfield prospect in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ system who should contribute a plus batting average and decent power.  Keeper leaguers should definitely have this guy rostered, but Parra should be only monitored in redraft leagues.

Ian Stewart went 2-4 with a home run for the Colorado Rockies tonight.  The third baseman has been absolutely ice-cold, at least from a batting average perspective, batting .211 on the season.  However, he is not that bad of a hitter—a .265 batting average with the chance for high power numbers is more like it.  The power bat looks like it has arrived—25 home runs would not be an unreasonable expectation.  If you can stomach the batting average hit, you could catch Mark Reynolds-lite here.

If you were one of the fantasy owners wondering when Rickie Weeks breakout season would come…say hello to a breakout season.  He was 3-5 with a home run tonight, adding in three runs and a RBI.  To date, Weeks has been a super-reliable hitter for the Brewers, batting .286 with nine home runs to date.  Don’t expect the batting average to maintain itself, but .270-20HR-20SB is a very real possibility for him.  Congratulations to those owners who rostered him, and if he is still available in your league, what are you doing?  Get him already!