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Fantasy Baseball Category Targets: Week 9

Fantasy Baseball Category Targets: Week 9

Kenyatta Storin here, jumping in for Chris Bragg this week to give you some fantasy baseball 5×5 category targets. Scouring the waiver wire for stolen bases? Home runs? ERA and WHIP? I’ve got you covered.

For the purposes of this exercise, I’ll be using ESPN ownership percentages.

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Batting Average

Adam Frazier (OF – PIT): 27.7%
A pleasant surprise for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Frazier is in a bit of an offensive funk (2-for-22 in his past six games), but by all accounts, he’s still the primary leadoff man. Although he’s getting some love in the fantasy community these days, his ownership remains low. He’s hit for average every step of the way, with a career .300 batting average in the minors, and a .311 average so far this season. Since he provides little in the way of power, and only modest speed, he’s more of a deep league target, but as long as he remains at the top of the lineup he should give your team a boost in average, while providing a healthy amount of runs.

Home Runs

Lucas Duda (1B – NYM): 16.1%
Judging by his ownership, it looks like many folks have forgotten that not too long ago Duda had seasons of 30 and 27 home runs in 2014 and 2015. Despite missing about three weeks on the DL, he has eight homers with a .296 ISO and 41.8% hard-hit rate. Now batting fifth most nights, he looks under-owned for a guy with 30-home run power and plenty of RBI opportunities. Just don’t expect a high batting average.

Greg Bird (1B – NYY): 12.9%
Bird did virtually nothing before hitting the DL in early May, but he’s expected back soon, and with Chris Carter doing little in his stead, he should slide right back into the Yankees lineup. His pitiful .100/.250/.200 line this season makes him a deep league stash at best, but don’t forget that in 2015 he hit 11 bombs in just 178 plate appearances, and has a 44.1% career hard-hit rate in the majors.

RBIs

Tommy Pham (OF- STL): 14.1%
Now that Randal Grichuk is no longer in his way, Pham is getting a chance at regular playing time for the St. Louis Cardinals. His spot in the order has been jumping all around, but his past two starts have been out of the sixth and fifth spots, which would give him ample RBI opportunities. He’s always had an intriguing combination of power and speed, with five homers and four stolen bases in just 23 games, and so far he’s kept the strikeout rate from getting out of control. With an impressive .931 OPS, now is a good time to hop on board while his ownership is low.

Runs

Jed Lowrie (2B – OAK): 36.1%
Lowrie’s ownership is gaining steam, but the masses have still been slow to take notice of him. Yes, he gets injured all the time and is 33-years-old, but he has a 37.7% hard-hit rate, and is batting third for the Oakland A’s. He has a cool .292/.360/.469 line, and while six bombs won’t get you out of your seat, you don’t need a burly slugger manning your second base or middle infield slot. The only downside is he won’t nab any bases for you, but as long as he’s healthy and hitting towards the top of the order, he’ll continue to rack up the runs with Khris Davis and Yonder Alonso batting behind him.

Stolen Bases

Kevin Kiermaier (OF – TB): 30.8%
Keirmaier had a sluggish April but has been turning things around lately. After just one homer in April, he hit five in May, on the backs of a 34.1% hard-hit rate and reduced ground-ball rate (46.9%). Just as importantly, he cut down on the strikeouts (22.8% rate) and upped his OBP to .347. If he can keep getting on base at that clip, he should have no problem adding to his nine stolen bases while hitting out of the two-hole in a potent Rays lineup.

Eric Young Jr. (OF – LAA): 1.7%
This one is for deep leagues only. With Mike Trout, unfortunately, going down, Young assumed his spot on the roster, and has already received four straight starts. It remains to be seen how playing time will shake out between him and Ben Revere, but for now, it appears Young is in line for regular at-bats. Don’t expect any miracles since he’ll likely bat near the bottom of the lineup and has no power, but he was slashing .354/.419/.528 with 15 stolen bases in Triple-A prior to his call-up. He swiped a career-high 46 bags for the Mets and Rockies in 2013.

Wins

Junior Guerra 16.7%
The 32-year-old Guerra came out of nowhere to become a solid fantasy asset last year, going 9-3 with a 2.81 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. Due to a stint on the DL, he has just three starts this season, but he looks to be picking up right where he left off with a 1.83 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. He has a 21.7% strikeout rate, but a 13.8% swinging-strike rate could mean he has some sneaky whiff potential as well. However, his 4.39 SIERA and .158 BABIP suggest some regression is coming, so keep expectations in check. His true talent level is probably closer to a 4.00 ERA than 3.00. He won’t necessarily excel in any one category, but he should net you some wins pitching for a steady Milwaukee Brewers offense.

Strikeouts

Mike Clevinger (SP – CLE): 24.2%
Brad Peacock (SP – HOU): 19.5%
Dinelson Lamet (SP – SD): 7.4%
Now, this trio has some tantalizing strikeout ability. They aren’t for the risk averse, however. Through five starts, Clevinger has a 3.10 ERA and 27.8% strikeout rate, but his 12.2% walk rate is a wee bit scary. Peacock has a 37.6% strikeout rate, but most of that has come out of the bullpen, and he’s yet to hit five innings in two starts. Lastly, Lamet was killing it in the minors and has a similar 38.1% rate, but has just two major league starts. Yes, it’s safe to say there’s a lot of uncertainty in all three. Don’t let that scare you from taking a chance on that upside.

ERA and WHIP

Chris Devenski (RP – HOU): 45.7%
Typically you would expect to see starters listed here, but relievers can provide plenty of, ahem, relief for your ERA and WHIP categories as well. Devenski has popped up on waiver wire pickup lists like this all season, but his low ownership makes him worth another nod. I get it, he’s not going to get you many wins or saves, so depending on your league setup, he’s not for everyone. But he can still help plenty in his multi-inning relief role. A 2.90 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 39.2% strikeout rate would be absurd numbers for a starter. He cracked 100 innings last year, and given the way starters have been going down, that’s a pretty good deal in 2017.

Felipe Rivero (RP – PIT): 14.5%
Rivero has been one of the hands-down best relievers in baseball this year. He has just a 0.65 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. Although he doesn’t have the strikeout rate of Andrew Miller, if 89.4% of ESPN leagues are willing to roster Miller, shouldn’t Rivero be higher? As an added bonus, Tony Watson is looking awfully shaky as the Pirates’ closer these days, and Rivero is almost certainly next in line. Sign me up.

Saves

Cam Bedrosian (RP – LAA): 24.1%
I could have just as easily plopped Rivero here, but instead I’ll give a shout out to Bedrosian. He’s set to come off the DL soon, and as the interim closer to start the year he nailed down three saves. However, with both Bedrosian and Huston Street set to return, it’s unclear how the Los Angeles Angels’ bullpen will shake out with Bud Norris successfully holding down the ninth inning. Street just suffered a setback in his rehab, though, which could give a slight edge to Bedrosian if he comes off the DL first. Still, Norris probably keeps the job for at least the short-term, so this is purely a speculative pickup.


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Kenyatta Storin is a featured writer with FantasyPros. For more from Kenyatta, check out his archive and follow him @kenyattastorin.

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