In Tuesday's ESPN fantasy baseball chat with Brendan Roberts, a chatter asked the following question followed by Robert's response:
Michael, (Milwaukee, WI): who's your top 2b, Utley or Kinsler? and where would you take both?
Brendan Roberts: Our rankings say neither ... we have Pedroia. But personally, I'd rate Kinsler as higher. Unless, unless, all the news is good news for Chase Utley during spring training. Not expecting that, though.
Ok. So , ESPN pleases the Red Sox nation by picking Dustin Pedroia over Chase Utley and Ian Kinsler?? Let's take a look at their 2008 stats, shall we?
In 2008:
Utley- 33-104-113-14-.292-.380-.535.
Pedroia- 17-83-118-20-.326-.376-.493
Kinsler- 18-71-102-26-.319-.375-.517
Everyone knows Utley is coming off hip surgery, and we do not know when he will return. But as Eric mentioned in a previous post a few weeks ago, players coming back from similar hip surgeries, have performed well.
Will Pedroia duplicate his 2008 MVP season, a season where he doubled his HR and tripled his SB totals from 2007? Is he the top 2bman in fantasy baseball?
Here are two things to consider:
1. Utley produced those numbers in a season where he injured his hip in spring training.
2. Kinsler only played 121 games, and almost duplicated Pedroia's stats.