By Scott Woodall
The Shallow
Ben Zobrist SS/LF/RF – & almost 2B
With Akinori Iwamura being bull-dozed on a play late in yesterday’s game by the Florida Marlins Chris Coghlan, it appears the fantasy baseball communities wishes for Ben Zobrist regular duty, should be on it’s way…we think…
MOO HAA HAA HAA!
Unless Joe Maddon is the Devil in Buddy Holly specs, he’ll be employing the rising pinch-hitting stud as the Rays every day second baseman beginning this week. We thought the regular duty would have began when Pat “The Bat” Burrell hit the DL over a week ago, but Maddon foiled us with his affections for the "Two Gabes" – Gross and Kapler.
Zobrist only needs one more 2B start to gain second base eligibility, and a couple more botched line-up cards with Longoria, and he’ll add 3B to his growing arsenal of positions. DeRosa like multi-eligibility won’t mean squat if he doesn’t produce, but he’s been fantastic early on, and should provide enough speed and plenty of pop to be a welcome addition to those who are particularly starved on middle infielder spots!
Note: If Rays coach Joe Maddon continues to hornswoggle Ben Zobrist out of regular duty even after the latest Iwamura injury (appears to be quite serious), it may be time Ben soothes the Joe Maddon fantasy wreaker demon with the some Christian Rock ditties Ben’s cutie wife Julianna Zobrist has been known to croon!
The Deep
Andy LaRoche – Third Base (3B)
Hey remember me? Brotherly love didn’t get off to a rousing start in the city of Pittsburgh , as the younger LaRoche stumbled out of the gate to begin 2009. But the prized former LA Dodgers prospect seems to be finally showing us a taste of the masher he was throughout his minor league career.
LaRoche has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games he’s appeared in, raising his average .44 points in the last ten days. The strong right handed hitter still has only connected on two jacks this season, but the much more aggressive approach at the plate has garnered him some great results so far this month. Third Base is not exactly a bountiful position this year – so keep a close eye on honest Andy – he may be finally starting to live up to some of his hype!
