Sports

American beauties — and handful of beasts

Now that we have celebrated the day Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and Randy Quaid saved us from alien destruction, it’s time for the next big holiday: The Midsummer Classic.

OK, fine, it’s not a “holiday,” but they make a weekend out of it and it feels like a holiday from the everyday grind of checking your fantasy rosters. But, before the All-Stars play at Citi Field on July 16, let’s take a look at the best and worst fantasy players in the American League from the first half of the season:

MVP: The toughest call to make is the Sammy Sosa-Mark McGwire type battle we’re seeing between Miguel Cabrera and Chris Davis. Based on average draft position from fantasypros.com, which averages drafts from ESPN, Yahoo, CBS and MockDraftCentral.com, what Davis (133.9 ADP) is doing for your fantasy squad is far more impressive than what Cabrera (1.9 ADP) is doing because of expectations. If you told any fantasy owner before the season Davis was guaranteed to equal his totals from last season (.270, 33 homers, 85 RBIs), everyone would be happy. But, to do it in 85 games? That’s insane! He was hitting .327 with 32 homers and 83 RBIs headed into last night’s action. His owners are ecstatic — best pick of the draft! Unfortunately, Cabrera is still the MVP. Cabrera has fewer homers (26), but more hits (119-101), RBIs (85-83), stolen bases (2-0) and runs scored (65-61). Oh, and Cabrera’s hitting .364. Based on the unexpected, Davis is the man. But, Cabrera is expected to put up big numbers, and he’s doing it.

LVP:
Josh Hamilton (18.5 ADP) signed a huge contract (five years, $133 million) to go to the Angels and join forces with Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. Fantasy owners drafted him with confidence and he has taken that confidence, bashed it with a bat, stomped on it with his cleats before … well, you get the point and it’s not pretty (11 HRs, 31 RBIs; ,688 OPS). We can say, “Oh, he’ll turn it around, just you wait,” but there’s no way to get back the 81 games in which he failed to do what you drafted him to do.

BEST PITCHER:
Max Scherzer (80.1 ADP, the 22nd starting pitcher taken overall) has been a fantasy come true. He’s 13-0 with a 3.09 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 139 strikeouts.

SON OF A PITCH!
David Price (24.7 ADP) has been the biggest disappointment. Yes, he has been hurt, but in his nine starts before getting hurt, Price was 1-4 with a 5.24 ERA. That sounds more like Shaun Marcum than it does a top-five pitcher. Fortunately for Price’s owners, his DL stint may have helped, as he looked like his old self Tuesday, allowing no runs on three hits over seven innings and striking out 10.

BIG RELIEF: While Joe Nathan (113.9 ADP) and his 28 saves, 1.43 ERA and 0.80 WHIP have been a huge relief for his owners, this award belongs to Mariano Rivera — and not just because he needed another award for his mantel during his final season. At the age of 43 and after coming back from a torn ACL, the Yankees legend has 28 saves in 29 attempts with a 1.44 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. If you drafted him for his final ride, well done!

BLAST FROM THE PAST:
Bartolo Colon, the portly 40-year-old A’s hurler, would like us to believe it’s 2005 again (he won a little thing called the Cy Young that year). Thursday’s loss was his first since May 9 and spoiled an eight-game win streak. At 11-3 with a 2.78 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, he may have found a time machine (and some Yodels).

ODDEST STAT LINE: You’ve got to love Adam Dunn. Where else can you find a guy who can blast more than 20 homers and drive in nearly 60 runs while barely hitting .200? If the guy hit his weight (285), he’d be a fantasy MVP.

TOLD YA SO: He has won four of his last six starts, but it has been a rough transition back to the AL for R.A. Dickey, last season’s NL Cy Young Award winner. As predicted before the season, people drafted Dickey way too early (61.5 ADP) because of his 2012 numbers (20-6, 2.73 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) only to be disappointed by his 2013 stats (8-8, 4.59 ERA, 1.29 WHIP).

COMEBACK PLAYER: Candidates include Rivera, Victor Martinez (batting only .235) and Lance Berkman (hitting .261 in 66 games), but the winner is Jacoby Ellsbury. While he’s not putting up his 2011 power numbers (only two homers), the lefty is hitting over .300, has driven in 30 runs and scored more than 50. But, it’s his speed that sets him above the rest, already stealing more than 30 bases.

SECOND TO NONE: Even without the support of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, Kevin Youkilis and, well, anyone, Robinson Cano’s fantasy value has remained intact.

LOWER THIRD: With expectations high for Mike Moustakas (149.8 ADP), the Royals’ third baseman has been disappointing. How disappointing, you ask? Ike Davis is owned in more fantasy leagues and, up until last night, he wasn’t even on the Mets’ major league roster.

BARGAIN BIN:
Ervin Santana (267.4 ADP) is not a fantasy ace, but he has been serviceable providing five wins, a respectable 2.84 ERA a 1.04 WHIP. He also has 84 strikeouts. Not bad for a guy no one expected much production from.

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