10-Team Leagues
Eduardo Escobar , MIN 2B, SS, 3B (74% ownership), FAAB Bid - $18 - This is going to be the last time I try and convince everyone to pick up Escobar for the remainder of the year. I promise. But let me preface this by saying...we all know you’re on the same stuff Jorge Polanco got caught with, Escobar. You can’t hide anymore! I’m joking, maybe, but Escobar is having the best year of his career a year after having...the best year of his career. He’s currently hit in 10 of his last 11 games including a mini six-game hit streak he’s currently riding. He has four homers in his last nine games, seven on the year, and currently ranks seventh amongst eligible SS on Yahoo!, in front of guys like Trea Turner , Asdrubal Cabrera and Jean Segura . Yeah. PICK HIM UP.
Gleyber Torres, NYY 2B, SS (70% ownership), FAAB Bid - $15 - It’s time to buy into the hype if you haven’t already. Torres is one of many young budding stars that have burst onto the scene and are here to stay. Just over the last 14 days, Torres has two home runs -- one a three-run walk-off bomb --, nine RBI and has a .964 OPS. He’s notched at least one hit in nine of his last 10 games and has even swiped a bag in the midst of all the raking his done. He’s won the second base job over and is not looking bad. He’s already 100-percent owned in all dynasty leagues, but if he’s sitting there, available in redrafts, there is no way you can overlook him. Especially when you consider how poor the second base position is.
Zach Eflin , PHI SP (9% ownership), FAAB Bid - $11-12 - This feels super weird for me. How about you? Zach Eflin is viable in all formats!! He’s added nearly two MPH on his fastball this season and through two starts he’s thrown his slider 28.2-percent which is up 15(!) percentage points from last year. That could be the direct cause as to why Eflin struck out nine batters for the first time in his short career his last time out. He’s now made back-to-back starts of one-run or less, albeit against the Giants and Marlins, but it’s still worth noting. Eflin’s improved stuff could lead to much better results for ROS.
12-Team Leagues
Brandon Crawford , SFG SS (12% ownership), FAAB Bid - $10 - Over the past two weeks, Brandon Crawford ranks 11th amongst all Yahoo! Shortstop eligible players in fantasy baseball. You may not think that’s anything great until you realize where he is in the rankings for the entire year. Crawford is hitting .333 over his last 10 games and has driven in eight runs as well. Crawford isn’t going to be a 20 homer, 100 RBI guy, but he can be a consistent source of production at the SS position for the remainder of the season.
Francisco Liriano , DET SP, RP (29% ownership), FAAB Bid - $8 - I’m not totally sure how real this is, but why not ride it while he’s hot? Liriano has been one of the biggest surprises this baseball season. The 34-year old has made six starts this year and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of them, hence the 2.97 ERA. The strikeouts have been on the rise as well. In three of his last four games, he’s struck out five or more batters. The three wins are a huge bonus as well, so if he can keep scraping together wins and pitching this well, Liriano should find his way onto your roster.
Logan Morrison , MIN 1B (18% ownership), FAAB Bid - $7-9 - Morrison has been really good of late and has made up for his slow start. He’s homered three times over his last 11 games and has at least one hit in nine of those 11 contests. Something to note is that Morrison hit leadoff yesterday. If that becomes a trend, he’ll hold even more value in fantasy leagues because he’ll become an even more prolific run scorer than ever before. I like where he’s at at the dish, but continue to give him at bats at the top of the order and I’ll love him long term.
15-Team Leagues
Domingo Germán , NYY RP (36% ownership), FAAB Bid - $6-8 - What do we make of German’s start against the Indians in which he wielded six no-hit innings with nine strikeouts? Well Yankees General Manager came out and said he thought German was the Marlins best pitching prospect they had before the Yanks went out and acquired him. That says a lot coming from a guy who’s evaluated talent for a long time. That was on display, and it has been on display really for the entire year. In his last 13 innings, German has allowed just one earned run and struck out 16 batters. Those three opponents he faced, you ask? Minnesota, Houston and Cleveland. Jordan Montgomery is going to miss an extended period of time which opens the door for German to fill out the Yankees rotation.
Jeremy Hellickson , WAS SP (15% ownership), FAAB Bid - $5 - Is this recent form sustainable? Who the Hell-ickson knows. But what we do know is that he’s thrown back-to-back shutouts so he’s gone 12 consecutive innings of no-run baseball. Maybe the most impressive part of Tuesday’s start was the eight strikeouts, which was almost double what he had over his previous two starts combined! He’s worth the look as an SP5 even an SP4 right now as long as he continues to pitch this well. Something to note is his 46.1-percent ground ball rate, which is the highest mark of his career. If he continues to get opponents to dent the ground in front of home plate, we could be looking at someone we want in 12-team leagues, maybe even beyond that.
Jorge Alfaro , PHI C (6% ownership), FAAB Bid - $2 - The catcher position is really, really bad, so if you’re desperate for some help, look no further. Alfaro has been pretty decent of late, especially in the power department. He’s hit three homers over his previous nine games, giving him four on the year. He’s clearly taken over the top catchers spot over Andrew Knapp and is worth a look in NL-only and deep 15-team league formats.
*ownership percentages courtesy of Yahoo
** FAAB bids based on $100 budge