Jay Bruce's Replacement

Jay Bruce has fractured his right wrist sliding for a ball in RF and will most likely miss the rest of the 2009 season. For owners in non-keeper leagues this may be good news as you now can justifying dropping the .200 BA from your team as you waited for his BAIP to correct itself. I am a huge Jay Bruce fan and I think he is going to be a fantasy stud but he needs to make more contact on a regular basis. Derek Lee owners know how serious a wrist injury could be so depending on how bad the fracture this injury could effect his 2010 season. Assuming the Reds fill the position in-house they have two good looking prospects currently in AAA Louisville in Chris Heisey and Drew Stubbs. They have been reports that Stubbs may get the first crack at replacing Bruce but Heisey is the better fantasy option. Below is a little bit about each player

Chris Heisey 6'0 200 lbs (24 Yrs Old)
Heisey, from Lancaster, Pa, was on nobody's radar prior to this season but he is having the best season of any Red's prospect. Heisy was rewarded by being named to the 2009 Futures Game that is being played today in St. Louis. Heisey has displayed a nice power speed combo and has demonstrated great plate discipline with a 42:37 K:BB ratio. 2009 stats are listed below:

AVG: .350
HR: 15
RBI: 53
K:BB: 42:37
SB: 15
OPS: 1.005

Drew Stubbs 6'4 205 lbs (24 Yrs. Old)
Stubbs lacks the power and plate discipline of Heisey but he is a terror on the base paths with 33 SBs already this season. If Stubbs gets the call this season he could be a nice speculative SB source going forward. His 2009 stats are listed below:

AVG: .283
HR: 2
RBI: 25
K:BB: 71:40
SB: 33
OPS: .745

As you can see Heisy's numbers are much better and at this point translates into a more valuable fantasy option. If your league has a Minor League system or a deep bench I would grab Heisy before he makes a splash in Cincy.