Fantasy Baseball: Seven players you need to pick up
With 3 or 4 weeks of Fantasy Baseball in the books (depending on how your league handled the short week), we look forward to the next scoring period. Here are three players you might still be able to get in on, two you can get in on the ground floor with, and two prospects recently promoted you may still be able to add.
It’s hard to keep on top of all the Fantasy Baseball player news and breakout candidates while already squeezing in updating your rosters on a daily basis. We all have busy lives so scouring through Statcast data and scouting reports can be more than a little daunting. Instead, let us do the heavy lifting for you!
Here’s a list of Fantasy Baseball players you should be taking a look at in your leagues. Some are late grab opportunities, others are early bird specials, but all of them are worth considering in your fantasy baseball league.
Get in on these Fantasy Baseball gems while you still can:
This group of players probably isn’t available in your league, but are worth checking on anyway. Aside from the third entry, there is still hope for being able to snag them in at least one of the four platforms.
Jed Lowrie (Fantasy Baseball owned: 80% Yahoo, 86% ESPN, 87% CBS, 83% Fantrax)
Simply put, Jed Lowrie is one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball at the moment. His .367/.418/.633 slash with 6 HR and 23 RBI is an MVP worthy pace, and he currently sits 3rd in fWAR in all of baseball. He’s behind only Mike Trout and Mookie Betts and is tied with Didi Gregorius. That’s not bad company to keep.
And here’s the thing, what he’s doing appears to be at least somewhat sustainable. He’s 32nd in MLB in Brls/PA (a measure of quality contact found at Baseball Savant), just 0.1 behind Mike Trout. He’s crushing the ball, and the results are there. If he’s available, pick him up and ride the streak until he cools off or gets hurt (the latter might be more likely).
Currently, Lowrie is putting the ball into play in productive launch angle ranges (0 to 39 degrees) 61.5% of the time, good for 114 in the majors out of 333 with 25 PA or more. It’s not elite, but it’s a good indication he’ll continue to be a productive hitter going forward.
Last season Lowrie played in 153 games (his second most ever by far), and hit 14 HR with 69 RBIs. The A’s appear to be a much better offense than the 2017 iteration, however, so those RBI totals should go up if he stays on the field.
His 119 wRC+ last year is likely a better guess at his upside this season than the gaudy 192 he has now. But even if he regresses to his 2017 self, that’s a nice player to have on the bench.
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.
Miguel Cabrera (Fantasy Baseball owned: 97% Yahoo, 92% ESPN, 98% CBS, 99% Fantrax)
This is more of a suggestion not to drop a player in your Fantasy Baseball leagues, in Miguel Cabrera. Miggy is nearly fully owned in all but ESPN, and even there the chances of finding him on the waiver wire or in the FA pile are very low. But he’s not the 99% owned across the board guy he used to be because his decline phase has definitely kicked off. So why should you hold on to him?
The HR and RBI’s aren’t there yet, but they will be. Maybe not in the 35/130+ range he used to live in, but something closer to his 2014 is certainly in reach. That season he posted 25 HR and 101 RBI with a wRC+ of 148. So far this season he’s at 2 HR and 13 RBI with a wRC+ of 138. And he’s still capable of hitting the ball really hard.
He has the 21st hardest hit ball of the season at 114.4 MPH, the 3rd highest average exit velocity at 95.3 and the 12th most balls hit at 95 MPH or harder. His Brls/PA are only at 159th because he’s still hitting the ball on the ground a bit too much, but the hard contact is a good sign. He’s also drawing plenty of walks at 13.9%, 34th in the majors so far. So for those of you in OBP leagues, he’s already providing some significant value even without the HR or RBIs. If you have him on your roster, give him some more time. If you see him on the wire or in the FA pool, snatch him up before he’s gone.
Get in on the ground floor:
This group of players has a much lower owned percentage and present you with a much better opportunity to pick up some significant value for the low cost of dropping your 25th man. They aren’t necessarily slam-dunk adds, but if you have room to stash or are looking to plug a hole because of injury, this is your place to shop.
Randal Grichuk (Fantasy Baseball owned: 5% Yahoo, 7% ESPN, 28% CBS, 39% Fantrax)
Randal Grichuk has the 6th most Brls/PA in baseball. The only names ahead of him are J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Joey Gallo and Javier Baez. His hardest hit ball is 114.1 MPH (anything over 112 is elite exit velocity and not something you can luck into). And that 91.5 MPH average EV is 46th in baseball. So, like Jed Lowrie, he’s hitting the ball extremely hard. Unlike Lowrie, the results aren’t there yet.
Grichuk has a 23 wRC+ with an .086/.206/.224 slash, 2 HR and just 5 RBIs. So there’s a reason he is virtually unowned in Yahoo and ESPN leagues. With a BABIP of .088, he’s going to snap out of his funk sooner or later, and with how hard he’s hitting the ball, it could be sooner.
This is a guy capable of hitting 25-30 HR in a full season who hits plenty of fly balls and is in a relatively potent lineup. For now, Teoscar Hernandez has jumped ahead of him in the depth chart in right field, but with a .400 BABIP and a history that suggests he’s nowhere near this good, Grichuk will get his chance to take back that starting job eventually.
