Atomic RoadRunners | Andrew Flynn’s High-Energy Fantasy Baseball

OF John Bowker, who became the first Giants player to homer in his first two games last weekend, hit his first career triple leading off the seventh inning Tuesday against the Diamondbacks and singled in the ninth. Bowker finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and is 6-for-10 with seven RBI in his first three major-league games. At least for now, Bowker seems to be playing every day against right-handers, which means he’s probably worth an add in NL-only leagues. The Giants have to displace one of Randy Winn and Fred Lewis to get him in the lineup, though, so he probably has a short leash. (CBS Sports)

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Randy Winn “might find himself on the bench more than expected” because of the emergence of John Bowker. Winn, who played 155 games last season, was out of the lineup Tuesday. “We’ll see what happens,” Winn said. “This year they said they were going to go with younger players, and they’re doing it. I think it’s not a big surprise. If they come to me, I’ll have a better answer for you. Right now, I’m just going with the flow.” (Rotoworld)

Also, RotoWorld.com’s Nate Stephens details the Week 2 Callups:

No big names were called up in the NL this week, but Bowker is one player I’ve been intrigued with for awhile and I think is well worth watching. A third-rounder out of Long Beach State University in 2004, Bowker was considered to have a good but inconsistent swing that lead to very mediocre results in college. He went on to have a nice debut in the low minors after signing, but two seasons at High-A San Jose in 2005 and 2006 were big disappointments with little improvement.

The Giants moved Bowker up to Double-A in 2007 anyway, and the 6′2″ left-hander responded with an incredible .307/.363/.523 line that included 35 doubles, six triples, and 22 homers. Perhaps that line doesn’t look “incredible”, but once you adjust for the fact that he was playing at one of the worst parks for power hitters in the minors (Dodd Stadium) it does look quite nice. His line away from Dodd Stadium was .345/.397/.629, further cementing his season as an outstanding one.

I wrote about Bowker after attending last year’s Eastern League All-Star Game, highlighting how the now 24 year-old had a quick swing that generated plenty of power. That power has been evident so far with the Giants, as Bowker has smacked a homer in each of his first two games. Since Bowker also has solid plate discipline and is adept at handling left-handed pitchers, he could prove to be a real sleeper for those in NL-only leagues. That the Giants are again working him out at first base after doing so this spring is encouraging, as first is a big position of need for the Giants both now and in the future (until Angel Villalona is ready). If Bowker can keep hitting, and I like his chances, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him claim the first base job and perform admirably while doing so. A .270-15-60 season with 450+ at-bats isn’t out of the question.

Recommendation: Go the extra dollar for him in NL-only one-year and keeper leagues; only those in very deep mixed leagues should monitor.

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