As many of you probably already know, Bill Hall was injured yesterday with a high ankle sprain. He has not been placed on the disabled list as of yet, but most of those injuries take 6-8 weeks to heal. Most sites are reporting that they will be calling up Tony Gwynn Jr. up to replace him. I personally think that this is a player that needs to be on Fantasy Baseball owner’s radars in an NL-Only format. I do not think that he is worth a pick-up in mixed leagues

Tony Gwynn was up with the club earlier this year and produced the following stats in 83 at bats:

.301 Ave
10 runs scored
8 RBI
6 stolen bases
0 homeruns

Those are pretty good stats, but his batting average is inflated with a .379 BABIP. Gywnn will not hit for any power, as a weak .048 ISO indicates. Actually, an ISO that low usually indicates that he is weaker then a singles hitter. His great speed has gotten him on base more often then not.  His low walk rate (8.8%) and relatively high strikeout rate (20.5%) are areas of concern. A line drive percentage of 19.3 indicates that he does hit the ball well, but a 56.1% ground ball rate means that he is not driving the balls into the gaps.

His performance from earlier this year should put him on the radar, but don’t go much beyond that. He will probably be splitting time with Gabe Gross in center field. Cory Hart can also play center if needed, which should get Kevin Mench more playing time in right. Most of Tony Gwynn’s fantasy value comes from his speed, and hitting in the leadoff spot and having the powerful lineup behind him. With the way that Cory Hart is playing, I don’t see him leading off this time. Gwynn is a great hitting prospect that may materialize into a great hitter, but right now he has fringe NL-Only fantasy value.