Josh Hamilton Out 6-8 Weeks | Finding a Fantasy Replacement

You should already know by now that Josh Hamilton is making an extended trip to the DL.  As a Josh Hamilton owner, you may be in a bit of a panic in trying to find someone off the waiver wire to give you some help.  Hamilton is predicted to be out for six to eight weeks so let’s assume that he’ll end up missing 150 AB on the season (which may or may not be optimistic).  Based on my WERTH roto values and the ZiPS projections, Hamilton would be slated to produce 1.04 roto points above average over that span.

So, instead of finishing with the year with 85 roto points in a 12-team league, you would finish with 84 points if you plugged in a fantasy league average player for Hamilton (which isn’t so bad, right?).  The trouble is that finding a fantasy league average player off of waivers is pretty hard to do in deep leagues.  However, based off of those ZiPS projections of players owned in less than 50% of CBS leagues, I’ve pinpointed three guys who might do the job for you.

 

Player
HR
R
RBI
SB
AVG
Tot
sTot
Diff
Own
Josh Hamilton
0.21
0.05
0.30
-0.05
0.53
1.04
3.62
Seth Smith
0.11
0.05
0.11
-0.12
0.00
0.15
2.73
-0.88
34%
Jonny Gomes
0.22
0.00
0.23
-0.04
-0.36
0.05
2.62
-0.99
29%
David Murphy
-0.24
-0.20
0.17
-0.09
-0.03
-0.39
2.18
-1.43
25%

 

Using those same projections, Seth Smith and Jonny Gomes would be two guys who could produce above average results in 150 ABs.  David Murphy will be filling in for Josh Hamilton in real life and could produce close enough to league average to be worth a look as well.

Smith has quietly produced consistently good results in limited ABs over his career but looks to be getting a shot at full playing time at the moment so he’s definitely worth a look.  If he played a full season, he could produce 20 HR and 10 SB so he makes for a nice option to fill in for Hamilton over the upcoming weeks.

Jonny Gomes isn’t quite as balanced of a player but could produce good HR and RBI numbers for you if that’s what you’re after.  He’s also currently getting the bulk of the playing time after wallowing away in OF platoons for most of his career.

David Murphy won’t hurt you too badly in any roto category so he’s a nice option as well while he’s picking up Hamilton’s ABs. Producing close to fantasy league average is certainly good enough for a replacement player.

Combining these three options with Hamilton’s production over the rest of the season will still get you a player who is singlehandedly worth 2 or more roto points above average in your standings.  So, while the Hamilton injury is a tough pill to swallow, this too shall pass.  Take a deep breath and remember that you’ll be fine if you can get a decent replacement for the time being.

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  • Troy
    04/14/2011 at 9:44 PM

    I think you mean David Murphy

  • Luke
    04/14/2011 at 9:55 PM

    Ha, whoa. Complete brain lapse there. Yes, I did mean David Murphy and not the hapless infielder for the Mets named Daniel Murphy. Thanks, nice catch. I'll make the correction.