Cheap Yard Work helps you pick out likely free agents in your league that have been raking over the past week. Elijah Dukes, OF, WAS
7 day stats: .345/.441/.483, 0HR, 4RBI, 4BB, 5R, 3SB
The crazy thing (pun intended) is that Dukes is raking without hitting a tater. He's doing it by tearing up the basepaths though, as noted by the SB totals. Now, Dukes isn't "reliable" and he certainly isn't "sane", but right now, he's pretty warm. And he obviously has all the talent in the world; with Vicente Padilla and Kevin Slowey in a dogfight for "toughest pitcher the Nats face this week", I'd be starting him.
Marcus Thames, OF, DET
7 day stats: .222/.300/.890, 4HR, 7RBI, 2BB, 5R, 0SB
Need power? Because Thames, if he does what he did last week, ain't gonna boost your average. He did hit four taters though, and if anyone recalls his previous power surges, you know this is a pretty nice time to have him active. He can go on tears quickly. Trips to San Fran and San Diego aren't exactly hitter friendly though, so only use him in deeper leagues.
Mike Jacobs, 1B, FLA
7 day stats: .208/.192/.583, 3HR, 8RBI, 0BB, 3R, 0SB
Again, power ... because that OBP is not what you could call "great". Or even "remotely good". Still, Jacobs was straight butter (because he was on a roll) in April before getting hurt; you have to think with the power starting to pick up, he will get back around to form at some point. Or at least be useful in a deeper league. Oakland and Seattle aren't easy but it could be worse -- a nice play for a daily league.
