Week 2 of the fantasy baseball season is almost in the books which means it’s time to take a look at this week’s addition of Waiver Flavor: Flavor of the Week where we take a look at some of the most added players at each position over the last seven days and breakdown their performances thus far this season.

Catchers

Yasmani Grandal, LAD – Grandal began the season on the DL due to a forearm strain but was activated on Tuesday and made his first start of the year on Wednesday.  Grandal is 0-for-4 to begin the year but he is coming off a breakout 2015 which saw him hit .234 with 43 runs, 16 home runs and 47 RBI.  Given his power potential and the offense around him Grandal figures to rank among the top offensive catchers this fantasy season assuming he stays healthy.

Yadier Molina, STL- Molina has a six-game hitting streak going right now and is hitting .324 with four runs, five RBI and one stolen base to start the season.  The veteran backstop may struggle to reach double-digit homers at this stage in his career but he has always been a solid on base guy and should hit for an average that ranks among the tops at the position which is certainly valuable from a position where offensive ceiling is not that great.  The Cardinals offense is firing on all cylinders right now as well, which should give Molina plenty of chances to score and drive in runs.

Wilson Ramos, WAS - Ramos is on fire to start the season, hitting .407 (11-for-27) with two runs, one home run and five RBI over the first seven games.  Ramos is hitting towards the bottom half of the Nationals lineup so he is not likely to score many runs but with his hot bat he could find himself moving up in the order.  Ramos has some definite power in his bat and anywhere between 15-20 home runs should easily be achievable however he is not much of an average hitter so owners should expect him to regress a bit in that department.

First Base

Mike Napoli, CLE – Napoli is the Indians starting first basemen which should put him in line to hit between 20-25 home runs although the batting average may not get over .250 on the year.  He is currently the owner of a six game hitting streak and on the year he’s batting .231 with seven runs, two home runs and three RBI.  The strikeouts are still a huge issue for Napoli as he has K’d in 10 of his 26 at-bats this season so fantasy owners should understand the player they are getting.

Joe Mauer, MIN –  The Twins offense has been horrible to begin the season but Mauer is not the reason as he is hitting .387 with four runs, one home run and two RBI over the first nine games of the season.  The high batting average and on base percentage is where Mauer will draw the majority of his fantasy value and owning a player like him allows for owners to carry somebody like a Chris Carter who can hit you 30 home runs but with an average of .220.  To be fair, the Twins lineup is not THIS bad so more RBI opportunities should soon present themselves for Mauer which, as long as he stays hot, will make him a valuable fantasy commodity even if he will only hit you around 10 home runs.

John Jaso, PIT -  Jaso is the Pirates starting first basemen and is on fire to start the year, hitting .351 with six runs, four doubles and two RBI over the first nine games.  Jaso has some power in his bat and looks to be in line for his first fulltime role since entering the league.  Jaso is a career .265 hitter with a .362 OBP which is certainly valuble in a Pirates lineup that figures to score plenty of runs this season.  It should be noted however that Jaso struggles mightily against southpaws so fantasy owners may want to watch the matchups when starting him.

Second Base

Javier Baez, CHC -  Baez was activated off the DL on Friday and given the injury to Kyle Schwarber he should find himself getting frequent at-bats in the Cubs lineup given the utility of guys like Ben Zobrist who has been playing second base but is also a capable outfielder.  Baez is still just 23 years old and is just two years removed from being the No. 5 overall prospect in baseball so the upside is still there given his skillset however he strikeout at a rate that would content him for the league lead so that’s something he will need to improve upon if he hopes to land an everyday player.

Scooter Gennett, MIL - Gennett is 9-for-32 (.281) to start the season with three home runs, three RBI and six runs scored for the Brewers.  2015 was a tough season for him but he turned in a solid second half and given how shallow second base is if he can continue to hit in a Brewers lineup that is looking for offense he is certainly worth adding.  Remember it was just two seasons ago that Gennett hit .289 with 55 runs, nine home runs, 54 RBI and six stolen bases for the Brewers over 440 at-bats.

