Friday, May 7, 2010

Gettin' Wiggy with it

Make a short list of the early 2010 fantasy surprises and Ty Wigginton has to be in the mix.

Wiggy's 10 homers rank him second behind only Paul Konerko in the American League. He's also hitting .299 with 19 RBIs - not bad for a guy who likely went undrafted in your fantasy league.

So is he for real?

Wigginton's always had some pop - he's averaged 23 homers per 162 games in his career. Problem is, he's often been a utility/bench player and was in fact penciled in for that role with the Orioles this year before starting 2B Brian Roberts landed on the DL.

Roberts is supposed to be back in June, which might lead you to believe Wigginton's playing time is endangered. Also, Wigginton won't be able to keep up this HR pace - unless you think he'll be a 50-homer guy this year.

Still, the O's will find ways to get him at-bats, and I'm not sold that Roberts' lingering back troubles will completely go away. Wigginton may turn out to be a valuable player all year, and if you picked him up off the waiver wire and can use him as an occasional fill-in, more power to you. But if you're looking to sell high and ship him off for a steadier commodity, Wiggy's value may never be higher than it is right now.

No comments: