By Kevin Kleps, Fantasy Correspondent
There might be no better example of the disparities between points and category leagues in fantasy baseball than Grady Sizemore.
In category leagues, the Indians center fielder – and top-six overall pick entering the season – is killing your batting average (.220 as of May 17), but he is helping you in home runs (seven), RBI (25), runs scored (21) and steals (six). Even mired in a 10-for-59 slump through May 18, Sizemore is on pace to score 87 runs, hit 29 homers, drive in 104 runs and steal 25 bases.
In category leagues, you have to keep playing him and hope he gets back to being the All-Star and Silver Slugger you thought you were drafting.
In points leagues, Sizemore is slightly less frustrating than the NBA’s three-month postseason.
In leagues that penalize hitters a point for a strikeout and a failed stolen-base attempt, Sizemore entered play May 18 with only 94 points in 37 games, which placed him in a tie for 38th among outfielders. He had scored two fewer points than Willy Taveras, four fewer than Michael Bourn and 19 fewer than teammate Shin-Soo Choo.
The reason: His Dave Kingman-like total of 41 strikeouts in 159 at-bats, continuing a trend in which the Indians’ leadoff hitter has fanned once every 4.4 at-bats since 2005.
Sizemore’s strikeout-less game May 15 ended a streak in which he had struck out at least once in 12 consecutive games. For the season, he has registered at least one K in all but seven of his 37 appearances.
In category leagues, that doesn’t mean a thing, aside from the fact it’s one fewer opportunity for Sizemore to steal a base or score a run. In points leagues, it’s enough of a reason to consider benching him.
I wouldn’t make that drastic of a move yet, unless you have an outfield with three other strong starting candidates. If that’s the case, I would play Sizemore at DH or sit him until he gets his strikeouts down to at least a Mark DeRosa level.
Let’s take a quick trip around the horn and look at other struggling stars, all the while trying to determine if it’s “just” a slump (all stats are through May 17):
