Welcome to the eighth edition of this weekly series where I’ll provide a list of players that could help impact categories in standard 5×5 leagues.
The list mixes in some player’s with 50%+ ownership rates who should be considered in shallow formats or who make for potential trade targets, along with deeper league recommendations.
Be sure to check back every Thursday for a fresh list of potential contributors. Percentages represent each player’s ownership in Yahoo! Leagues.
View your league’s top available players with My Playbook 
Batting Average
The 26-year-old Southsider is making the most of his first crack at a full-time gig hitting .291 over his first 140 plate appearances.
The driver behind Garcia’s newfound success is a pristine 13% strikeout rate backed up by top 50 contact and swinging strike rates. His .301 BABIP suggests there’s nothing fluky about this under the radar batting average contributor.
I wouldn’t count on a continuation of his .197 ISO, but 25 stolen bases in 31 career attempts deem him a viable speed threat who could also chip in plenty of runs if he settles into the Sox leadoff spot.
Home Runs
It’s typically unwise to bank on 30-year-old backstop’s career resurgence, but Avila’s five homers in 91 plate appearances warrant an extended look.
In an era where hitters are seemingly wising up to the data surrounding launch angels (See: Yonder Alonso), it’s difficult to write off Avila’s power surge as an accident. The owner of a career 33% fly ball rate entering this season, Avila has increased said rate to 44% while witnessing his groundball rate plunge 20 points under his career mark.
Not only is Avila making a discernable effort to lift the ball, but he’s doing it with authority. In fact, his 28% barrels-per-batted-ball rate is the best in baseball. Perhaps pitchers wise up and learn how to counter his new approach, but until then, Avila is a legit slugger. Weird.
RBIs
This one goes out to the deep leaguers.
Chad Pinder, like Avila, is a small sample Statcast darling that has slugged his way into the conversation. Pinder only has 34 batted balls on record, but they’ve traveled an average distance of 260 feet which tops the MLB leaderboard.
Pinder was never much of a slugger in the minor leagues so we should expect quite a bit of regression from his .373 ISO, but he’s worth a deep league or AL-only look. However, if he settles in as a strikeout-laden, flyball heavy (65%) all-or-nothing keystone bagger, then we might be left with Ryan Schimpf 2.0. A flawed player, sure, but useful in more than 1% of leagues.
Should Pinder experience continued success he should move his way up the Oakland lineup where he’ll see more run producing opportunities.
Runs
Chris Taylor (2B/3B/SS – LAD): 35%
A swiss-army-knife of sorts, Taylor’s production has the Dodgers considering working him into the outfield mix to find regular starts.
Taylor has ridden an unsustainable .411 BABIP to a .326/.437/.570 triple slash, but should remain a fine major league hitter after regression sets in considering 46% of his batted balls leave the bat at 95+ MPH.
The positional flexibility may dub Taylor as a poor man’s Ben Zobrist, and he could be a prime candidate to leadoff if Forsythe doesn’t get the job done. I’m not rushing to acquire Taylor via trade as his stock is too high for my liking, but he’s an interesting add off the waiver wire, especially as a bench piece.
Stolen Bases
Delino DeShields Jr. (OF – TEX): 7%
Once Deshield’s .392 BABIP settles into a more reasonable and sustainable range, he’s likely limited to 1-2 category contributions. Still, 40-steal upside doesn’t grow on trees.
Since becoming an everyday player on April 15, DeShields has paced 33 stolen bases and 108 runs scored over a 600 plate appearance slate. Both figures are propped up by a .408 BABIP in that span, but we know he can run, and we know he can score plenty of runs when he leads off, which is about half the time.
Wins
Tyler Anderson (SP – COL): 20%
I’m going back to the well for Tyler Anderson who debuted in week two of this series. The young lefty was a wizard managing hard contact last year, yet has allowed 2.06 HR/9 leading to a 6.00 ERA despite a 3.65 xFIP.
Anderson’s been dynamite in May posting 25 strikeouts and five walks over 17.2 innings, snagging two wins in the process. The Rockies are playing a bit over their heads; nonetheless, they’ve established themselves as contenders in 2017. While the Coors Field effect should prohibit Anderson’s ERA from matching up to his skills, he’s a good pitcher on a good team. If you’re chasing wins, that makes him a solid buy.
Strikeouts
Vince Velasquez (SP – PHI): 57%
Velasquez’s ability to rack up whiffs is no surprise, but his poor results to date may present a buying opportunity from a frustrated owner.
The 24-year-old flamethrower fires too many strikes to walk four batters per nine, so I expect that rate to settle in closer to three-per-nine. Assuming the free passes regress in unison with his 21% HR/FB rate, Velasquez will no longer be the ratio liability that currently renders his 45 punch outs in 43.2 innings useless.
Somewhere in here resides a store brand version of Lance McCullers, and his current ownership rate (72nd among Yahoo Starting Pitchers) does not reflect that.
ERA
Given the surplus of injuries this season, there’s a good chance your DL slots are stuffed to the brim. However, Skaggs makes for an intriguing stash if you have a spot to store him.
Despite a pedestrian swinging strike rate in 2016, Skaggs posted a career-high 23% strikeout rate thanks to a newfound skill of piling up called strikes. This year, Skaggs paired that ability with a plus Zone% and chase rate resulting in 67% strikes. Said combo produced a new career-best 24% K-rate coupled with a 7.4% walk rate before suffering an oblique injury three weeks ago.
The initial timetable of 10-to-12 weeks suggests he’s still ways away, but the chatter out of Angels camp implies he’s ahead of schedule. He might not be back on the mound until July, but when he returns, a friendly park, elite defense, and improved skillset bode well for his run prevention.
WHIP
On the surface, Perdomo’s 5.79 ERA and 1.50 WHIP don’t indicate he’s particularly good at keeping people off the basepaths. However, his 3.14 xFIP deserves a deeper dive.
His 17% HR/FB rate jumps off the page, but he’s still only allowing 0.72 HR/9 thanks to the best groundball rate (69%) in baseball. While Perdomo is due for some long ball regression, the real culprit is a .382 BABIP leading to a 61% strand rate.
Given ground balls have a higher BABIP than fly balls, we can expect an elevated BABIP moving forward. However, nothing in his batted ball profile suggests he can’t keep it in the .320 range. He’s already the owner of above average strikeout and walk rates. When the batted ball luck catches up, Perdomo will be a fine fantasy pitcher.
Saves
Trevor Rosenthal (RP – STL): 37%
Incumbent closer, Seung Hwan Oh, has labored his way to an undeserved 3.13 ERA. Simply put, his 19% strikeout, 10% walk, and 29% groundball rates are ripe for a collapse – and his 5.39 xFIP agrees.
As Oh walks the tightrope in gusty winds, Rosenthal is quietly dominating hitters with over 15 strikeouts per nine innings in what’s been the best season of his career. Rosenthal is the bullpen ace in St. Louis. It’s just a matter of a spark to ignite the Oh fire that prompts Mike Matheny to make the switch.
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Chris Bragg is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Chris, check out his archive or follow him @loosemoose6.
