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Just wanted to make a short post today to highlight a guy who is becoming pretty useful in deeper leagues. Maicer Izturis got off to a rough start this year due to some bad luck on balls in play, but the skills he’s showing this season (and his SS/2B/3B eligibilty) make him a fantastic bench player in leagues where there isn’t a lot of value on the wire, especially with the glut of injuries that have struck middle infielders recently.

Let’s compare what Izturis is doing this year to a comparable middle infielder who is a starter in many leagues, Placido Polanco:

As an added bonus, Izturis has six stolen bases to Polanco’s two, and has a 78% success rate to Polanco’s 69%.

The Angels seem committed to getting Izturis playing time lately, as he’s started every game there since Howie Kendrick’s return. It’s doubtful he’ll be a 100% full-time player when Erick Aybar returns, but Maicer does have the hot hand lately, going 12 for his last 22 (and hitting .300 since May 1st) and has consistently hit in one of the top two spots in the Angels’ order. There’s not a ton of upside there, but like Polanco, it’s very likely he’ll give you a solid average and good run totals at a tough position, with the added bonuses of speed and versatility.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Second Basemen, Shortstops, Third Basemen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.