After giving you plenty of outfield options in the first edition of this week’s piece, we’re headed for a more balanced approach for the second. Most of these adds aren’t injury related, simply best players available depending on the format you’re playing!
10-team leagues
Travis Shaw, MIL 3B (58% ownership), FAAB Bid - $13 – If you’re unaware or uninformed, the Brewers lineup is the modern day “Murderers Row.” Well, not really, but between Eric Thames and
Shaw, they’ve accounted for 13 home runs and 30 RBI already. He’s slugging a whopping .625 and an OPS of .929. His 144 RBI pace isn’t sustainable as his career-high is just 71, but he should definitely surpass that total. His low average could also be due to a bit of bad luck as his BABIP sits at .239. Scoop him up in all formats if he’s available.
Chris Tillman, BAL SP (24% ownership), FAAB Bid - $14 – Tillman made his first rehab start this past Thursday and is close to returning to the big league level. Tillman will likely make two more rehab starts, which means we should see him back in early May. Tillman’s Baltimore’s ace and is a solid SP3/SP4 option. He posted the second-highest K/9 mark of his career in 2016 at 7.3 if he can continue to build on that, he’ll only become more valuable. The one real alarming stat that we’ll highlight from his ’16 campaign is his 28% line drive rate. The 2016 league average was 21%, so that’s something we have to watch early on. If that trend continues, his luck may run out.
12-team leagues
Andrew Triggs, OAK SP (49% ownership), FAAB Bid - $15 – No Sonny Gray? Kendall Graveman on the DL as well? No problem! Andrew Triggs has us covered. Triggs has been lights out to start the year. In three 17.2 IP, the 28-year old has not allowed an earned run. He’s not missing bats as he’s struck out just nine batters, but he’s inducing soft contact. He’s been especially dominant against left-handed hitters. Leftys are hitting just .067 against Triggs, and have reached base just four times in 32 at-bats. He ranks in the top five against LHH in line-drive rate, AVG, OBP, BABIP, OPS and SLG. We’d even suggest picking Triggs up in 10-team leagues as well.
Austin Hedges, SD C (8% ownership), FAAB Bid - $8 – Hedges got off to one of the worst starts of any player in the MLB this year but over the last seven days he’s been on fire. He’s hit .350 and three homers over that span while driving in four runs. Hedges had a monster offensive year at Triple-A during the 2016 campaign, and if the last seven days are any indication of what’s to come, Hedges is worth taking a flyer on.
15-team leagues
Wade Miley, BAL SP (16% ownership), FAAB Bid - $4-6 – The stuff has always been there for Miley, it’s always been about harnessing it. Miley has put together a solid start to his 2017 campaign,
posting a 1.89 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and has struck out 11.4 hitters per nine innings. Miley’s success hasn’t primarily been only this season, however, as he’s been good since last years All-star break, primarily against LHH. Lefties are slugging just .245 since the break which is the sixth best mark in the entire game. Miley’s next two starts are against the Rays and Red Sox, one favorable matchup and one not so much.
Jett Bandy, MIL C (9% ownership), FAAB Bid - $3 – This move would be an ideal fit in two catcher formats. Bandy is splitting time behind the plate, but he’s making the absolute most of his opportunity. Bandy hit eight homers in 70 games in 2016 and he’s also hit half of that in 11 outings. Bandy has shown some pop in the minors, hitting 11 homers and posting a .813 OPS in 87 games at Triple-A in ’15. As we mentioned earlier, he’s splitting time, so he’s nothing more than a very solid second catcher in two-catcher formats.
*ownership percentages courtesy of Yahoo
** FAAB bids based on $100 bud
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