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Shohei Ohtani (SP/DH – LAA)
He’s back! This past Sunday, Ohtani made his first start since April 24th, and it was a good one. The 23-year-old phenom allowed two runs on six hits over six innings of work, striking out six along the way. It was a nice bounce back from two straight subpar outings. Ohtani has now made five starts this season, three of which have been quality starts. His 4.10 ERA doesn’t jump off the page, but that number is a bit skewed from when he pitched through a blister versus the Red Sox. A more encouraging stat is his elite 10.9 K/9. Oh, and he’s been fantastic at the plate all year. Through 66 plate appearances, he’s slashing .344/.394/.623 with four home runs and 14 RBI. Ohtani currently sports a 175 OPS+, which means he’s been 75% better than league average.
Gleyber Torres (2B/SS – NYY)
Torres also had a big game this past Sunday. The 21-year-old infielder became the youngest Yankee to ever hit a walk-off homer as New York swept the Cleveland Indians. New York had now won 17 of their past 18 games and Torres has been right in the middle of all the winning. Through 17 games (63 PAs) he’s batting .333 with a .872 OPS entering Thursday night. Even with Brandon Drury due back soon Torres isn’t going anywhere. If the New York lineup wasn’t so loaded then he would have a great case to start hitting higher up in the order, which would obviously be great for his fantasy value. For now, he’s doing just fine hitting seventh and eighth mainly. Torres has two homers and one steal on the year. Expect those numbers to increase as he gets more comfortable at the big league level.
Ronald Acuna (OF – ATL)
Acuna has been quite impressive thus far, and that’s before you remember he’s currently the youngest position player in baseball. The 20-year-old outfielder is hitting .302 with three homers and five doubles through 13 games. It’s clear he was ready to start the season with Atlanta out of Spring Training. In a keeper league Acuna is as valuable of an asset as there is.
Mike Soroka (SP – ATL)
Another “Baby Brave,” the 20-year-old Soroka has had one good start and one bad start to begin his big league career. After limiting the slumping New York Mets to one run in six innings in his debut, Soroka got tagged for four runs in four innings versus the Giants this past weekend. It’s the type of inconsistency you should expect from a young arm moving forward. Still, Soroka is plenty talented enough that he’s worth streaming in the right matchups. This Saturday versus the Marlins is one of those matchups.
Jordan Hicks (SP/RP – STL)
It’s been a while since I last touched on Hicks. He started the year with a bang and at one point had thrown the eight fastest pitches in 2018. He’s still throwing hard, but the problem is his two-seamer isn’t generating strikeouts. Through 17 1/3 innings, Hicks has struck out just seven. The 1.04 ERA is nice for ratios, and he’s SP/RP eligible in certain formats, but Hicks also isn’t getting holds like many thought he would. He has just two on the year and no longer needs to be rostered in most leagues.
Walker Buehler (SP – LAD)
Similar to Soroka, Buehler is a young pitcher worth streaming whenever the matchup is right. In fact, thanks to the strikeout upside, Buehler has more flexibility in the games you can start him in. The 23-year-old has a 1.13 ERA through three starts this season to go along with 19 punchouts in 16 innings. In his most recent start, he threw six no-hit innings to really make a name for himself. The Dodgers are certainly going to be careful with him moving forward, but they’re also going to need Buehler to crawl back into playoff contention. Don’t expect him to pitch deep into games very often, but expect good ratios and K numbers when he does pitch.
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Brendan Tuma is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Brendan, check out his archive and follow him @toomuchtuma.
