We are one week in, and it feels like the world has collapsed with the number of injuries that we’ve had so far to key fantasy contributors. We spend all of this time in the offseason wanting the fantasy season to get here, and then, just like that — poof — all of the planning that we’ve done goes down the drain as we are forced to pivot from our initial plan.
But it’s not time to panic on anyone who isn’t performing up to par so far. The end-of-the-roster guys? Sure, feel free to drop them and grab someone else. But anyone you grabbed in the first 12 rounds should have a longer leash from you.
If you have some of those back-end guys or guys who have gotten hurt, here are some players that you can target via trade or off the wire to help fill some of those voids that you have.
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Stolen Bases
Delino DeShields (OF – TEX)
He’s healthy, and he’s leading off half of the time. He was overlooked during the draft season and, honestly, he’s been ignored in the first week of the season, too. He’s only four percent owned in Yahoo leagues. If you missed out on speed in your draft, or if you were banking on Trea Turner carrying your team, DeShields is a cheap source of speed that you can plug into your lineup in deeper leagues.
Victor Robles (OF – WAS)
The bad news for Robles is that manager Dave Martinez hit him ninth in the order Wednesday — the first game post-Turner. However, I’m not assuming that it will be that way until he comes back. I wouldn’t be surprised if Martinez thinks he’s bringing Robles along slowly by hitting him last, and he’ll eventually move him to the top of the lineup. Brian Dozier in the two-hole is not better than Robles there. When Robles does get moved up, he’s going to run wild.
Ramon Laureano (OF – OAK)
So far in 2019, Laureano has made news for his defense yet again. Let’s just say Xander Bogaerts isn’t his biggest fan after being thrown out at home and third base by Laureano Monday and Tuesday. However, that hasn’t translated to his contribution at the plate yet.
Laureano had a lot of helium in his price this draft season, and he offers 20/20 upside. He’s someone whose acquisition price I would ask about with his current owner in hopes of getting him at a discount.
Quality Starts
Marcus Stroman (SP – TOR)
The strikeouts that Stroman showed in his first start against the Tigers were nice, but every single starting pitcher in that series looked better than they actually are. Stroman’s strikeouts went back down — as expected — in his second start against the Orioles. But that’s the Stroman we knew and signed up for. He doesn’t offer a lot in roto leagues, but he’s a points-league specialist. He’s also a pitcher that you can bank on for quality starts leagues with the number of innings that he pitches consistently.
Jordan Zimmermann (SP – DET)
It’s hard to buy into Zimmermann, but through two starts, he’s looking like a veteran pitcher who is switching up his arsenal to find success. He’s throwing his fastball fewer times, and he’s relying on his slider and curveball more. The curveball, specifically, is generating a lot of swings and misses. He’s a guy that will eat innings, so he helps in quality starts leagues. With that said, I’m not exploring Zimmermann in leagues shallower than 15 teams.
Strikeouts
Caleb Smith (SP – MIA)
And this Miami Marlins Minute is brought to you by FantasyPros. Just kidding, but I’m all in on this Miami rotation and wanted to make sure that I had exposure to all four of their attractive pieces in hopes that two would break out. With the highest ownership percentage between the four being 32 percent, we need to talk about these guys more.
When you focus on strikeouts, the conversation begins with Smith. Before getting hurt in 2018, Smith had a 27 percent K%, and he picked that back up to begin 2019. In his debut against the Mets, Smith generated 22 swings and misses on 87 pitches. There’s going to be inconsistencies here, but the strikeouts will always be there. He’s a poor man’s Robbie Ray, and he should be owned in at least 50 percent of leagues instead of 10 percent.
Sandy Alcantara (SP – MIA)
Next up is Alcantara. He impressed by going eight innings in his season debut against Colorado. The best part of Alcantara’s outing wasn’t the 14 swinging strikes, but it’s that he limited the walks. I like him the fourth-most among their starters, but he was the most highly-touted among them heading into 2018. If he can continue to harness his control, he could break out in his own right.
Trevor Richards (SP – MIA)
Richards is my favorite of the group as far as being a complete pitcher goes, and that should come as no surprise if you follow me on Twitter or have read any of my articles up to this point. Richards has a top-strikeout pitch in baseball with his changeup, and he showed how great that pitch is in his first start. He had a 12.3 SwStr% — 10 swings and misses — with seven of them coming via the changeup
It was on full display when Nolan Arenado was up 2-0 against Richards. Richards then got Arenado to swing and miss on three straight changeups. No one else in baseball can do that with their changeup.
Pablo Lopez (SP – MIA)
He’s the last Marlin here, and Lopez may have the best pure stuff of the four. He generated 19 swings and misses and looked good using his full arsenal. It might be a bumpy ride with Lopez, but he has the highest upside of the group. He needs to be owned in more than eight percent of Yahoo leagues.
Mike Clevinger (SP – CLE)
Clevinger looked amped up and his stuff was absolutely filthy in his first start of the year. His velocity is up 1.3 miles per hour from last year, which is big for him. In that first start, he matched his career high in swings and misses with 12.
He’s obviously owned nearly universally (98 percent of leagues), but if someone is looking to sell him high, I’d be willing to overpay for him if I needed pitching help.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
