More Fantasy Baseball: Prospects Report
Not every day is filled with hidden gems and must-add players. Some days require some mental gymnastics to put together this article, and today is one of those days.
None of the four players below are guys I would consider must-add, and I'm not ready to start any of them. But they all provide intrigue as bench options moving forward. These players are more likely to help you in August and September than July, but you'll need good players then as well.
Luke Weaver's rollercoaster season took a turn for the better on Thursday when he held the Giants to two runs over eight innings and struck out seven. It was his fifth outing this year with at least six strikeouts and less than two runs allowed, and his second in his last three. Of course that start in the middle was a disaster in which he gave up eight runs to the Braves. Those three starts are the Luke Weaver experience, at least so far.
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I still want to have Weaver on my bench, even in most shallow leagues, because of that upside. We're still talking about a 24-year-old starting pitcher who has a 3.87 FIP and 9.6 K/9 in 193 major league innings.
Is it OK to be frustrated with Weaver? Of course. Refuse to start him until he's more consistent? Fine. But Weaver needs to be owned in the majority of leagues, and he showed why on Thursday night.
The thing you have to ask yourself about Jeff Samardzija is if you think you've seen enough to believe he's done. In 35.2 innings this year he's been one of the worst pitchers in baseball with an ERA that matches his K/9 (6.56). He's gone from one of the best control pitchers in baseball in 2017 to 5.8 BB/9 this year. There's really nothing in 2018 to offer any hope. But it's just 35.2 innings.
Samardzija is just 33 years old and had topped 203 innings each of the past five years. He's coming off the DL and it's certainly reasonable to hope he'll come back as the pitcher he's been for the past five years. If he does, he's way underowned at 44 percent. For the time being, I'm adding Samardzija in leagues where I need pitching help, but I probably need to see two starts before I'd consider starting him.
I told you earlier in the week Steven Souza was due back soon, and he's here now. The bad part is you can't stash him on the DL any longer, but I would still want to own Souza in most category leagues. I'd like to see him get settled in before starting him, but Souza has 15 homer, 10 steal potential in the second half and should be a decent source of RBI hitting behind Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock. Much has been made about the humidor suppressing power at Chase Field, but it still looks like a better hitting environment than Tamp Bay, and Souza hit 30 home runs playing his home games there in 2017.
Carlos Rodon has not found himself yet. At least that's what I tell myself. The truth is his 4.29 ERA and 3.79 BB/9 look all too familiar. In fact, his peripherals suggest he's been much worse than his ERA, and his swinging strike rate (8.6 percent) is a career low. But it's only been six starts, and two-thirds of them have come against very good offenses. While we know Rodon's schedule will lighten up in the second half, I also expect he'll start pitching better as he builds up his strength. Remember, he's a couple of months behind the rest of baseball.
I'm not starting Rodon right now unless it's out of desperation, but I'm still stashing him everywhere I can.
