Let us preface this by saying Holy Scooter Gennett. If you told us before the season that he would be the next person to post a four-homerun game we would have ignored, blocked and laughed at you. Good thing nobody on the planet would and did project that. Let us stop there, however, and make sure you don’t pick up Gennett off of waivers. Let’s dive into actual players you should make room for on your respective squads!

10-team leagues

Odubel Herrera, OF PHI (64% ownership), FAAB Bid - $22 – It was an awful month of May, but Herrera has turned it up of late and is tearing the cover off of the baseball.  Over the four games he’s played in during the month of June, Herrera is hitting .529 with seven doubles and two home runs. His 1.824 OPS over the last seven days – which spans four games and 17 at-bats – is second in all of baseball over that span. Herrera is uber talented and now that he’s got it going he should be owned in every format everywhere.

Edinson Volquez, MIA SP (20% ownership), FAAB Bid - $17 – We’re not just basing this add on his no-hitter the last time he blessed the mound, but how he’s pitched over the last month or so. He’s posted four quality starts over his last five outings while especially dominating righties. Righties are hitting just .190 against him on the year, while posting a measly 22-percent hard contact rate. Volquez has emerged as the Marlins ace over the past month and should continue to be that going forward.

12-team leagues

Dinelson Lamet, SD SP (30% ownership), FAAB Bid - $15 – Despite his first rough outing on Tuesday night, Lamet is worth coveting. His 6.92 ERA and 5.44 FIP is elevated because of his poor showing against Arizona. Lamet has big strikeout potential as through three starts, he’s averaging 13.15 K/9. He’s been especially good versus RHH, posting a 38-percent K-rate. Lamet benefits from pitching at an extremely pitcher friendly park as we all know, so that should factor into your decision to picking him up as well.

Whit Merrifield, KC 2B, OF (38% ownership), FAAB Bid - $11 – Merrifield’s 19-game hitting streak ended Monday night, but he picked up two hits and three RBI on Tuesday which kind of symbolizes what type of player he’s been this season. But he hasn’t just impressed this year; it’s been since the start of 2016. Since the beginning of the 2016, he leads all part-time players in batting average and on-base percentage against left-handed pitching. Merrifield has posted an .840 OPS and a .358 wOBA on the year. Pick him up NOW!

Danny Valencia, SEA 1B, 3B, OF (28% ownership), FAAB Bid - $ 10 – Very quietly, there haven’t been many hotter hitters over the past two weeks than Valencia. Over that time, he’s hitting .409 in a big 50 at-bat sample size. Over that same period of time he’s driven in 13 runs, bringing his season mark to 29. With Jean Segura on the DL, its likely Valencia continues hitting near the top of the order, maximizing his AB’s each and every game. In April Valencia’s wOBA was .249, May rose to .356 and he’s got an eye-popping mark of .600 thus far in June. His multi-position eligibility doesn’t hurt either.

15-team leagues

Mike Folynewicz, ATL SP (21% ownership), FAAB Bid - $8-10 – When profiling Folty, you wouldn’t classify him as someone worth owning in many formats, but when you dig deep, he’s worth it. Other than two starts in which he got torched in, he has six quality outings, including seven scoreless the last time he took the hill. He’s been great away from SunTrust Park, which is seemingly the case for everyone on the Braves staff. He’s allowed just a .287 wOBA on the road while striking out 38 batters over 35.2 innings. As we mentioned earlier, it’s hard to trust anyone pitching at SunTrust, which is why we’re suggesting him in nothing more than 15-team formats unless you’re desperate.

Ian Happ, CHC 2B, OF (21% ownership), FAAB Bid - $6 – We weren’t sold on Happ because of the depth the Cubs have, but Joe Maddon loves him and is playing him nearly everyday. He’s only hitting .235 on the year, but has a 34-percent hard contact rate, so the unlucky at-bats should soon stop and we should see his average begin to creep up soon. Other than his 30-percent K-rate versus RHP, he’s killing them. His wOBA vs. righties sits at .375 with an amazing .296 ISO. As we mentioned previously he strikes out a lot. Until that rate subsides a bit, we don’t suggest picking up in many formats other than 15-team leagues.

Greg Bird, NYY 1B (23% ownership), FAAB Bid - $3 – It’s been an awful, awful 2017 campaign thus far for Bird who’s batting average makes our eyes bleed while dealing with injuries at the same time. That being said, what makes this an interesting pickup is what he showed us at the end of the 2015 campaign. During that 2015 campaign, he belted 11 homers in 45 games and notched a .529 SLG, .871 OPS and a .372 wOBA. Chris Carter can’t hit off a tee right now, so Bird will certainly get his job back and play everyday.

 

*ownership percentages courtesy of Yahoo

** FAAB bids based on $100 budget