Ken Phelps Dilemma: to Dump or not to Dump??? Dumped!

[Outta Leftfield]

[Edit: See below for the continuing saga of Ken Phelps]

A while back I started a thread speculating that maybe Ken Phelps couldn't really perform well in the 80's game because the good pitching would push his BA beyond redemption by his walks and HRs. The thread went on forever and I got a bit stubborn about it. Well, I think the time has come for me to admit that I was wrong.

In the "Beer & Pretzels I" theme league that formed just as that thread was winding down, Sykes picked Phelps and he produced a .930 OPS in 411 AB (31 HR, 85 walks, .248 BA). For the first half of the season, Phelps was hitting about .320 or above--overall, he was a quite lethal offensive player.

Meanwhile, in a current autodraft league, Phelps has an OPS of 1.028 with 20 HR and a .280 BA in 207 ABs.

So, clearly he [b:61c1d233dc]can[/b:61c1d233dc] be good and I confess that was just being stubborn. :oops:

[KingLouie]

I've got him--and I agree his BA is a bit meager: .230, but ya gotta love the walks. His OBP is .396 and he's hit 20 HRS in 300 AB or so. Not MVP numbers, but definitely respectable. Glad I didn't read your original thread. I'm sure I never would have picked him up. :P

[Jack377]

He's hitting pretty well on one of my teams, too...

.276/.611/.408 with 21 HR, 42 RBI in 221 ABs, played in 67 of 96 games...

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=65099

[Outta Leftfield]

[quote:89917f6ba2="Jack377"]He's hitting pretty well on one of my teams, too...

.276/.611/.408 with 21 HR, 42 RBI in 221 ABs, played in 67 of 96 games...

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=65099[/quote:89917f6ba2]

Yes, actually, that's one of my examples above, since we're in the same league (I'm the Cats3). :wink:

[Jack377]

Oops...didn't realiize! :oops:

I'm a little new at the 80s game...I'll catch up, though.

Jack

[Outta Leftfield]

After railing on against Ken Phelps, here I am giving him another try. :oops:

My team (in Riverfront) is at game 51 and has been winning but mostly due to the pitching. With a few exceptions (Fisk, Cey, Dawson, Roberts), most of my hitters are underperforming their known or probable years. Davis, my personal favorite DH, has done nothing all year. In an effort to supply a little offensive juice, I'm going to give Phelps another shot. He's still slugging away for Jack377 (current OPS well above 1.000), so I know it can be done. Also, I found he had an HBP with his previous team (ten game trial), which rules out his one bad year. I'm going to give him a good, solid shot, and I'll let you know how it works out. I'm hoping I'm going find myself to turning into a big fan of Ken Phelps. :wink:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=67484

[Outta Leftfield]

Well, I've given Phelps a long trial on a team that was once hot (.640 at game 81) but has declined a lot by game 132 (.561). I'm still leading my division in a tough vet league, but Ken Phelps is posing me a dilemma.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=67484


After a reasonably hot start, he's declined to a .187 BA and .695 OPS in 166 AB. He is hitting HR and drawing walks and if he could just hit .230 he'd be a decent player, but he's so far below the Mendoza line that it's hard for the walks and HR to save him. (Also, the power is not really that great--7 HR). I'm still grappling with my old problem of whether, in the 80's context, Phelps can sustain enough BA to be valuable.

I've got .916M in loose cash and if I trade him in even at 80% I can get a pretty good hitter for the stretch drive. Or I can DH Mark Salas, who is hitting well, and get some more pitching help. But injury and HBP data put him in a .900 plus OPS year, so it's hard to just dump him. What would you do in my situation??? :?:

By the way, third time's the charm for Dale Murphy. I finally seem to have him in a good year. :D

[DOUGGRAY]

I love phelps as a DH!!!


245 47 13 26 59 39 0 7 .290 .661 .383

[Jablowmi]

I'd let him go at this point. Bad BA and no SLG at Riverfront! Looking at the waiver wire, you can certainly do better.

Caveat - advice coming from a league participant with a dreadful record.

[Outta Leftfield]

Thanks guys. :wink:

I think I'll give Phelps a couple more series but dump him before 142 if he doesn't redeem himself.