10-team leagues

Eddie Rosario, MIN OF (42% ownership), FAAB Bid - $16 – Fresh off his American League player of the week award, Rosario is on fire. In the last seven days, he’s hit .478 with four homeruns and eight RBI. This past week has helped him pull his average all the way up to .296. He’s already at 16 homers on the season as well, so we may get somewhere around the 25 mark by seasons end. Rosario is bordering an OF2 for the remainder of the 2017 campaign.

Curtis Granderson, NYM OF (25% ownership), FAAB Bid - $15 – Seeing how both Granderson and Rosario are both readily available in so many leagues, it comes down to preference on which to pick up. Since June 1, Granderson’s hit 14 bombs and driven in 29 runs out of the leadoff spot. Over that span, he’s slashed .263/.395/.603, which is elite at the top of the order. Granderson should be owned in all formats.

J.A. Happ, TOR SP (69% ownership), FAAB Bid - $15 – Happ has been excellent over his last three outings, posting a 1.45 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 18.2 innings. Happ has now gone four straight outings without allowing a homer and striking out at least five opponents. Happ’s numbers are eerily similar to last years where he won 20 games, but the luck has finally begun to shift back in his favor like it did last year. We can trust Happ as a very solid SP3 option for the remainder of the year.

 

12-team leagues

Howie Kendrick, WAS 1B, 2B, 3B, OF (22% ownership), FAAB Bid - $12-13 – Before arriving in Washington, Kendrick hit two homers in 39 games. Just over the last two, Kendrick’s already hit three with his new team in Washington. Kendrick’s average on the season is now up to .351. Not only that, but he’s extremely valuable as he can be played at four different spots.

Tim Anderson, CWS SS (28% ownership), FAAB Bid - $12 – Anderson has been a totally different player here in August than he was at any other point this year. He’s hitting .288 this month with a monstrous .635 SLG thanks to the five bombs he’s already hit. He’s been especially good against southpaws on the year, hitting .314 compared to a measly .213 vs. RHP. If his numbers against righties begin to climb, Anderson could be a top-10 shortstop for the rest of the season.

Luis Castillo, CIN SP, RP (29% ownership), FAAB Bid - $12– Fresh off a six inning shutout of the World Series Champion Cubs, Castillo has now fired four straight quality starts. He’s struck out four-plus in all four outings and has only one outing where he allowed more than three hits. Castillo has elite stuff and there is a case to be made for him in even 10-team leagues as well. He has a strikeout rate over 24-percent and induces grounders at a 56-percent clip as well. Castillo is exactly the kind of pitcher that can vault you fantasy team into championship contention.

 

15-team leagues

Tyler Skaggs, LAA SP (11% ownership), FAAB Bid - $9 –Since coming off the DL, Skaggs has impressed. He’s allowed three earned runs or less in all three outings, two coming against impressive offenses in Seattle and Washington. He misses bats at a solid rate, striking out 43 opponents in 44.2 innings. He has 12-team upside, but we want to see how sustainable this recent stretch is, because we’ve seen this in past years before he’s fallen off a cliff and wasn’t viable in any format.

Jake Junis, KC SP (19% ownership), FAAB Bid - $7 – Since being recalled, Junis has put together back-to-back impressive outings. In the 14 innings over those two starts, he’s only allowed three earned runs, struck out 10 and walked none.Junis has some very good upside, especially if you look at his numbers from Triple-A this year. He stuck out 86 batters in 71 innings and that hadn’t translated to the bigs until his eight-strikeout contest against Seattle on the sixth of August. Junis has SP4 upside for the rest of the season, possibly SP3 potential in AL-only formats.

Mikie Mahtook, DET OF (13% ownership), FAAB Bid - $4 –Mahtook has seized control of the center field job in Detroit and has looked great doing it. Mahtook is hitting .306 and has a .837 OPS this year. He’s been flat out raking, notching a 41-percent hard contact rate.Mahtook is the perfect pickup in deeper formats. He has some decent power, decent speed and hits near the top of the Tigers order. He’s AL-only league gold.

 

*ownership percentages courtesy of Yahoo

** FAAB bids based on $100 budget