This season I’ll be writing a weekly article where I tell you about the 10 things I deem most important for fantasy owners to know for the upcoming week. It may be anything from a two-start streamer with hot matchups, a guy to keep on waiver wire speed dial, a minor league call up, or a change in the depth chart/lineup. Typically, this article will be published on Saturday mornings but for the sake of working with MLB’s schedule, I’ll publish Week 1 as the remainder of this week and all of next one. Let’s do this!

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#1 Several closer battles will be decided this week
Frankly, they are already decided, but the teams haven’t allowed us to know the decision quite yet. You may not think much of a reliever who wasn’t the surefire closer heading into the season, but as we’ve seen time and time again, these types of fantasy assets can help you win your league. Think of it as that sexy midseason pickup, but rather, you could potentially get 40 save opportunities out of it. We found out in the past week that Hunter Strickland, Alex Colome, and Greg Holland are the closers for Seattle, Chicago, and Arizona. This week, you’ll want to pay attention to Minnesota (Trevor May, Taylor Rogers, Blake Parker), Miami (Sergio Romo, Drew Steckenrider), Chicago (Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek, Carl Edwards Jr.), Milwaukee (Josh Hader, Matt Albers, Jeremy Jeffress), St. Louis (Jordan Hicks, Alex Reyes, Andrew Miller), and San Francisco (Will Smith, Mark Melancon).

#2 Colorado’s starting second basemen may be a league-winner
The starter has yet to be crowned, but whichever of the two gets the job, assuming it won’t be a platoon split, could be a fantasy breakout of the year candidate. Garrett Hampson has the upside to bat .290 with 40+ steals and a dozen homers while his competitor, Ryan McMahon, has been destroying Spring Training and has the upside for a .290 average with 20 homers, 10 steals, and 100 RBIs. Both may already be owned if your league is of the deeper variety, but if not, you’ll want to grab whichever gets the job.

#3 Keep a close eye on how the Padres use their two young starters
Both Chris Paddack and Matt Strahm made San Diego’s rotation thanks to a strong spring and flat out dominant stuff. They’ll likely draw the Giants’ lackluster lineup in Week 1 and look great doing so. In fact, you may want to grab them, if you haven’t already, before the rest of the league catches on. That isn’t what this is about, however. Last year, Strahm was used for two innings here and three innings there. If the Padres employ that strategy again, he will essentially be useless. They did the same with Paddack this spring, and while that may just be them taking it easy with their prized young arm who is one year removed from Tommy John, they may be that conservative all year. If San Diego doesn’t let them throw 4+ innings, drop them and move on.

#4 The Trevor Richards breakout may have already begun
The best changeup in baseball last year belonged to former Independent League pitcher, Richards of the Marlins. Once he started throwing it 40% of the time instead of just 20% like at the start of the year, hitters started focusing on the changeup and suddenly Richards’ slider also became a plus-plus pitch. His fastball is nothing to write home about, but with two potential plus-plus pitches, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Richards devastated lineups this spring. He takes on the Rockies in Miami this week, and if he puts up another strong performance, you may want to add him before he requires loads of FAAB to add.

#5 Craig Kimbrel will likely sign and screw something up for a current closer
If you own Josh Hader or Arodys Vizcaino, it may already be time to sell. Their stock will likely never be higher than it is now. First of all, Hader may not even be the closer for Milwaukee, but the mere chance that he is gives him the trade value of a top-five reliever. Vizcaino may lose his job soon to Minter, but more likely, Atlanta signs Kimbrel. It will take a few weeks for him to get up to speed, but you would do well to keep a close eye on the news and sell while the stock is still high because whichever team adds Kimbrel will be sure to make him to closer before long.

#6 This week is make or break for Carlos Martinez owners
As of now, Dakota Hudson is in the Cardinals rotation in place of Martinez who “needs to strengthen his shoulder” before St. Louis risks fatigue. Whatever that means, we will apparently get clarity about whether he will be shut down for a while or back soon. Additionally, Hudson’s first start will give us an indication of whether or not St. Louis will work to get Martinez back in the rotation, in which case he could be the steal of the year, or shove him in the bullpen where he would have no fantasy relevance.

#7 Check your waiver wire for Ian Happ
After the news that the Cubs optioned Happ to Triple-A, plenty of disappointed fantasy owners already cut ties. Besides Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Eloy Jimenez, Happ is likely the top stash for your bench if your league has enough spots to warrant holding onto someone. The moment someone in Chicago gets injured, or as soon as Happ returns to top-notch numbers, you can bank on him getting enough plate appearances to produce a 20-10 pace with plenty of RBIs and runs like fantasy owners were expecting.

#8 Francisco Mejia could become the top pickup of Week 1
Although a trade to Cleveland would ultimately free up Mejia for a full slate of playing time, it hasn’t happened yet so fantasy owners will have to watch closely to see how San Diego is splitting time between Mejia and Hedges. It seemed likely that Mejia would start in Triple-A so he could play everyday, so since he broke camp with the big league club, there is a chance he is the everyday starter from the get-go. If that happens, he immediately soars into my top 12 fantasy catchers and ought to be owned in every league, as he could hit .280 with a dozen homers as a rookie.

#9 Dexter Fowlers’ hot seat could have major implications
The St. Louis Cardinals are committed to paying loads of money to Fowler, but after batting .180 with 8 homers last year, St. Louis fans are fed up and demanding he be replaced. He batted just .200 with a .571 OPS in the spring so his leash may be short with slugger, Tyler O’Neill right behind him. O’Neill swatted five homers in just 61 at-bats this spring after knocking nine in 130 last season at the big league level. He has always been a masher in the minors and is seemingly ready to hit 35 homers if afforded everyday at-bats. Should Fowler continue his slide, look out for O’Neill to become a hot pickup and perhaps the biggest breakout hitter of the year.

#10 We will soon have clarity about San Diego’s outfield
When Manny Machado signed with the Padres, it guaranteed Wil Myers was moving back to the outfield since Eric Hosmer is manning first base. That means one of Manuel Margot, Hunter Renfroe or Franmil Reyes is going to be on the outside looking in. As a result, all three slid in drafts and were left off rosters in many cases. Once we find out which two of those three are starting, you may want to rush to the waivers to pick them up or attempt to acquire them via trade before their stock jumps back up. Both Renfroe and Reyes have 30+ homer power while Margot has some power/speed upside.

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