Slow starts are always a huge pain in the ass. Obviously, the lack of production is the primary issue, but then you also have to spend time studying all the possible reasons for the slow start. You spent time scouting the players and breaking down their games, but did you make a mistake somewhere? Did you miss something? How could a player you studied so thoroughly be this bad?

Once you’ve sifted through all the numbers and drawn your conclusions as to why, you are then faced with the question of whether or not you believe in a turnaround. Some people are so stubborn they insist a turnaround is coming regardless of what the numbers say, but in a lot of cases, we find something to help us believe we aren’t crazy and the worm will turn. It might be something small, but at least it gives us hope. Sometimes though, we find nothing out of whack and just understand patience is needed. After all, it’s a long season.

Either way, here are a few names to consider in your trade negotiations – players who started the season in the crapper but have since turned things around in May and should prove to be valuable fantasy commodities moving forward.

Matt Adams, 1B ATL – It doesn’t start any lower than it did for Adams this year. He’s always had the potential to be a decent power bat, but his inability to hit lefties coupled with a lack of a starting gig left him as an undesirable in fantasy circles once again. A move of Matt Carpenter to first base put Adams’ chances of having any sort of real impact from slim to none and he went undrafted in every league of 12 teams or fewer. He was probably untouched in 14-team mixed leagues as well, but snatched up in NL-only play. But this trade to Atlanta has given the 28-year old lefty bat some new life and he’s already paid waiver dividends with a two-run shot off Gerrit Cole tonight. Listen, we all know he’s not Freddie Freeman, nor should we expect him to replace his production. But as a lefty bat with Sun Trust Park as its home, you can certainly do a lot worse given the state of most leagues’ waiver wire. Pick him up with confidence and start him regularly.

Devon Travis, 2B TOR – OK, so I’ll admit it…I’ve been one of the bigger anti-Travis guys out there. He’s never been able to stay healthy and every time some fantasy experts starts spewing his prorated numbers of what could be if he played a full season, I’m the first to stand up and cite the injury history. This year I received even more ammunition when Travis also showed he couldn’t hit a breaking ball to save his life. He was Pedro Cerrano for the month of April and health or no health, he was looking like crap. Well guess who finally learned to hit a curveball? It only took the first month of the season, but Travis has finally turned his season around here in May. For the month, he’s batting .369 with one home run, 10 RBI, 10 runs scored and two stolen bases. His K-rate took a slight dip and in addition to the batting average on OBP increases, his ISO spiked to .262 for the month thanks to 14 doubles in 65 at-bats. With the power finally starting to come around and a slight improvement to the plate discipline, the hope is that Travis continues to ascend moving forward. We don’t expect him to hit for such a high average, but if he can sustain the power increase, we’ll happily accept a lower batting average.

Jason Kipnis, 2B CLE – Spring ailments forced Kipnis to open the year on the disabled list, and when he finally returned towards the end of April, he was…well…let’s just say…less than spectacular. OK, he was total crap when he first game back and it took him a little longer to come around than we would have liked. Still, an improving Kipnis is going to give any team a nice boost and if he can continue to improve his power, he’ll be an even bigger asset. Batting average isn’t usually this much of an issue for him, so I expect the BABIP luck dragons to give him a little boost here, but what I love most is today’s home run, his fourth of the month, which extended his current hit streak to eight games. In that span, he’s hitting .371 (13-for-35) with four home runs, 10 RBI, five runs scored and a stolen base. Enjoy the return. June should be even better.

Jeff Samardzija, SP SF – I never like to make excuses for a pitcher, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a guy who could have come away from Shark’s schedule in April. Back-to-back starts against the Diamondbacks (one at Chase Field) followed up by back-to-back starts against the Rockies (one at Coors Field) is enough to drive any hurler’s ERA into the stratosphere. Granted, the home starts shouldn’t have been as bad as they were, but there’s also that strong sense of familiarity these clubs have with him as well. He wrapped the month with a strong home start against the Padres and then he mowed down the Dodgers on the road before hitting a speed bump against the Mets. But following that rough-up, he’s allowed just three runs over 14.2 innings (two starts) and looks like he’s getting himself back on track for the long haul. Numbers are normalizing, the strikeout rate is climbing and we’re now moving into the summer in the Bay, a time where the night air is cold and damp and suppresses the long ball. He’ll hit some bumps in the road, but with a dominant arsenal which includes a resurgent curveball, Shark should be a solid own moving forward.