Sliders: Byrd ready to take off?

For those of you who've seen my stuff, you know I come with a pretty basic arsenal. I throw change-ups, and I throw sliders.

And occasionally, I hang one and live to tell about it.

But that was before this week, before I came face-to-face with that beast of mythical origin, Marlon Byrd.

Byrd, fish and foul, native to both sky and sea, has come to land deep in the heart of Texas, capturing the AL Player of the Week award after hitting .571 (16-for-28) with two home runs and two stolen bases.

That's 37 points in standard Head-to-Head leagues.

Marlon Byrd's final numbers could be solid with enough at-bats. (US Presswire)

"Way-way-wait a minute," you say. "I know Byrd. He doesn't belong on anyone's Sliders list. He barely even belongs on a major-league team."

I thought the same thing.

But then I reviewed his history and peripheral stats, and I've got to tell you, I see some value. I don't know how much yet, but some.

Sounds like reason enough to add a new pitch to my repertoire.

Curveball This guy has thrown me for such a loop that I can't even begin to predict his numbers the rest of the way. But he's on my radar.

Marlon Byrd, OF, Rangers

Yes, I've abandoned my change-up for at least one time through the order. The hottest player in baseball deserves to see something new.

He certainly showed something new with this last week's performance. Now at age 30, he has done nothing particularly impressive in the major leagues, reaching double-digit home runs once, a .300 batting average twice and 500 at-bats never.

But maybe that final number deserves part of the blame.

Because last season, his first in Texas, was also the best of his career. He reached two of those milestones -- double-digit home runs and a .300 batting average -- with a marginally impressive .814 OPS. And it's not like those numbers came out of nowhere. Byrd once projected as a regular in the Phillies' minor-league system, consistently hitting .300 with 15-20 homers.

The Rangers shied away from him following an early-season slump, but injuries to David Murphy and Milton Bradley have again made him an integral part of the lineup. And even if Murphy and Bradley come back healthy, the Rangers still have an empty left field. I can't imagine they'd stray from Byrd in favor of Brandon Boggs or Frank Catalanotto right now, not with Byrd on career-best pace. Sure, he has only eight home runs and four stolen bases, but he also has only 252 at-bats. In a 600-at-bat season, he projects to about 20 home runs and 12 stolen bases -- which makes him, what, Bobby Abreu?

Nothing wrong with that.

Of course, he has benefited from playing in the Rangers' home stadium. Who hasn't? But if you platoon him with another outfielder, he might surprise you. For those Fantasy owners who lost Carlos Lee to a wrist injury, you could do a lot worse than picking up someone like Byrd.

Sliders These guys' recent performances signify more than a hot or cold streak. Their Fantasy appeal has actually "slid" either up or down.

Shane Victorino, OF, Phillies

I get the feeling I'll draft this guy in a good number of leagues next year.

I just like him. He has a certain skill set that tends to go unnoticed until it culminates in a once-in-a-lifetime 30-30 season, much like it did for Jimmy Rollins last year.

Not that I foresee a 30-30 season in Victorino's future. I just mean I don't view him as strictly a base-stealer.

Earlier this year, though, I couldn't have said so much. I could've thought it -- and quite frankly, I did -- but when the guy has only two home runs through the first three months of the season, the argument only carries so far.

Then came the fourth month and the return of Victorino's power, in all its underrated glory. Since the beginning of July he has nine home runs, enough to rival some of the biggest power hitters in the game. Josh Hamilton, by comparison, also has nine over that stretch.

Not that I think Victorino can sustain this pace or even finish with 20 home runs, but this recent power surge reaffirms his power potential. He doesn't just slap the ball; he can drive it and run. And run and run.

He looks like the type of player who'll rank among the league leaders in doubles and triples every year, not to mention picking up 15-20 homers and 35-40 stolen bases. I call him a No. 2 outfielder and sort of a displaced version of Rafael Furcal.

No, I don't mean the Furcal who I said might contend for the NL MVP earlier this season, but the normal Furcal -- a good player, still.

Derrek Lee, 1B, Cubs

How quietly has gone the demise of Derrek Lee.

So quietly, in fact, that you probably haven't heard of it. You probably didn't even know he had a demise. You probably still don't because you haven't made a habit of trusting me. Go ahead and look up his numbers. I can wait.

I'm guessing you didn't like what you saw. Of course, I'm guessing you also didn't like what you saw last year, when he hit only 22 home runs. I'm guessing you liked more what you saw in April and May, when he hit a combined 13 home runs and looked like he'd regained the form he had in 2005, before his wrist injury, when he hit 46 home runs.

And for as much guessing as I do, I can understand why you still don't trust me.

OK, maybe you didn't quite expect 46 home runs from him again after those first two months, but you expected maybe 30 or 35. Admit it -- you did. Shoot, I did. The entire Fantasy-playing community did. For a guy who looks that big and that strong and has that kind of statistical backing, 35 homers seem like a slam dunk.

