It’s early in the fantasy baseball season. Heck, some teams have only played three games, but as it’s said, the early bird gets the worm. There are diamonds in the ruff out there on the waiver wire or hanging on at the end of your opponent’s roster that could win you a title. Do whatever it takes to get these six arms on your fantasy baseball roster by way of trade or picking them off the waiver wire.
FANTASY STARTING PITCHERS
Blake Snell (Tampa Bay Rays) – Been waiting for this kid to finally show up. I drafted him to my fantasy baseball roster last season with high hopes. His stuff is filthy. Walks have been the issue evidenced by a career 4.5 BB/9. He failed to register a quality outing through his first eight starts and was demoted to Triple-A. Upon his return 1.5 months later, he needed three more before finally popping his cherry. He came a single out from logging a quality start in his first showing against a tough Boston Red Sox offense. That’s huge when you take into account the way he closed out 2017 with stellar showings against the Cubs, Yankees and Orioles. Dangle someone like Michael Fulmer or Charlie Morton and see if you get a nibble.
Blake Snell talked all spring about how focused he is and how eager he was to get going and backed that up with a solid debut. #Rays #RaysUp #RedSox @TB_Times @RogerMooney50 @snellzilla11 https://t.co/pnvsA6npGT pic.twitter.com/70j09bIJII
— Sports by Tampa Bay Times (@TBTimes_Sports) March 31, 2018
Mike Clevinger (Cleveland Indians) – Filthy. That’s the first adjective that comes to mind when taking a look at how “Clev” dissected the Halos on Monday night. Sure, you would’ve liked to have seen him go deeper into the game, but 5.1 innings of shutout ball – on the road – to go along with 5 Ks certainly has his owners giddy about what’s in store the remainder of the year. Seriously, he made Mike Trout look like an amateur! It’s highly possible he’s still sitting on the waiver wire in shallow leagues. If he is, you know what to do. If not, throw a streaky Paul DeJong or Josh Reddick his owner’s way and see if you get a bite.
Mike Clevinger fans Mike Trout on three straight fastballs.
Good afternoon.
Good evening.
Good night. pic.twitter.com/7O56VkOTXB
— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) April 3, 2018
Reynaldo Lopez (Chicago White Sox) – This is more a deep league call than anything. You’re not looking to roster him in 10-12 team mixed leagues. He’s nothing more than a streamer in that scenario. But if your 14+ deep, you could do worse than take a shot with Lopez who showed some promise in his eight starts a year ago. He averaged a K per inning pitched in his season debut against Toronto, and once again limited the walks. Only a Josh Donaldson solo shot was the only blemish. He’s averaged almost 6.0 innings in his last nine starts, and if nothing else, could give your roster a dependable arm that eats innings. Something every deep league fantasy baseball player craves when it comes to starting pitching.
To me during the break, @stevestone said:
"That's the best single inning we've seen Reynaldo Lopez throw with the @whitesox."
— Jason Benetti (@jasonbenetti) April 2, 2018
Jakob Junis – (Kansas City Royals ) The Royals are going to lose a bunch of games this season. Top to bottom, they just might possess one of the worst batting lineups going. If you do a search of Royals pitchers currently available in your fantasy baseball league, you’ll likely see all but Danny Duffy and Kelvin Herrera sitting on the wire. After dominating Detroit in his first 2018 stint, it’s safe to say the second year hurler won’t be available for long leading up to his second go round at Cleveland. Now granted it was the Tigers pathetic excuse of an offense in a game Mother Nature hindered, but a 6:1 K/BB ratio and three hits allowed through seven innings should peak your interest. He throws in an excellent pitcher’s park and could be a huge addition to your roster early on.
Stat of the Day: Jakob Junis is the 1st @Royals pitcher to record 7.0 shutout innings in his season debut since Luke Hochevar in 2010: https://t.co/ZLxx33J3eF
— Royal Rundown (@RoyalRundown) April 3, 2018
FANTASY CLOSERS
Greg Holland (St. Louis Cardinals) – The Redbirds have had all sorts of issues with closers the last couple seasons. See what happened in Milwaukee Tuesday night? Upper management decided to bite the bullet and pay the righty $14 million and surrender a draft pick for one year of service. Holland was one of the best relievers in the game last season. He tallied 41 saves and allowed just 40 hits and 23 ER through 57.1 innings of work. He was one of the best relievers in baseball from 2013-15 before going under the knife. Save for an injury-marred August, Holland was light’s out for the Rockies. He’ll now be a valuable piece in the back end of a Cardinals’ bullpen that figures to be much improved. If he’s still out there sitting on the wire, hook ‘em! He’ll likely be in St. Louis on Monday.
Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers) – No doubt LA’s closer is on someone’s roster. However, his owner could be on tilt right now after the start Jansen’s gotten out to. Especially if they took an early flier on him in the draft. He’s been taken yard twice and failed to register a single K through his two innings of work. Most bothersome is his velocity. It’s down, and he’s not getting the bite on his cutter due to a lack of it. Hopefully it’s just a bout of dead arm. Likely is. Either way, the door has been cracked open ever so slightly to lift him from an opponent. Doesn’t hurt to test the waters. If his early season struggles are just that, congrats, you just lifted arguably the best ninth inning arm in the bigs.
Dodgers getting drilled on a Kershaw night. Bullpen not up to par – Kenley Jansen is not trending in the right direction – MPH down, he's thrown a lot of stressful innings in seasons that don't end until November. It's troubling…
— Jason Smith (@howaboutafresca) April 4, 2018
