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It's a long, long baseball season and so it's not unusual for players to hit our radar, fall off, and then end up right back on it again. The difficult part of this time of year is the stakes seem higher. Especially in a points league, you may be at the point where one bad week could sink you. So let's take a look at a player who looked good again on Tuesday night and whether you should trust them.
Ken Giles was a top-12 closer coming into the year for the Astros, but pitched so poorly that he was sent to the minor leagues, and then to Canada. He didn't exactly start off great in Toronto, giving up five runs to the Red Sox in his third appearance, but he has a pair of perfect performances that resulted in saves in his last two outings, and I'm sure he's grabbing attention in all formats.
In 4.2 innings with Toronto Giles has struck out six hitters and walked just one. He's given up six hits, but four of those came in that disaster against Boston. I'm not to the point where I'm willing to risk a points league lineup on Giles' performance, but I'll be using him in any categories league where I need saves. There's a reason he keeps getting all of these opportunities. When he's been good, he's been awesome
Taylor Ward, C, Angels
Taylor Ward made his major league debut on Tuesday and didn't waste any time making a Fantasy impact. Ward went two-for-three with a double in his debut, playing third base for the Angels. I'm not sure he's going to play every day, but the fact that he has catcher eligibility may make that a moot point.
Ward dominated both levels he played at this year, with a batting average over .340 and and OPS near 1.000. He has good plate discipline and even stole 18 bases in 102 minor league games. As long as it looks like Ward is going to be a regular for the Angels, he should be owned and started in all two catcher leagues.
Jorge Polanco missed the first half of the year due to a suspension, but he's on fire right now and certainly looks like he could help your team down the stretch. In his last 19 games he has a .307 average and his strikeout rate is back below 20 percent. Polanco still hasn't shown the power he did last year, but his quality of contact suggests more of that should be coming. His best fit is as a middle infielder in a standard Roto league.
Speaking of shortstops who are on fire, WiIly Adames may be figuring things out at the major league level. In the month of August he's been amazing. Forget the .410 batting average, it's propped up by BABIP, but Adames is making more contact (16 percent K rate) and has three home runs and four stolen bases in the month. This is a top prospect who may have made the adjustments he needs to to succeed at this level. He has more upside than Polanco because of the power/speed combination, but he's not quite as likely to help you in batting average moving forward.
