If April showers really do bring May flowers, then it is certainly time to take a look at some of those players who have awakened from their first-month struggles and blossomed here in May. Not because we want to run a highlight reel of the usual Mookie Betts and Buster Posey-like stars, but to look more closely at some of the role players who are excelling and determine whether or not they’re worth a look as a long-term target. With waiver wires being picked clean, this is more of a series of potential trade options, whether it’s to acquire or sell for something you need more.

Tommy Joseph, 1B PHI – After an atrocious April in which he hit just .179 with one home run and just seven RBI, Joseph has caught fire here in May. Already in 35 at-bats, he’s hit .400 with four home runs and nine RBI. He’s shown some improved plate discipline over the last two weeks which has forced pitchers to groove him some fastballs and as a result, he’s batting .524 on fastballs over the past 14 days with a hard contact rate that has doubled. But he’s also doing a great job of laying off the high cheese, his Achilles heel throughout the first month. So long as he maintains, he should be able to continue lowering his strikeout rate, but just be careful of when pitchers start heaving the breaking stuff a little more. If he starts to chase, we could end up right back where we were in April.

Keon Broxton, OF MIL – It’s astounding how fickle the fantasy community can be. Broxton had all sorts of buzz coming into the season, took a pitch to the face in one of the first few games and struggled to a .191 average through the first month of the season. Forget the 11 runs scored or the six stolen bases, though, and focus on a lame duck batting average, right? People were ready to dump him for any flavor of the week and now, they can’t pick him up in a trade fast enough. He’s dramatically cut the strikeout rate, has three homers and nine RBI halfway through May and has a .362 average over that span. We’d like to see him hit as well on the road as he does at home, but just like you have to factor in when a player isn’t being traded out of Coors, Broxton isn’t being traded out of Milwaukee either. He’s a great power/speed combo and if you have the chance to acquire him, you definitely should.

Michael Taylor, OF WAS – He’s currently riding a four-game hit streak and has hit safely in 9-of-12 games here in the month of May. He’s batting .302 with two home runs, six RBI and two stolen bases giving anyone who lost Adam Eaton and picked him up, a real nice boost. However, we’re already seeing some things that have us questioning his ability to sustain. Let’s start with the 39.1-percent strikeout rate this month. Sorry, but between that and his .478 BABIP, Taylor is going to find himself in more valleys than peaks throughout the season. He needs to get that plate discipline under control and he needs to start with his performance on the road. For a guy who plays in a relatively neutral park, his splits are mind-blowing. In just this month alone, we’re talking about a slash line of .476/.522/.905 at home and a .111/.132/.167 on the road. The strikeout rate also jumps from 28.6-percent at home to 47.4-percent on the road. Until you see improvement, you definitely need to keep him on the bench for road trips which makes him a very tough guy to own.

Trevor Cahill, SP SD – After languishing in the bullpen over the past few seasons and working his way back as a starter through April, Cahill has found new life with the Padres and has become quite the DFS darling. The question is, though, can he maintain some semblance of this level for seasonal owners? He’s been mixing in his curveball a lot more this season and the addition of a new cut fastball has helped him to a phenomenal 60.2-percent ground ball rate. His ability to fool hitters this month has been so good that he’s actually posted a 28.6-percent strikeout rate this month with a miss-rate of 32.6-percent on fastballs in that span. He’s got some funky home/road splits which are undeniable and there is definitely going to be an innings issue with him since he’s never thrown more than 85 innings over the last two seasons, but if you can continue to stream him in, you may as well ride the wave until it breaks.

Nate Karns, SP KC – Not gonna lie. This one hurts a little. In two drafts I picked up Karns with one of my last picks, but due to his atrocious April and a rash of injuries, I was forced to drop him in lieu of some higher-ranked players on the disabled list. If you missed yesterday’s whining effort to get unlimited DL spots, this is one of the reasons. Yeah, Karns. Can you believe it? What I liked most about Karns was his return to the rotation after being jerked around in Seattle. The numbers didn’t lie. He was solid as a starter and terrible as a reliever. When the Royals picked him up and announced he won a spot, I was psyched to make him a late-round pick. But then manager Ned Yost claimed to need him for the bullpen early on and he got roasted. He threw a pair of decent starts but then started getting smacked around again to the tune of 10 earned runs in 10.2 innings over his last two starts in April. But flip the calendar to May and BOOOM! Not only has he allowed just four runs in 17.1 innings (three starts, but the 29:4 K:BB has been huge. He’s destroying right-handed hitting this month with zero walks allowed and a 46.2-percent strikeout rate and is looking to continue that trend during his next start in Minnesota. However, be very careful with those home-road splits of his. His 1.59 ERA at home is pretty tasty, but that 6.56 ERA on the road is a bit worrisome. Especially when his last time facing the Twins was that horrifying relief appearance at Target Field.