Shortstop

J.J. Hardy, BAL - 2015 was a tough season for Hardy as he hit just .219 with 45 runs, eight home runs and 37 RBI over 114 games. This marked the second straight season in which Hardy failed to reach double-digit home runs after having three straight seasons with at least 22 home runs for Baltimore.  Hardy had a big day against the Red Sox earlier in the week which saw him hit two home runs and drive in five RBI which has fantasy owners picking him up in hopes that he can return to being a that 20-homer middle infielder.  He’s currently hitting .250 with seven runs, two homes and six RBI on the season.

Eduardo Escobar, MIN - Escobar has multiple position eligibility on most sites and is off to a solid start to the year, going 11-for-38 with four doubles, two runs and two RBI over the first 10 games.  The Twins offense has been among the worst in baseball to start the season but that’s not the fault of Escobar who figures to see an uptick in RBI should the rest of the Twins offense ever start hitting. The Twins do have Escobar hitting towards the end of the lineup but he is coming off a career year in 2015 which saw him hit .262 with 48 runs, 12 home runs and 58 RBI.  As stated before his ability for double-digit home run power along with dual position eligibly makes Escobar a man worth owning.

Aledmys Diaz, STL- The Cardinals offense is off to a fast start this season and Diaz has been a major factor in that as he is hitting .407 with eight runs, two home runs and eight RBI over his first eight games of the season.  The Cardinals do have him batting towards the end of the lineup but the production from top to bottom has kept him in position to both drive in and score runs.  With Jhonny Peralta still sidelined Diaz should see plenty of at bats going forward.

Third Base

Nick Castellanos, DET - Castellanos is off to a fast start to his 2016 season, hitting .333 with six runs, two home runs and seven RBI over his first nine games. He has collected at least one hit in six of those nine contests which includes a three hit performance against the Pirates on Thursday and a four hit performances in the third game of the season against the Yankees.  The Tigers lineup is loaded and Castellanos is hitting sixth in the batting order which should provide him with plenty of opportunities to drive in runs.  It was just a few years ago that Baseball America ranked Castellanos as the 25th best prospect in baseball and now 24 years old he could be in for a breakout season.

Yunel Escobar, LAA- Escobar is hitting leadoff for the Angels which immediately increases his fantasy value as he sets the table for the likes of Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Kole Calhoun.  Coming off a year where he hit a career-high .314 for the Nationals, Escobar is off to a fast start with his new team as he’s hitting .317 with six runs, one home runs and three RBI over the first 10 games.  Escobar also owns a .391 OBP (on base percentage) which is certainly a good sign for any leadoff hitter.  If Escobar stays healthy and continues to get on base he could very well approach his first career 100 run season.

Martin Prado, MIA- 2015 saw Prado limited to just 129 games due to injury but when healthy he was very productive when on the field, hitting .288 with 52 runs, nine home runs and 63 RBI.  While those numbers do not jump off the page fantasy owners understand that what they get from Prado is consistency and at times that is more important than anything.  Through eight games this season Prado is off to a fast start, hitting .379 with two runs and four RBI as he hits fifth in the lineup behind Giancarlo Stanton.  This spot in the lineup should provide additional RBI opportunities for Prado this season however he is likely better suited to hit in the two hole which is currently occupied by Marcell Ozuna.  The steady batting average is Prado’s main appeal in fantasy leagues and he’s definitely worth a corner infield spot on your roster.

Outfield

Jeremy Hazelbaker, STL - The 2016 baseball season is full of great stories to start the season and while Trevor Story of the Rockies may have most of the attention he is not the only player off to an unexpectedly hot start.  Hazelbaker had spent seven seasons in the minors before making the Cardinals Opening Day roster for the first time in his career.  Now 28 and in his rookie season, he is not wasting the opportunity that has been given to him as he’s hitting .419 with seven runs, three home runs, seven RBI and two stolen bases over his first 10 games.  The Cardinals offense is on fire to start the year as a whole and with Hazelbaker hitting second he should have plenty of opportunities to be productive as long as he continues to make contact.

