With a new column picking out a few sleepers for you fantasy fiends, welcome to B&N, Blake Finney
Hopefully there are plenty of you Brits (or further afield) out there who LOVE playing Fantasy Baseball, I for one can’t get enough and spend hours clicking away trying to fine tune my line-ups during the week. And there is no better feeling than finding an absolute gem of a player you can pickup who becomes the linchpin of your team.
In this first section I’ll give you a few suggestions of players who could well change your fantasy season.
Devon Travis, 2B, Toronto Blue Jays
After hitting a measly .130 in April; Travis has caught fire in May hitting over .350 with 3 Home Runs and 17 RBI. Even chipping in with a couple Stolen Bases too. Those are some valuable stats for someone who you might be able to fit into your Middle Infield slot in your team. He’s also got rock solid job security as one of the Blue Jays key young pieces.
Marwin Gonzalez, 1B, Houston Astros
In a team full of household names such as Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, George Springer it can be quite easy to go under the radar. Marwin Gonzalez isn’t the superstar name you want; but he’s getting the job done and forcing his way into the team on a regular basis. He’s tied for the team lead in Home Runs with 11, and with the prolific Astros offence; just sit back and watch the counting stats rise.
Jameson Taillon, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates
How about this for one of the feel-good stories of the season. After all the career threatening injuries he’s been through, Taillon looks set to comeback from Testicular Cancer with vengeance. Before the shock DL stint which likely had him dropped in several leagues; he was emerging as a real force in any fantasy rotation, so if an owner in your league cut bait, it’s time to go get him.
Deeper League Finds
Michael A. Taylor, OF, Washington Nationals
From my very own Washington Nationals, we have Michael A Taylor, who inherited the starting CF job in the Capital after Adam Eaton‘s unfortunate injury. And in the last 30 days, Taylor has been making contributions across the board, batting .274 with 12 Runs, 4 Home Runs, 12 RBIs and 4 Stolen Bases. He also has a large amount of job security too, barring a deadline day trade for someone like Lorenzo Cain. Keep your eye out for him, as he’s very under the radar right now.
Jaime Garcia, SP, Atlanta Braves
Jamie Garcia is a name that’s been around fantasy circles for a little while now; after he broke out the Cardinals in 2010. But since then, injuries have been the major discredit to his name. Now in Atlanta he looks healthy and is starting to pump in good ERA and WHIP. The main concern would be how many wins would he get with the Braves; who seem to be a Triple A team right now without Freddie Freeman, but Garcia is an underrated asset right now.
Nice one Blake. The Batflips and Nerds League is deeper than the Mariana Trench though! No chance of picking up the likes of Taylor in that league.