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News-Herald Assistant Sports Editor Kevin Kleps doesn’t just write headlines and stories. He also checks on his fantasy sports teams. A lot. See if the moves and news from the world of sports affect your fantasy teams.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Fantasy baseball: Pick three and more notes

We'll go with an all-infield edition for this week's Pick Three -- a list that includes a pair of rookies.

As always, the trio are owned in fewer than 50 percent of the leagues on ESPN.com and should be an asset in deep leagues. All stats are prior to Tuesday.

Casey McGehee, 2B, Brewers (owned in 26.5 percent of the ESPN leagues): In his first full season in the big leagues, Rickie Week's replacement is batting .343 with six homers, 27 RBI, a .963 OPS and 23 runs scored in 134 at-bats. Since June 1, the 26-year-old McGehee is 37-for-96 (.385) with six homers, 18 runs and 24 RBI. He's versatile (20 starts at second and 17 at third), he's eligible at multiple positions and he's readily available. The only red flag I've noticed: A lack of power in the minor leagues. McGehee had 54 homers and batted .279 in 2,577 minor-league at-bats.

Gordon Beckham, 3B, White Sox (14.3 percent): The rookie is the White Sox's top prospect and needed all of 233 minor-league at-bats before getting the call to the big club. In 95 at-bats since, Beckham is batting .263 with three homers, 16 RBI and 14 runs scored. The latter stat line isn't very impressive, until you look at Beckham's numbers in his last 10 games (.385, six runs, two homers and eight RBI in 39 at-bats). The No. 8 overall pick in the 2008 draft is also eligible at shortstop in some leagues, and he's got a ton of power (in his brief minor-league tenure, he had 25 doubles, seven homers, 33 RBI and a .322 average in those 233 at-bats).

Skip Schumaker, 2B, Cardinals (13.1 percent): He's not going to hit many homers (14 in 1,080 major-league at-bats) and he'll be lucky if he reaches 50 RBI, but if you need help at second in deep leagues, he's a decent option. Schumaker is batting .302 and is on pace to challenge triple figures in runs scored. He also batted .302 last season, and he's hitting .429 with six runs scored and a 1.002 OPS in July.

"Rookie" Romero: Another first-year player is having a surprising amount of success -- Blue Jays lefty and 2005 first-round pick Ricky Romero. The 24-year-old has finally been noticed by fantasy owners after winning his last four starts, increasing his ESPN.com ownership percentage 21.1 percent to 38.2 in the past week.

Romero has allowed five earned runs in 28 1/3 innings, striking out 25, in that span. For the season, he's 7-3 with a 2.96 ERA and 66 K's in 79 innings. He's worth starting in deep leagues, but I would be slightly concerned about the following: In 81 starts in the minors, Romero was six games under .500 (16-22), had a 4.42 ERA and averaged 7.0 strikeouts per nine innings. Maybe he's figured things out. Or maybe the hitters will soon figure him out.

Closing numbers: One of this year's biggest fantasy surprises, Rays second baseman Ben Zobrist, has totaled 422 at-bats since 2008. In that span, he is batting .268 with 28 homers, 76 RBI, 75 runs and 11 steals. This season, Zobrist (who is eligible at second, shortstop and the outfield in some leagues) is batting .281 with 16 homers, 46 RBI, eight steals and a sensational .998 OPS in only 224 at-bats.

Zobrist's power is even more out of nowhere when you consider he had only 23 homers in 1,336 at-bats in the minor leagues.

Coming attraction: Later this week, we'll take a look at the fantasy All-Stars for the first half.

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