The Baseball Nerds

We covered the questions “Is he really this good?” and “Is he really this bad?” last week. We’ll get back to those questions next week. This week we have a new question that some players need to answer, Will he play enough to matter? This question is for guys that will could perform well from a fantasy aspect but there is still doubt about whether they will actually see enough at-bats in 2012 to be relevant. Often these players will be younger prospect types that are still in the transition to a full-time major league role.

Brandon Belt's neck is so long from being whipped around between the majors and AAA... true story

Will he play enough to matter?

Brandon Belt- Belt has risen through the Giant’s farm system extremely fast. He’s a personal favorite of the Nerds, mostly because he has already shown an ability to take a walk. The situation with his playing time has been tremendously confusing for fans of Belt. He tore through the minors last year and has shown that AAA is no match for him. Basically all that leaves is to finally transition him into a full-time role for the Giants. If Belt gets a full 500-600 ABs next year we think that he could prove to be a worthwhile fantasy asset for all standard mixed leagues. There is a lot up in the air with the Giants roster for 2012 but there is no reason that would keep the Giants from giving Belt full time playing time as either a first baseman or from left-field.

Bold Prediction: .290, 25 HR, 70 runs, 80 RBI, 10 sb

Montero won't be a long-term catcher in the majors but could still be a very good major league hitter

Jesus Montero- 

Even for the casual baseball fan Montero has been around for years. Often rumored to be part of trade-after-trade for the Yankees, but has remained in the fold for the pinstripes. Despite all the time he’s been around, Montero will spend all of the 2012 season at the young age of 22. Chances are he would be spending the majority of his time at DH if he were to get major league at bats despite playing extensively behind the plate in the minors. Considering he has nearly 1000 plate appearances at AAA with an average of 20 home runs and nearly 30 doubles he could prove to be a very good power hitter. It’s unlikely that the Yankees will give Montero more than 400 PA’s next year, but he could provide value in that role and see increased playing time in 2013.

Bold Prodiction: .300 15 HR, 50 Runs, 50 RBI, 1 SB

Next Week Fantastical Thoughts will look at a few more names that need to answer the question of playing time – Randall Delgado and Mike Trout. We’ll also put Anthony Rizzo, Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Michael Morse up against the questions we’ve previously asked.