What do Jameson Taillon, Garrett Richards, Brad Miller, Freddie Freeman, Corey Kluber, David Dahl and Carlos Gomez all have in common? You guessed it. They are all on the disabled list AND my fantasy team. Ugh. Oh fantasy baseball, how you drive me crazy. I digress. This week it’s all about the youngsters! Not only can you make your fantasy team better, but you can make it younger! Oh yeah, and it’s Friday. Hell yeah!

Batting Average

Ian Happ, OF CHI –  Wow, another youngster comes up for the Cubs and just immediately smashes the baseball. I wish I could say I was surprised. Happ is incredibly talented player, but there must be something in that Chicago water, you know, on the Cubs’ side of town, not that other team in Chicago. All he’s done in his first handful of games is hit two home runs, drive in four runs, score four times and hit for a clip around .400. Yeah, not bad, right? Add him to a lineup with Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant. Yikes. Happ will earn more playing time and he’s even going to start getting some work in the corner outfield spots. Happ is 22, younger than I am, but even those in redraft leagues can benefit from the young man’s services.

Leury Garcia, OF CWS – GUT CALL. Over the last seven days, Garcia is 10-for-29 with two home runs, one stolen base and just four strikeouts. Sure, he’s only walked one time, but he’s scored eight runs and should have solidified his home at the top of the Chicago lineup. He’s shown great speed in the minors, with a little pop, but a home run number around 8-10 seems to be his maximum, and that’s if everything goes right. He’s already been caught stealing twice this year, but hey, at least the White Sox are letting him run! If Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier can get going with some consistency, Garcia’s value will continue to rise.

Home Runs (and some steals)

Bradley Zimmer, OF CLE – He’s young and inexperienced, so he’s going to take his lumps, but boy can he be special. Adding him right now will likely suffer in a dip of your team’s batting average, but you have to play the long game with Zimmer. In 33 games at Triple-A before getting called up to the big leagues, he was hitting .294 with five home runs and nine stolen bases. He’s an excellent power-speed combo that could be an uber-valuable fantasy superstar at the peak of his career. However, at this juncture, he’s going to strikeout a lot, but again, that power and speed combination is tantalizing. He has time to figure things out at the big leagues, so for those in mixed redraft formats, go ahead and take a shot on the 24-year-old. In dynasty formats, he is a must-add, if he’s not owned already.

Saves

Corey Knebel, RP DET – Let’s be honest, the closer position has been absolutely volatile in 2017. I mean, volatile might be an understatement. Is there even a sure thing anymore? I mean, c’mon man! This position is more dangerous than playing with fire sitting atop an open gasoline barrel. And that might even be an understatement as well! I digress. Neftali Feliz’s struggles have opened the door for Knebel to be the man to close out a ball game. Knebel is sporting a 9.00 ERA on the season, and he’s struck out three batters in four of his last six appearances. Yeah, he’s untouchable right now. Over the last two weeks, his strikeout percentage of 57.7 percent leads all qualified relief pitchers in baseball. Knebel is available in plenty of leagues, go get him.

Strikeouts

Jose Berrios, SP MIN —The hype around Berrios died a little when he was abysmal with the big league club last year. However, he looks rejuvenated and in his first start of 2017, he looked pretty damn good. He allowed just two hits in 7.2 innings and while he only struck out four batters, that’s not the pitcher he is going to be at the big league level. The strikeout prowess he displayed in the minors won’t just go away folks. He even looked sharped last night against a potent Colorado lineup. Listen, Berrios is the real deal and he is worthy of being owned, even in redraft formats. The strikeouts will come, so don’t worry about that.

Quality Starts AND Wins

Alex Cobb, SP TB – Keep on pitchin’! Cobb has rattled off four straight quality starts, going 3-1 in that span. His only loss over his last four starts came against the Blue Jays when he allowed just two earned runs on four hits over eight strong innings. Cobb’s changeup hasn’t been great this season, causing him to rely heavily on his fastball and curveball. However, those two pitches have been dazzling in 2017. Opponents are hitting just .229 off his fastball, meanwhile, his curveball has stymied the opposition, resulting in 17 of his 38 strikeouts on the year. Eventually being just a two-pitch pitcher could hurt him, but right now, he’s firing on all cylinders. Cobb is owned in just 28.3 percent of ESPN leagues, and honestly, it’s too low for how well he’s pitching.