Fantasy Baseball: Seven players you need to pick up
By Damian Dydyn
Blake Snell (Fantasy Baseball owned: 81% Yahoo, 66% ESPN, 92% CBS, 96%)
Blake Snell was an intriguing option when he made his debut in 2016. Unfortunately, the young lefty struggled with walks posting a 5.17 BB/9 rate that season and followed it up with a 4.11 in 2017.
His strikeout stuff has always been there posting strikeout percentages of 32.9%, 29.5%, 33.3%, 33.3% and 32.6% his last five stops in the minors. His major league K% to date is just 23.1%, but it has jumped up to 29.1% this season.
Perhaps more exciting than the strikeout stuff playing at the major league level is his walk rate dropping. After five starts his BB/9 is just 3.18, the third lowest of his career. That might seem like an outlier from where you sit, but his two better rates were posted in AAA in 2015, and 2017 meaning his three best rates have all be fairly recent.
In short, Blake Snell may be in the process of arriving. If this walk rate is sustainable, he has the potential to be a top-tier starting pitcher. While his win totals will suffer this season due to the weak roster around him in Tampa, he should provide plenty of strikeouts, a solid WHIP, that 2.54 ERA is downright sexy.
He’s owned heavily in CBS and Fantrax, but you still have a chance to nab him in Yahoo and ESPN. If you have room to stash him, he’s a no-brainer. If you have a tighter roster, he’s worth dropping that extra reliever or bench bat with pop for.
Snell is one of those opportunities that you should jump on while the window is open. If you don’t, you’ll likely look back in a few weeks or a month and regret it.