Gary Matthews Jr., OF, Texas Rangers

July 26, 2006 @ 16:00:00

By Adam Barricklow
Edited by Ryan Dodson

For much of his career Texas Rangers outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. appears to have gone by the motto ‘have bat will travel'. During his first eight years in Major League Baseball, Matthews played for seven different teams. Having just once, started the season with the same team he finished the previous season with during this period of time. However, it appears as if Matthews has found a home with the Rangers where he has made his first All-Star team and is putting together a career year.

While Matthews has always been known as a solid defensive player, it is his bat that is grabbing people's attention. Matthews is second only to Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki in batting average among American League outfielders. However, where he increases his value to fantasy owners is that he is also contributing in other areas as well. Matthews is leading the Rangers in both runs scored and stolen bases and is fourth on the team in RBI. Since joining the Rangers in 2004 Matthews has become a much more dangerous offensive player and is looking at setting career highs in batting average, home runs, RBI and runs.

Table: Career highs for OF Gary Matthews Jr.

Year	Batting Average	Home Runs	RBI	Runs
Career High	.276	17	72	55
2006	.326	10	55	49

One aspect helping Matthews is that the batters behind him are also putting together solids years. Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler is currently batting .291 for the season and has recently been moved into the No. 2 slot. Behind Kinsler is All-Star MVP shortstop Michael Young who is currently batting .313 and is a career .299 hitter. In the No. 4 slot is first baseman Mark Teixeira, who has averaged 32 home runs a year for his career. In other words, Matthews has plenty of protection behind him in the batting order and enough offensive power to get him across the plate when he gets on base.

Table: Texas Rangers Batting Order 2-4

Player	Batting Average	Home Runs	RBI
Ian Kinsler	.291	7	27
Michael Young	.313	8	65
Mark Teixeira	.273	14	62

One thing that fantasy owners should keep an eye on with Matthews is his health. He has had some trouble with a quadriceps and groin injury this season. Matthews, who turns 32 in August, is not experiencing trouble with them currently, but these are the type of injuries that often start to appear in older players. We are not hitting the panic button, but it is something to keep an eye on.

The rule in fantasy sports is always to sell high and buy low. It is difficult to imagine Matthews value getting any higher than it currently is, so now might be a good time to shop him around your league. If you can not find a taker, Matthews should be fine for the remainder of the season. We project that Matthews will finish the season with a .316 batting average, 15 home runs, 78 RBI and 88 runs scored. Those numbers individually may not look overly impressive, but combined they are the type of numbers that might just give your fantasy team that extra push.

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Adam Barricklow

Adam Barricklow is based out of Central Ohio and has been a KFFL Contributor since 2003. Adam has been playing Fantasy Football since 1996 and has been addicted since day one. Adam plays in various leagues, running one of them and uses his experience and knowledge to create reports that are able to help the fantasy player look at every perspective.

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