But he just isn't that kind of player anymore. I don't know if we should blame age or the wrist injury or some measure of maturity that made him realize he'd rather hit .300 than 30 bombs. Like I said, I don't know. But I do know a total of four home runs over the last 2 1/2 months destroys any remaining image of him as a power hitter. It makes Shane Victorino look like Cecil Fielder, which is like making a waffle look like a Waffle House.

Does Lee rank among the top 12 first basemen in Fantasy? He does, but not by much, and I can't imagine him going in the early rounds of any draft next season.

Kevin Gregg, RP, Marlins

Gregg -- nobody wanted him.

He pitched for a lousy team and had a young guy with a livelier arm behind him, itching to take over.

And you want a track record? Forget it. He had one good year. It came out of nowhere, and it started to fall apart near the end.

Sound familiar? It should if you read any Fantasy publication prior to this season. But it should now sound equally ridiculous if you actually own Gregg in Fantasy. After a somewhat shaky start, he has emerged as one of the few reliable closers in Fantasy this season, displacing such mainstays such as Trevor Hoffman, Francisco Cordero, Jason Isringhausen, Huston Street and J.J. Putz.

Naturally, much of that credit has to go to the Marlins' unexpected success, but some of it belongs to Gregg himself. He has the 2.33 ERA, the .191 batting average against and the 14-inning scoreless streak entering Tuesday. And even if his six blown saves seems a little high, his stats themselves speak of dominance, and stats usually don't lie.

So now, in late August, we find Gregg teetering on the edge of No. 1 status among Fantasy closers, far removed from the skepticism that surrounded him coming into the season. If you need a case study for why you shouldn't reach for a big-name closer on Draft Day, look no further than Gregg and those five has-beens I mentioned earlier.

Of course, next year, you might have to reach for Gregg himself. He's suddenly a wanted man.

Javier Vazquez, SP, White Sox

Vazquez tricked us. He tricked us all.

He made us think last year he'd become the same pitcher who used to blow hitters away with regularity in Montreal, looking poised to win a Cy Young or two before the end of his career. He had a chance to turn back the clock, to erase all those painful memories from New York and Arizona with the 3.75 ERA and 1.14 WHIP he posted last year. And through the first two months of this season, he looked like he'd done it. He looked like he'd become the type of pitcher Fantasy owners could count on for more than just strikeouts.

Then came June.

Ah, June -- destroyer of dreams. Since that fateful month, Vazquez has a 6.23 ERA in 11 starts, a 3-6 record and none of my confidence.

Not that I think you should cut Vazquez. He still has value because he gets strikeouts, almost one per inning, but he won't finish with an ERA below 4.00. He won't even come close. His 2007 season looks more like the aberration than the rule in these middle stages of his career, and if you have him as anything more than a No. 3 starting pitcher in a mixed league, you probably won't make your league's playoffs.

Garret Anderson, OF, Angels

Perhaps you missed the return to Fantasy relevance of Garret Anderson, who along with Scot Shields and Bret Boone, forms the holy trinity of players who suspiciously dropped the second "t" from their first names.

OK, so Anderson has caught the attention of some Fantasy owners. His ownership has risen 40 percent in the last month, and for good reason. Already since the All-Star break, he has .393 batting average, four home runs and 21 RBI in only 84 at-bats -- numbers which have even more meaning when you consider his .305-13-65 line after the break last year.

I don't even really like the guy from a makeup standpoint. He's old and walks as a measure of last resort. But numbers are numbers, and if those numbers can't help you, you probably play in a six-team league.

I anticipate them helping me in one of our 12-team Rotisserie leagues here in the office, so much so that when I managed to snag Anderson off waivers Sunday night, I felt almost guilty, like I'd snatched a cookie from the cookie jar while my mom was in the bathroom.

I did stuff like that. My childhood was all chutes and no ladders, baby, and I don't care if the whole world knows it.

Hanging Slider This guy looks like a Slider, but not so fast! His recent performance might cause you to misinterpret his Fantasy appeal.

Lance Berkman, 1B, Astros

Berkman has kind of a Derrek Lee effect going right now. He got off to such a good start that his Fantasy owners haven't noticed his turn for the worse because his overall numbers still look decent.

But just in case you did notice his career-high 33-game streak without a home run and his .248 (29-for-117) batting average since June, I want to encourage you not to worry.

Berkman just does this. He always has. Don't forget he hit .235 (44-for-187) with six home runs during the first two months of last season. And in 2005, he had two separate months where he hit less than .245 with only one home run in each. Yes, for a player with model plate discipline, he can get frustratingly streaky at times.

But the flipside is that when he gets hot, he can play like the best player in all of baseball. And enough time remains in the season that he'll have ample opportunity to reverse course.

So stick with him. He looks poised to get hot just in time for the Fantasy playoffs.

You can e-mail Scott your Fantasy Baseball questions to dmfantasybaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Sliders in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state.We'll answer as many as we can.