BY: SOME GUY NAMED STEVE
Folks we are a month into the season and if you have followed along from the start you would have added some great players to your fantasy baseball squad. So far this season some of the players I have told you to pick-up were Jesus Aguilar (#7 1B), Danny Duffy (#12 SP), and Michael Kopech (#28 SP) who were all under 50% ownership and have been great additions to any fantasy squad. This week I have three more players that will be staples in your lineups for months to come!
Tyler O’Neill: St. Louis Cardinals OF (34.5% ESPN Ownership)
The first player you need to pick-up this week is the power hitter Tyler O’Neill. O’Neill has been a top prospect for the St. Louis Cardinals for a few years now and although his first few seasons were disappointing, it appears O’Neill is finally having his break through season. Tyler is just 25 years old and is starting to show some of the raw power he displayed in the minor leagues. So far this season O’Neill is batting .269 with five home runs, three doubles, and a .537 slugging percentage over 67 at bats. O’Neill has been on fire his last 10 games batting .368 with four home runs, eight RBI, two steals, and nine runs scored. He is on pace to shatter all of his MLB season highs and could even flirt with a 25-30 home run season if he keeps up his current pace. This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone as O’Neill already has multiple 30+ home run seasons in the minors and has a hard hit rate of 50% this season (MLB average 39.2%). It’s very rare that you get a chance to pick-up a player who has 30 home run potential a month into the season so go grab Tyler O’Neill who has a ton of upside for the rest of the year.
Alex Kirilloff: Minnesota Twins OF (42.1% ESPN Ownership)
The second player on our list this week is the number 22 ranked prospect in baseball, Alex Kirilloff. Kirilloff is a pure hitting prospect who has a lot of power and can hit the ball to all parts of the field. He makes very hard contact and should be a staple in the Twins lineup for the rest of the year. He started the year slow which makes his season long number not look that enticing but Kirilloff is currently on a seven-game hitting streak that includes four home runs. Over his last seven games, Alex Kirilloff is batting .321 with four home runs, eight runs, and 11 RBI. Now I will say that Kirilloff did suffer a wrist injury on Monday night so make sure to check his status later today but if he is cleared to play I would highly recommend picking him up. Most high ranked prospects always see their ownership jump up exponentially once they start producing and Kirilloff is one of the first “big name” prospects to make an impact this season. It appears that Alex Kirilloff is here to stay in the MLB and should be owned in almost every league if he is healthy.
J.A. Happ: Minnesota Twins SP (34.1% ESPN Ownership)
The final name on today’s list is a pitcher that I’m sure everyone is familiar with by now. His name is J.A. Happ and at age 38 the journeymen is having another effective season. So far this season Happ has started five games and is 2-0 with a 1.91 ERA and 0.85 WHIP on the year. Happ has 16 strikeouts and eight walks in 28.1 innings and hasn’t allowed more than four hits in any of his starts. I’ll be the first to admit that J.A. Happ is not the most exciting player in the world but sometimes boring can be the way and the way to win. J.A. Happ will not blow anyone away with his pitches but he does a great job of keeping the ball in the ballpark and having his opponents hit for weak contact. Happ also pitches for the Twins and has a good offense behind him that will give him run support all year long and give you a better chance of getting wins. Happ isn’t flashy but he gets the job done and very rarely has a bad blow up start. So far this year, Happ hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his starts and is averaging 5.2 innings per start. It’s a boring pick-up but Happ is a player who will help your teams pitching numbers immediately and will be a guy you can have confidence plugging in for each of his starts.
Honorable Mentions
- Dylan Cease: Chicago White Sox SP (37.3% ESPN Ownership)
- Carlos Martinez: St. Louis Cardinals SP (32.2% ESPN Ownership)
- Josh Harrison: Washington Nationals 2B/3B (27.1% ESPN Ownership)
- Daulton Varsho: Arizona Diamondbacks OF/C (10.5% ESPN Ownership)
In case you missed it check out last week’s TWS Fantasy Baseball Podcast
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