Todd Helton

Todd Helton : Rotoworld.com - Todd Helton Biography from Rotoworld.com

The biggest $40 Rotisserie mystery is what is wrong with Todd Helton.

This off-season Helton reacted with righteous indignation and threats to sue over comments made by a STL commentator that he had used steroids.

As his numbers had been gaudy, he fell under automatic suspicion (fair or unfair, but mostly unfair at the time.) As he is considered a great person, he was given the benefit of the doubt, and the STL commentator was forced to backpedal.

Now, as we near the halfway point, TH has a very good OBP of .382 but is considerably lower than his typical .400+. Where the concern arises is his SLG is way down. He's essentially Jason Kendall right now.

Given the sample size (242 AB), I feel confident in stating there is something wrong. Has a hole materialized in his swing that is now exploited? If so, I'd expect his power to remain but his AVG to stay low a la Frank Thomas.

If he is battling a back injury, I'd also expect the precipitous drop in SLG from it's .600+ levels. Think Don Mattingly.

Is it possible he is driving the ball with authority and sluggin .405? Not likely.

A benign possibility is he isn't getting anything to hit due to the weaker line-up around him. However, he isn't walking at any higher rates than previously - 19.8% this season vs 23.2% in 2004, 19.0% in 2003). This indicates his batting eye has remained the same.

Did he use recovery-enhancing supplements? It is possible as there are numerous reports that recovery in the thin air of Colorado is slower and can therefore be quickened with nutritional supplements.

Frankly, I don't know, but I'd wager on these two horses - Back injury or lack of supplementation.