Nomar Mazara, TEX -  Mazara entered last season as the 87th ranked prospect according to Baseball America and he turned in a fine season between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting .296 with 68 runs, 14 home runs and 69 RBI over 131 games.  111 of those 131 games came at Double-A Frisco so it’s a big jump for him to be in the majors with just 23 career games at Triple-A under his belt but he’s been undaunted so far, hitting .391 with three runs, one home run and four RBI over his first six games.  Mazara figures to be up with the club for good unless he completely bottoms out and given his upside he should be owned in most leagues.

Angel Pagan, SF - Pagan looks to finally be healthy and to start the 2016 season he is firing on all cylinders, hitting .385 with 13 runs, one home run, three RBI and two stolen bases over the first 11 games.  The Giants have Pagan hitting leadoff when Denard Span is out of the lineup but he has typically been hitting ninth in the order outside of that.  In his prime Pagan would give you a batting average around .290 with close to 30 stolen bases but since the 2013 season he has only played more than 100 games once so fantasy owners should be cautious with their expectations but for now, if healthy, Pagan is certainly a valuable outfielder to own.

Pitchers

Vince Velasquez, PHI -  Velasquez has always been a strikeout pitcher throughout his minor league career and during his appearances for the Astros in 2015 but I’m not sure anybody could have predicted the start he would be on to begin his 2016 season.  Through two starts Velasquez has struckout 25 over 15 innings which includes his 16 strikeout performances against the Padres on Thursday in which he completely dominated their lineup.  Velasquez was a key part of the return the Phillies got from the Astros in exchange for Ken Giles and with Giles struggling to begin the year and Velasquez dominating they have to be thrilled with the deal.  Velasquez will next pitch on Tuesday against the Mets who he shutout over six innings while striking out nine during his season debut.

Aaron Sanchez, TOR - The 2016 season is full of young arms that have come out of the shoot firing and Sanchez is one of them as the former 27th overall prospect according to Baseball America is 0-0 with a 1.38 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 13 strikeouts over 13 innings to begin the season.  It’s unfortaunte that the Blue Jays offense has not been able to give him any run support but fantasy owners have to be thrilled with this start, especially the WHIP seeing as control problems is the reason Sanchez landed in the bullpen towards the end of last season and almost started this year in the bullpen before winning the fifth starter job coming out of camp.  Sanchez has a live arm and some plus potential secondary pitches so he should continue to pile up the strikeouts as long as he can limit the free passes.  His next start will come on Sunday against the Red Sox who he faced five times (two starts) last season, going 2-0 with a 3.07 ERA.

Ross Stripling, LAD - Stripling made headlines during his major league debut as he tossed 7.1 innings of no hit baseball while walking four and striking out four. Unfortunately he was on a pitch count and was forced to leave the game after 100 pitches and saw the bullpen give up the lead and saddle him with a no decision.  Stripling followed up his major league debut with a six inning effort against the DBacks in which he allowed two runs on five hits while walking one and striking out five.  His next start is coming on Wednesday and it couldn’t really be a better matchup as he faces the lowly Atlanta Braves who rank towards the bottom of the league in offense.

Jeanmar Gomez, PHI - After going through a few closers to begin the year it appears as though the Phillies have found their man in Gomez who has picked up the save in each of his last four appearances. The Phillies are not expected to be contenders this season but their young arms have kept them in close games which has provided plenty of saves opportunities.  Gomez had just one career save heading into the season and owns a career ERA of 4.13 with a WHIP of 1.40 so there really isn’t anything to say he will be effective all season but for now if you need saves he is guy likely sitting on the waiver wire in your league.