FTW

Don’t Get It Twisted: Derrick Lee Surprises.

Derrick Lee has been on fire over the past couple weeks, literally smash-killing at every opportunity.  Lee’s seven homeruns and .415 average over the past two weeks is helping fantasy owners put together incredible playoff runs.

Derrick Lee’s 2009 season is of great importance in the fantasy world, much more important than it is in Chicago.  After the steroid era, I was unsure as to how players would age.  Playing fantasy baseball during the steroid hooplah really jades your opinions of players:  You fully expect players to produce solid numbers well into their late-30’s.  However, with banned substances on the down-low in the past year, it made sense to draft a group of players that were entering their baseball prime (27-30).

I assumed that Derrick Lee and other players born in the mid-70’s would experience a drop-off sooner than guys like Jim Thome and Gary Sheffield did.  Alas, Lee’s on his way to posting numbers reminiscent of his terrific 2005 season.

There’s almost no difference between the current version of Derrick Lee and the 2007 and 2008 versions, yet he’s up across the board in almost every statistical category.  Lee’s managed to avoid the little swing-hindering injuries this year though.  Maybe it really is just that simple.

Derrick Lee’s striking out and walking at almost the exact same percentage.  Even Lee’s BABIP is inline with historical marks.  Derrick Lee is just hitting the ball harder (.227 ISO in 2009).  Lee’s Home Runs are a result of more flyballs and a higher homerun-to-flyball ratio, but that’s more than likely the result rather than the cause of his increased power.

Lee’s seeing an equal amount of fastballs and offspeed pitches and his plate discipline numbers are scary close to his historical average, so what gives?  He’s just killing the fastball, posting a wFB/C of 2.62, the highest since his 2005 season.

That’s about it, I just had to mention Derrick Lee’s incredibly Projection System defying season. Bill James had Derrick Lee hitting the most home-runs at the start of the season, predicting 24 dingers.  Welp, through 483 AB, Derrick Lee has managed to hit 33 HR.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.