Fantasy Baseball: 2009 Breakout Hitters-NL West

Continuing in the series of NL breakout hitters, we have the NL West today.

Dodgers-Matt Kemp-I've written about him enough here. No need to elaborate more. He should be a top 5 pick in NL leagues in 2010.

Rockies-Carlos Gonzalez-Cargo was dealt to the Rockies in the Matt Holliday trade with the A's last offseason. He more than likely was not drafted in too many leagues in 2009, but he has rewarded owners who were patient with him. In 270 ABs this season, he has gone 13-29-16-.285-.353-.533-.886. Compare that to his 2008 season in Oakland where he went 4-26-4-.242-.273-.361-.634 and one can tell he really likes to hit in the thin air in Colorado. Cargo should be the Rockies starting LFer in 2010, and has the talent to go 20-20 in 2010.

Diamondbacks-Mark Reynolds-Reynolds improved upon his breakout 2008 season with 44-101-24-.263-.353-.552-.906 season where he again broke the record for strikeouts in a season. His power increase can be attributed to an increase in his HR/FB% from 14.8% in 2008 to 21.5% in 2009. His BABIP increased slightly as well, from .323 in 2008 to .339 in 2009. Per www.baseball-reference.com, Reynolds leads the league in Power/Speed with a 31.1 rating. Power/Speed is measured as follows-(2 x (HRs x SBs)/(HRs + SBs)) and was created by Bill James.

Diamondbacks-Miguel Montero-Montero was a backup catcher for the Diamondbacks the last two years, but he won the job once Chris Snyder got hurt in 2009, and has not looked back. He has rewarded owners who took a late flyer on him in 2009 drafts with a 16-59-.297-.357-.483-.840 season with 30 doubles. Montero displayed similar power as far back as 2005 in High A and AA, where he hit 26 HRs and drove in 95 with a .943 OPS. Montero could be a top 3-4 catcher in NL leagues in 2010.

Padres-Everth Cabrera-Cabrera was a speed demon in 3+ season in the minors stealing 123 bases, and he has continued to steal bases with the big club. He has strolen 25 bases in 32 attempts in his 367 ABs. His glove will keep him on the field, so he could steal 40+ bases in 2010.

Giants-Pablo Sandoval-The Round Mound of Pound met the experts expectations with a 23-88-.330-.385-.549-.935 season in a bad Giants lineup. As I have written previously, he could turn some of his 44 doubles into HRs in 2010. Should he approach the 30 HR level in 2010, he would be a top 2-3 third baseman in NL l;eagues.