There is some risk here, as Grichuk is hitting the ball within that productive launch angle range (0 to 39 degrees) just 52.8% of the time, good for only 247 in the majors. So some of that poor BABIP is due to his popup and dribbler rates. Even still, with exit velocities as good as his, good things will start happening.
If you have room to stash him on your bench, he’s worth tucking away for the next few weeks.
Miguel Andujar (Fantasy Baseball owned: 13% Yahoo, 10% ESPN, 40% CBS, 54% Fantrax)
Another guy not seeing results yet, but likely to soon is Miguel Andujar. His 22nd best Brls/PA (between Paul Goldschmidt and Gary Sanchez FWIW) belies a .250/.275/.521 slash with just 2 HR and 9 RBIs. This is a guy with solid plus raw power who is capable of posting excellent batting averages and on-base percentages.
His hardest hit ball is 109.9 MPH and his 90.7 MPH average EV is tied for 63rd in baseball. So he is hitting the ball plenty hard, and the fact that he’s ranked so high in Brls/PA means he’s doing it in the right launch angle range.
His percentage of balls hit between 0 and 39 degrees is just 209th in baseball at 55.3%, but he’s in the top 100 in baseball for balls hit 19 to 26 degrees, which is the most productive range of launch angles overall.
And beyond all of the exit velocity and launch angle evidence, he’s merely been weighed down by his first three games of the season in which he went hitless. From April 7 through April 21 (the rest of his season to date) he’s hit .333/.359/.694 for a 179 wRC+. The kid can rake, and his overall numbers will show it soon.
With no timetable for Brandon Drury to return, Andujar has a chance to solidify his grip on the starting job at the hot corner. He’s worth a stash as he could bust out at any moment.
Fantasy Baseball Call-ups:
And here we come to the prospect hound portion of the program. These won’t always be super low owned percentage guys, but in non-dynasty formats, there is a good chance they will be available for the proactive owner.
Gleyber Torres (Fantasy Baseball Owned: 48% Yahoo, 34% ESPN, 79% CBS, 86% Fantrax)
The Yankees top prospect Gleyber Torres and number 5 in baseball according to MLB Pipeline is about to make his major league debut. His arrival is a little later than many in New York had hoped due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery last after just 55 games last season.
He was living up to the hype up to that point, posting wRC+s of 138 and 145 in AA and AAA respectively, combining for 7 HR and 7 SB. That’s a full season pace of 20 and 20 which is what Andrew Benintendi did as a rookie last season.
After a hot start in AAA this year where Torres hit .347/.393/.510, the young middle infield phenom is ready to bring his talents to the Bronx. CBS and Fantrax leagues seem to be reasonably well in on Torres, but with those platforms hosting more deeper format leagues (like a deep keeper and dynasty leagues), that’s not surprising. Regardless, there is a decent chance for an opportunity to jump in on him no matter which platform you use.
If you need help at SS, he’ll open his season with eligibility there in all four platforms. He’s also available as an MI in CBS and should add 2B in all leagues reasonably quickly. With Neil Walker unable to hit his way out of a paper bag, the starting job at second is Gleyber’s for the taking. After all, you don’t call up your top prospect if you don’t intend to give them the chance to play every day.
He’s not going to be available for long, so if you can grab him (whether you need a starter or are just stashing him) do it quickly. This is an elite prospect, and he’s going to be an asset right away.
Tyler O’Neill (Fantasy Baseball Owned6% Yahoo, 5% ESPN, 21% CBS, 41% Fantrax)
And finally, we come to Tyler O’Neill. This is an early grab opportunity in all four platforms with his owned percentage topping out at 41% on Fantrax. O’Neill was promoted earlier this week, and while he’s got some swing and miss in his game and doesn’t walk much, he can hit the long ball with the best of them.
As the trade deadline was approaching in 2017, the St. Louis Cardinals sent left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzalez to the Mariners to acquire the right-handed slugger. O’Neill had hit 19 HR in 93 games for Seattle’s AAA affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers.
That’s a 33 HR pace which he improved upon after the trade. His full AAA season produced 31 HR and 95 RBIs over 130 games.
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This is an elite hitter for power and while his HR totals might not quite reach Joey Gallo levels, his BA and OBP shouldn’t be quite as low either. Because of his limited contact skills and modest walk rates, he entered the season as just the 94th best prospect per MLB Pipeline, but even in the current age of baseball with record-breaking home run numbers, his power is elite.
With Marcell Ozuna, Tommy Pham and Dexter Fowler already roaming the outfield in St. Louis, O’Neill will have plenty of competition for playing time, so he likely isn’t going to be your solution if you are short a starter on your roster. But since his call-up on April 19 he has played in two out of three games which bodes well for his value as a bench bat in most formats.
O’Neill isn’t a drop everything kind of add, but if you need to lengthen your outfield bench, he’s worth a stash.
Next: Carlos Martinez is looking Cy Young worthy
Make sure to keep these Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, gems, and keepers on your radar — you can thank us later!