Renaissance Man [ren' i-sans' man] n - a man who knows a lot about many different subjects and has many practical skills and abilities.
At the beginning of each week I am going to take a look at some Rotisserie Renaissance Men from the previous week. Stats in this edition cover the week of April 12th-18th. These are the hitters that are solid contributors to all 5 roto categories and pitchers who are doing things right in 4 - and possibly 5 categories some weeks. Whether these guys are sitting on your bench or your league's waiver wire, they probably need to be in a starting line-up while they are staying hot.
Hitters
Cameron Maybin - OF, Florida Marlins
(31 AB, .354 AVG, 6 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB)
Featured in Week 3's Mixed Under the Radar it is pleasing to be able to able to include Maybin as a Roto Renaissance Man this week. He has been moved into the lead-off role by manager Fredi Gonzalez which will only help him grab a few more bags and runs from this point on. What people thought they were going to have to wait one more year for may be here this year. Look for Maybin to finish this week strong with a visit to Colorado where he will have a chance to hit off of two lefties in Greg Smith and Jorge De La Rosa.
Alex Rios - OF, Chicago White Sox
(26 AB, .346 AVG, 4 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 SB)
Is he back? Well last week he put up some impressive numbers to think that he is. He beat up on his old team which is surely great motivation. This week you may see more of the same with the Sox heading back home to the hitter friendly Cell on the South Side of Chicago with some favorable match-ups at the end of the week against the second half of Seattle's rotation.
Mark Teahen - 3B, Chicago White Sox
(16 AB, .438 AVG, 6 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB)
You would think with that line Mark Teahen would be higher on the list, but he only maintained that high average in 16 at-bats. Teahen was pressing a lot during spring training and early in the season. It looks like he has found his role and become comfortable with it. Those stolen bases were opportunity swipes but they still count in the stats and that is what we are looking for.
Pitchers
Adam Wainwright - SP, St. Louis Cardinals
(17 IP, 2 W,16 K, 1.06 ERA, 0.76 WHIP)
Wainwright is already making a second push for a Cy Young award this year by putting up some very impressive numbers last week. His curveball is probably one of the best in the games and he just makes hitters look silly when he is on. 17 innings on an arm in a week just goes to show he was on this last week. His next outing is against the Giants this week in San Francisco where you can expect his strikeout total to grow even higher.
Matt Garza - SP, Tampa Bay Rays
(16 IP, 2 W, 10 K, 0.56 ERA, 0.94 WHIP)
Matt Garza quietly put up the exact same line, minus a few strikeouts, that Roy Halladay did in Week 1. Look for Garza to break out big this year coming into his own in that young Tampa Bay rotation. This week he goes up against the streaky Toronto offense at home, it could be one more dominant outing to add to this young season's talley.
Mike Pelfrey - SP, New York Mets
(8 IP, 1 W, 1 SV, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.88 WHIP)
I know that this may seem a little funny but Pelfrey is the only true Renaissance pitcher this week. Of course it came because of a horribly managed 7 hour marathon on Saturday against the Cardinals but he got a win and a save while maintaining a superb ERA and WHIP. Of course don't expect this to happen again anytime soon but Pelfrey is an arm to watch this season who may be ready to take that next step. He is a two start pitcher this week getting the Cubs and Braves at home.