Another Friday, another Category Impact. Not only is the work week almost over, or already is, depending on your schedule, but it’s time to prop your legs up and enjoy some baseball this weekend. Of course, enjoying watching baseball is dependent on the success of your fantasy team. Squeak out a win this week by adding one of these players to give you a strategic advantage in the category, or categories, you desire. Chase the dream, add these guys to your team. Yeah, that was pretty good. You’re right, not really.

Batting Average and Runs

Michael Conforto, OF NYM – Hey Mike, why don’t you hit some more home runs!? Saying this guy is absolutely destroying the baseball is a complete understatement. Yes, it’s a brief sample size, but his walks are up, strikeouts are down and he’s swinging at more pitchers. He’s chasing a bit more than one would like, but hey, he’s making medium or hard contact 80.4 percent of the time. Yeah, that’s pretty good. Another important thing to note is that he’s dispersing the ball across the field much better. In 2016, he pulled the ball a whopping 42.7 percent of the time. In 2017, that number has dipped to 27.5 percent, while he’s driving the ball up the middle 49.0 percent of the time. This has been key for his massive step forward here in the early going of the 2017 campaign. Also, fun fact about Conforto: His 1.803 OPS on pitches 94 mph or greater is the best in baseball, and well above double the .745 league average. Right now, good luck beating this guy at the plate.

Didi Gregorius, SS NYY— Simply put, this guy knows how to hit the baseball. After being sidelined with a shoulder injury, all he did was rattle off seven hits in his first three games back. Also, we all know the heaven on Earth that is Yankee Stadium for left-handed hitters. After 22 major league home runs from 2012-2015, Gregorius exploded for 20 home runs in 2016, sporting the third highest fly ball percentage of his career. Yes, the move to New York helped the fly balls translate to four-baggers. As a lefty, he’s shown no weaknesses against curves and sliders from opposing southpaws, which tend to be traditional “out” pitches when facing the same-handed hitter. Since the start of 2016, his .444 batting average on curveballs and sliders from left-handed pitchers is over double the league average (.212) during that same span. While he continues to work his way back to regular playing shape from the shoulder injury, he will likely receive some additional off days, but in time, he’ll be manning shortstop on a daily basis for the Bronx Bombers. He needs to be owned in more than just 41.2 percent of ESPN fantasy leagues.

Home Runs and OBP

Scott Schebler, OF CIN – If my memory recalls, correctly of course, I believe I mentioned Scott Schebler in a Category Impact last season. Well, it’s 2017 and Schebler has found his way back in this esteemed article. The young outfielder plays in a hitter-friendly ball park, but to be brutally honest, he’s better away from Cincinnati. He has just two home runs and a .154 average at his home park, compared to six round trippers and a .342 average away from Great American Ball Park. His batting average is still low, but you aren’t rostering this guy for his ability to hit for average. He really struggled last year against southpaws, but he has that mark up to a respectable .250 here in the early parts of the 2017 campaign. His batting average is low against righties thus far, but there is room for optimism. Over the last two weeks, he has a well-hit average of .344 against right-handers, which places him in the top 5 of 205 full-time hitters. Luck will turn around, folks. It always does.

Saves

Bud Norris, RP LAA – Bud Norris is closing for the Angels, yes, you read that right. Huston Street and Cam Bedrosian both are on the shelf and with the latter not even throwing a baseball yet, Norris looks to have the ninth-inning role for the foreseeable future. Sure, he suffered his first hiccup the other night, but he was nothing short of dominant before allowing an earned run to the Mariners on Tuesday night. Bud Norris, the reliever version, is sporting a 12.00 K/9 and has yet to allow a home run on the season. His .294 BABIP is right on par with his .308 career mark and there’s no reason why his 4.20 BB/9 should revert closer to the norm. He has no major split disadvantage so far in 2017 and he continues to pound the strike zone. At the very least, Norris can be a nice source of holds when Bedrosian returns from the disabled list and resumes closing duties. However, for now, he’s a prime, and cheap, source of saves.

Quality Starts and Cheap Strikeouts

Alex Wood, SP LAD – While Rich Hill is on the shelf, Wood will continue to get some starts in the Los Angeles rotation. Even when, excuse me, if, he returns to a middle relief role, he still has value in my eyes. He has a K/9 of 9.85 thus far on the season, and his 0.36 HR/9 is well below his career mark. Additionally, don’t be fooled by his BB/9, because that was inflated by an April 10 appearance against the Cubs, when he walked five guys in just 3.2 innings of work. Since then, he’s walked just three batters, spanning 19 innings. He continues to give lefties fits, and whether he’s a starter or reliever, that trend will continue. Wood is owned in under one-quarter of fantasy leagues over at ESPN, and for those of you in NL-only or deeper mixed formats, he’s a valuable addition to your roster.

Eduardo Rodriguez, SP BOS – All you must do is remove his first start of the season and Rodriguez would be sporting an even shinier ERA. Walks remain a problem, but you can live with it when he’s punching out batters at an excellent clip. A big reason for some early season is success is that not only is his fastball effective, but his off-speed stuff as well. In 2016, opponents hit .253 off his changeup and .333 off his slider. Here in 2017, the opposition have posted marks of .042 and .000 against his changeup and slider respectively. In fact, opponents have a miss rate of 51.9 percent against Rodriguez as a starter on non-fastballs this season. That’s damn good, folks. Lately, he’s been unhittable when he gets to two strikes. Rodriguez has allowed an OBP of .062 (1/16) with two strikes over the past seven days. Again, walks are going to remain a concern, but if he’s logging quality starts and recording strikeouts regularly, just turn your head the other way.