Jose Guillen: Fantasy Stud!
There are different reasons why a player is underrated. One of the main reasons is injury. A guy is real good, but doesn't play consistently enough to really show you his skills. Jose Guillen, OF, KC Royals, falls in this category. I have had him on my fantasy teams past and had mixed feelings. When he was healthy and played, he would put up solid numbers (from a guy I picked late in the draft or off of waivers), but when hurt (fairly often), he would struggle at the plate or miss time altogether. The up and down was frustrating.
Well, Jose Guillen is up now. He is healthy and swinging a mighty bat. Through his first 9 games, he is hitting .361, 5 HRs, and 9 RBIs. In my H2H points league, he is in the top 5 for point getters for all hitters! Yes, a fantasy stud! And of course, he is on the waiver wire.
Let's be real for a moment. Guillen will not be a top 5 point person in my H2H league at the end of the year. He won't be top 5 even among just outfielders. What will he be? He will likely be a .275 hitter with 25-30 HRs (based on his history). Well, that's not bad, but that's not great either. Correct. What we are probably looking at here is a rental type player, or a spot starter. Guillen has always been kinda streaky. Right now he is on a great streak and it's worth playing him until the streak fades. The only question at that point is whether or not to keep him for his next streak or drop him. Honestly, if you drop him, he will probably be available on waivers for his next hitting streak.
One last thing. The unknown. Sometimes a guy comes out of nowhere to put up a great year. A good start doesn't mean that will happen, but it is a start. Jose Guillen has talent, even at 33 years old. Maybe he has a last hurrah in store before his declining baseball years.
-Scout Monkey Labels: Jose Guillen, Mark King, Outfielder, Scout Monkey