Worry Meter

It is officially worry time! I know that most fantasy owners are spazzing out about at least one member of their team, even though the season is only three weeks old. But, some things just aren't worth the fretting. I will break down, by team, the slow starters and rank how much I would worry about them when it comes to fantasy. Level One on the meter is the lowest amount of worry, while Level Ten is the highest amount.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - Josh Hamilton
Worry Level 3 - Hamilton has not looked very good for his new club early in 2013. He has 2 home runs, but is batting under the Mendoza Line at .176. He will basically swing at anything and still looks horrible in day games. So why is the Worry Meter only at 3? Because Josh Hamilton is a former MVP. Once he regains his plate discipline, Hamilton can explode just as he did in the first half of 2012.

Oakland Athletics - Josh Reddick
Worry Level 6 - Reddick is batting .113 and only has one homer. He tweaked his wrist last week, which may be attributing to his poor performance. He can be a streaky hitter too and he showed that last season. I am more concerned about Reddick because he has had only one full season of success. 2012 could have been a breakout year, but 2013 could be a learning one. Reddick did shave his beard though. So maybe that was the problem.

Seattle Mariners -Jesus Montero
Worry Level 8 - NO POWER! We have heard about how much pop Montero has for the last few years. Last season, he only hit 15. I am not convinced that the power is ready to show up in 2013.

Texas Rangers - Mitch Moreland
Worry Level 4 - Moreland has 3 dingers, but is batting only .164. The Rangers are starting to give Jeff Baker some time at first, so Moreland might want to start hitting consistently. However, I think Texas will stick with Mitch at first.

Houston Astros - Everybody not named Jose Altuve
Worry Level 1 - Jose Altuve is the only fantasy worthy Astro. So who cares about the rest of them?

Cleveland Indians - Asdrubal Cabrera and Ubaldo Jimenez
Worry Levels 6 and 9 - Asdrubal is struggling. He is batting .150 and has struck out 18 times in 16 games. He hurt his elbow yesterday too. He struggled to finish 2012 and this could be a trend. Ubaldo sucks. I don't have any more hope for him. He never has control and I am sick of people saying, "if he fixes his mechanics, he can be his old self again." No.

Detroit Tigers - Victor Martinez
Worry Level 5 - Martinez is batting .167 and has no homers. My concern is mainly due to the fact that he is coming off a bad ACL injury. He looks healthy, but he isn't playing like it yet.

Minnesota Twins - Aaron Hicks
Worry Level 4 - Hicks is batting under .100. When it gets to that point, the specifics do not matter. He is still young, so I am not going to freak out about it. As of now, don't have him on your fantasy team.

Kansas City Royals - Mike Moustakas
Worry Level 3 - Moose is batting .173 with no homers and only 1 RBI. I really don't know where to stand on this one. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Hopefully, it's just a slow start and nothing more.

Chicago White Sox - Adam Dunn
Worry Level 9 - This is looking like 2011 all over again. Dunn is batting right around .100 and has struck out 26 times. I don't care if he hits home runs, he's just simply not worth it anymore.

Toronto Blue Jays - Josh Johnson
Worry Level 8 - Johnson does not seem to be in his pre-Tommy John form. With an ERA over 6 and shaky control in his last outing against the Yankees, I am not sure Johnson will ever be the pitcher he once was.

Baltimore Orioles - DH
Worry Level 2 - Maybe Buck should take his squad to the NL. Coming into the weekend, Oriole DHs were a combined 3-47. No need to worry here though, unless you're the proud fantasy owner of Steve Pearce or Nolan Reimold.

Tampa Bay Rays - David Price
Worry Level 7- Price has been hit pretty hard this year. Opponents are batting a whopping .309 against the reigning Cy Young Award winner. A lot of the damage has been done against his fastball. You can't avoid throwing fastballs, so as a David Price owner, I am in worry mode.

Boston Red Sox - Joel Hanrahan
Worry Level 8 - Hanrahan converted 3 out of his 4 save opportunities, but his ERA is in the elevens. He is on the DL with hamstring issues and I don't think he will regain his job as Boston's closer when he returns. Andrew Bailey has looked really good as his fill-in.

