 | May 31, 2007 Coach Danko |  |
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Akinori Iwamura, TB 3BThis has been a volatile fantasy baseball season full of highs and lows for Tampa Bay Devil Rays third baseman Akinori Iwamura. After going largely undrafted in many fantasy leagues, Iwamura exploded onto the scene with a 9-game hit streak. Through his first 12 games, he compiled an astounding 28 total combination of hits and walks for a .540 on-base percentage. He was one of the hottest players in baseball and he was flying off of the free agent wire. Then, on April 23rd Iwamura suffered one of those dreaded oblique injuries. I'm talking about that injury that comes from straining one of your abdominal muscles that often takes 4-6 weeks to heal and that can be re-injured by simple actions like coughing or sneezing. Shortly after his injury, he became one of the most dropped players in fantasy leagues.
I'd like to think that I'm the exception when it comes to Akinori, which is a good thing for you. I got turned on to Iwamura in the offseason and drafted him in the last round of my draft. Furthermore, I had the luxury of stashing him away on the disabled list until his return. Now I'm betting that most people didn't have my patience and Iwamura may still available on your free agent wire. My advice to you is to pick up Iwamura immediately. His style of play is quite similar to Ichiro Suzuki in that both players hit for a high average and are primarily contact hitters. In fact, when you watch to the two at the plate, their swings look quite similar. They differ in that Suzuki is more of a free swinger and primetime base stealer, whereas Iwamura is much more patient and isn't quite as active on the bases. Look for Iwamura to score 80-90 runs, 10-15 homeruns, and 15-20 bases while carrying at least a .300 batting average. |
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Lo and behold, Aki is back! After five weeks his rehab was going so well that he went straight from extended spring training back into the majors, bypassing a minor league assignment. In another great sign, Iwamura actually felt good enough to get active on the bases as he swiped a couple bags. He has played three games since his return and it appears that he is picking up right where he left off. In those games, he has 5-for-10 with 3 runs scored. It's safe to say that Iwamura is completely healed from his oblique strain and he was inserted back into the Devil Rays starting lineup as their everyday third baseman.