In Fantasy Baseball, opportunity is king.
That's the only explanation for why Michael Conforto, a 24 year-old with a .220 career ISO, started the year on the waiver wire in most leagues. But injuries to Lucas Duda and Yoenis Cespedes have given Conforto an opportunity the past week and he has made the most of it.
Conforto hit his fourth home run on Sunday and now has a sparkling .361/.432/.722 slash line. His strikeout rate (20.5 percent) is closer to his minor league numbers than last year's struggles and he's a lava-hot 7-for-15 in his past four games.
Though Cespedes is expected to return this week, the Mets have placed both Duda and Wilmer Flores on the disabled list. That means there should be no pinch for playing time in New York for at least another week. If Conforto keeps hitting like this, it shouldn't matter who is healthy. He needs to be in the Mets lineup and he needs to be on your roster.
There are still concerns about Conforto's playing time against LHP, but the Mets aren't scheduled to face a lefty in Week 4. The Mets young slugger is still just 49 percent owned, which should sky rocket by the end of the week.
| 67% | 
Shawn Kelley
Washington RP
|
| Kelley has stuck his foot in the revolving door that is the Nationals closer situation with three consecutive saves, allowing just one hit and striking out three over the three outings. The Nationals' concerns over his durability seem to be a moot point considering they used him three times in a four-day period. They did give him two days off after that (and Koda Glover earned a pair of saves) but I still expect Kelley to be the primary closer. On a team as good as the Nationals, Kelley has top-15 closer potential and needs to be owned in nearly every league. | |
| 59% | 
Joey Gallo
Texas 3B
|
| Adrian Beltre seems to be progressing very slowly from his calf injury with the latest report being that he won't be ready for a rehab assignment until May at the earliest. You would have to think the Rangers would prefer to bring Beltre back as a DH, and the way Gallo is playing third base that shouldn't be a problem. According to Fangraphs' defensive metrics, Gallo is having a net positive effect with the glove and he made a pair of sparkling plays over the weekend. He may strike out 200 times, but he has 40 home run potential and that does not belong on the waiver wire. | |
| 56% | 
Matt Bush
Texas RP
|
| Bush picked up a win and a save over the weekend and there looks to be little doubt that he is the closer for the foreseeable future in Texas. Since joining the Rangers in 2016, Bush has a 2.47 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP over 69.1 innings. With little-to-no threatening competition for the job and that kind of track record it's time to treat Bush like a solid No. 2 closer with borderline No. 1 potential. | |
| 51% | 
Mitch Moreland
Boston 1B
|
| I can't blame you for being a slow adapter on Mitch Moreland, I haven't been that interested myself. At some point you just can't ignore the numbers any longer. Moreland leads the majors with 11 doubles this season and just hit his second home run of the season on Sunday. It's not like this is coming out of nowhere either. Moreland slashed .278/.330/.482 in 2015 and has hit at least 20 home runs in three of the past four seasons. When this Red Sox offense starts to wake up, he should be a major contributor in run production as well. | |
| 50% | 
Chris Devenski
Houston RP
|
| Outside of Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, middle relievers are the forgotten men of Fantasy Baseball. It's time to add Chris Devenski's name to that list. The Astros' righty leads baseball with an incredible 25 K/BB ratio. More importantly, his usage (at least two innings in four out of five appearances) makes him more likely to accumulate wins than the average middle reliever. Devenski is both SP and RP eligible, meaning he'll fit in wherever you have a hole. | |