New York Yankees - Brett Gardner and CC Sabathia
Worry Levels 6 and 2 - Gardner stole his first base on Sunday. 99% of his fantasy value comes from his speed and if he is not running, I have a problem with it. He bats ahead of Cano when a righty is on the mound, so I don't think he has the green light when Robbie is at the dish. Until Granderson and Teixeira return, I see this problem continuing. CC's main problem is velocity. However, the big fella always throws harder in the heat and he is very capable of pitching in a more logical and thoughtful manner with a lessened velocity.

Atlanta Braves - Jason Heyward
Worry Level 7 - Not again! Heyward is also resembling his poor 2011 season, as he currently is batting .121. I've seen him throw up a very bad season before and I worry that I may see it happen again.

Miami Marlins - Giancarlo Stanton
Worry Level 8 - 20 strikeouts and zero home runs in 48 at bats. I think Stanton is expanding the zone since he is surrounded by a lineup of inept fish. His protection won't change, which has me fearing a major power outage.

Washington Nationals - Dan Haren
Worry Level 9 - Haren has been getting wrecked in 2013. His ERA is close to 8. Teams worried that his bad back may be worse than Haren reveals, but the Nats took a chance and it looks like it is going to come back and bite them.

New York Mets - Ike Davis
Worry Level 4 - Ike is batting .167 and it looks like its time to just accept the fact that a poor average is going to come with his power. At this point, he is like Adam Dunn, except with way more hope.

Philadelphia Phillies - Ryan Howard
Worry Level 7 - One homer in 66 ABs? That doesn't sound like the Ryan Howard of old. After the Achilles tear, who knows if we ever will see 40 home runs from Rhino again.

Milwaukee Brewers - Rickie Weeks
Worry Level 3 - Weeks is batting .182 with 24 strikeouts in 17 games. He has been hitting in the cleanup spot for the Brewers and I don't think he is comfortable there. Once they move him up in the order, Weeks will begin to improve.

St. Louis Cardinals - Mitchell Boggs
Worry Level 8 - As I discussed in my Closer by Committee article, I don't believe that Boggs is suited for the Cards 9th inning role. I think Mujica sees a majority of the save opportunities, which makes Boggs and irrelevant fantasy option.

Chicago Cubs - Scott Hairston
Worry Level 6 - The easy answer here would be Marmol, but I am sick of talking about him, so I went with Hairston. He has only been given 17 ABs. I really liked the signing by the Cubs and expected him to platoon with Schierholtz, but it looks like Hairston won't have too many opportunities early on.

Pittsburgh Pirates - Pedro Alvarez
Worry Level 7 - I smell a fluke. 30 home runs a year ago and only 2 to start this season along with an average of .125 makes me think something is a little fishy here. I never bought into Alvarez and his terrible April is not doing much to change my mind.

Cincinnati Reds - Joey Votto
Worry Level 3 - Wait, what? Joey Votto is beginning to rake, but he has walked 25 times already. I did not draft a guy with my first round pick to see him walk every time a runner is in scoring position. I'm not sure why teams keep putting him on either because Brandon Phillips keeps getting the job done anyways. Swing the stick Joey!

Arizona Diamondbacks - Miguel Montero
Worry Level 3 - I've always been a Montero fan, but I wish he would wow me one year. .280 and 15 bombs are nice, but he is going to have to do a little more for Arizona now that Justin Upton is gone. I just don't know if he has it in him.

Los Angeles Dodgers - Matt Kemp
Worry Level 5 - No home runs? You cannot be serious. I had Kemp pegged as a shoe-in 30-30 player, but it's not looking like that's going to happen. The Worry Meter sits in the middle because I know Kemp can turn it around, fast, but his slow start is pretty frustrating at the moment.

San Francisco Giants - Matt Cain
Worry Level 2 - Matt Cain has the highest ERA of any Giants pitcher at 7.15. It doesn't look like he is having mechanical issues. He is just leaving some pitches up in the zone. Cain will be just fine.

San Diego Padres - Cameron Maybin
Worry Level 8 - Cam is batting under .100 and has no stolen bases. It looks like he is slowly getting factored out of the Padres everyday lineup, as well. Maybin has a ton of talent, but it might just fall by the wayside.

Colorado Rockies - No worries here. The Rockies are sitting in first place with a record of 13-5. Who saw this one coming? They just need to stay healthy. By ‘they', I mean Tulo and Cargo. Dexter Fowler has 7 home runs already, which shouldn't be too shocking since his slugging percentage has increased every year he has been in the league.