Can of Corncast: Josh Hamilton is back with bats
May 30, 2015, 3:21 PM | Updated: 3:31 pm
After a trade and what was virtually a rehab assignment, Josh Hamilton is back in Texas and already hitting homers in bunches.
He knocked two over the right field wall on Friday off knuckleballer Steven Wright and while he won’t be facing RA Dickey anytime soon, it’s safe to say that he still has his home run swing.
All fantasy baseballers want to know: “Should I pick him up?”
I give you a resounding “YES!!! ABSOLUTELY!!!”
Hamilton is a career .292 hitter and even if you take out his career-best 2010 season where he hit .359, he’s still a career .280 hitter. That’s very serviceable for a spot in your fantasy outfield, especially since he’s going to hit at least 18 more homers this year if he stays healthy.
The biggest difference however, between Hamilton now and Hamilton on the Angels, is comfort.
In order to succeed in the majors, he needs to be in a place he feels comfortable. After all, it’s kind of difficult to be in a place of relaxation when the fans in the stands don’t think you’re living up to expectations.
Even if he were to have returned to the Angels lineup this year, the pressure to live up to his earnings may have prevented him from having success.
In Texas, the fans love him. They don’t see him as the slugger who can’t live up to his contract — they see him as one of the guys who led them to the World Series in back-to-back seasons.
At the time this blog was written, Hamilton was 60 percent owned in Yahoo leagues. If he’s still on your waiver wire, go get him, even if you have a solid OF. You can stash him or rotate him in your lineup and if he turns into what we all remember him as from his days with the Rangers, you’ll have some pretty high-powered trade bait.
Bonus Blog Free Agent: We might be seeing a career resurrection from Braves outfielder Cameron Maybin (8 percent owned). He’s hitting .260 with five homers, 17 runs, 20 RBI’s and six stolen bases. He’s been in the league since 2007 and has never hit more than nine homers doing that once, hitting eight twice and this year’s five is next on the list. He is without question the best chance you have of picking up a guy who can hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases from the waiver wire this season.
