Fantasy baseball hitter stocks

SHARE THIS POST

By David Ferris
CSNChicago.com

Buy

Norichika Aoki, OF, Brewers: He's established himself as a nice fit at the top of the Milwaukee lineup, hitting .313 ore the last month with solid counting stats (14 runs, two homers, 11 RBIs, six steals). Aoki makes contact 87 percent of the time and runs the bases well, so you can live with his mediocre walk rate. In a year where so many things have gone wrong in Milwaukee, Aoki is a breath of fresh air. And his so-so defense won't hurt you in our fake baseball game.

Logan Morrison, 1B/OF, Marlins: At some point over the last year Morrison got overrated as a Tweeter and underrated as a solid bat. He's hitting .284 over the last month with six homers and 19 RBIs, and the Marlins will live with his atrocious defense. Morrison's slugging stats don't fall off against lefties, but he hasn't taken to Miami's new park as of yet (.686 OPS home, 859 OPS road). But this still looks like Nick Johnson 2.0 (less patience, a little more power), and we mean that in the nicest possible way.

Sell

Jed Lowrie, SS, Astros: He's fallen into a .211/.324/.430 funk over the last 34 games and he doesn't have a stolen base during that period, either. The Astros would be wise to consider Lowrie offers all month - he's never proven that he can stay healthy for an extended period of time and he's going to move off shortstop sooner or later (his range is limited). See if someone will overpay for his 14 homers.

Ty Wigginton, Utility, Phillies: Right-handed pitchers are absolutely eating his lunch (.301 OBP, .373 slugging) and the Phillies are no longer short in the lineup with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard back. If GM Ruben Amaro can get any kind of token offer for Wigginton this month, he should trade him. This sort of utility player is handy off the bench, but there's not enough juice for mixed rotisserie leaguers.

Allen Craig, Utility, Cardinals: It's hard to look at that .313/.377/.614 line and think about a trade, but maybe you can get someone to enthusiastically chase after this guy (and overpay). Craig might be sitting once or twice a week with Lance Berkman close to a return, and Craig's injury history also has to be accounted for. Please don't give him away, but keep an open mind here.

Hold

Trevor Plouffe, Utility, Twins: The 19 homers come as a surprise, sure, but it's not completely out of nowhere - Plouffe was the 20th overall pick in the 2004 draft and he showed pop in the minors. And Target Field is actually a solid power park for right-handed sluggers - it's the lefties who can't reach the seats in the Twin Cities. Plouffe's home stats speak to the point: 12 homers, .633 slugging. A modest regression might be on the way, but Plouffe looks like a sure thing to hit 30-plus homers and he's now a fixture in the lineup.

Justin Ruggiano, OF, Marlins: We promoted him last week and we'll briefly drop his name again, since Giancarlo Stanton (knee scope) needs at least a month off. Ruggiano has never been given a chance to play in the majors consistently, so perhaps the Quad-A label isn't fair. He has a shot to be a 10-homer, 10-steal source in the second half.