Oh boy! Games are here, the season is here! Stats are here! Baseball is on! And that means good fun, all around, right? Well, unless your team decided Kevin Gausman was for real or is feeling dejected waiting for Jose Ramirez to grab his first hit of the season?
Well, let’s remember fantasy baseball is a marathon, and between now and October a lot of players will come, and a lot will go. In the interim, let’s take a look at some who garnered some interest and play this past week and see if they have a place on your roster.
Andrew Knapp (C, Phillies): The Phils are as much fun to watch develop and move young players around as any team right now in baseball. In fact, despite the ostensible position question marks (Carlos Santana, Scott Kingery, Maikel Franco, Rhys Hoskins…) there are a lot of fun and talented players in the mix. And it seemed Jorge Alfaro was the heir apparent to the backstop job. Maybe, but it seems Andrew Knapp, a 26-year-old second-round selection in 2013, is emerging with the playing time. Knapp, a good OBP guy (31 walks to 56 whiffs, .368 OBP last year in limited play) might indeed be where the at-bats live in this year of the questionable catcher.
David Freitas (C, Mariners): A lot of the relief today is rooted upon those dreaded early season injuries, and Mike Marjama is getting time due to the strained oblique muscle Mike Zunino pulled. Marjama, 28, was a late (23rd-round, by the White Sox in 2011) has had a decent minor league career, hitting ,275-37-240 over seven-plus seasons in the minors, but has trouble getting on (.313). But, Freitas, a year older, with a .272-57-356 line to go with a .358 OBP, might emerge as the real go-to guy here, at least till Zunino returns. Maybe longer?
Tomas Telis (C, Marlins): One more backstop issue due to injuries? Well, J.T. Realmuto is having the always-concerning back issues, and as a result the Fish have a troika of potential replacements in Bryan Holaday, Chad Wallach, and Telis. Holaday has always been a reserve, and Wallach boasts a .259-27-150 line with a pretty good .350 OBP in the minors. But Telis, who like Wallach is 26, has been floating around the majors for five years now as a bench player, hitting .269-1-23 over 226 at-bats. Though neither could uproot Realmuto, back issues are nagging and often last awhile. They often make it tough to do much of anything other than lie still. Tellis is worth keeping an eye on in deeper formats.
Tyler Naquin (OF, Indians): Remember how great Naquin played (.296-14-43) when he arrived a couple of years back, spelling the Tribe when Michael Brantley went down? Then, how awful Naquin was last year (.216-0-1)? Well, Brantley is again struggling with his body, and Naquin is getting another look and in a deep league makes an interesting FAAB gamble.
Niko Goodrum (3B, Tigers): The Tigers summoned Goodrum, a switch-hitter, drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2010 draft. Though third base belongs to Jeimar Candelario for now, but Goodrum, 26, could get some time again on a young team defining itself. Goodrum has a .250-42-294 line with 33 triples and 122 swipes across eight minor league seasons, adding some dimension and possibilities. As in, maybe if Leonys Martin struggles in the outfield, Goodrum could help there, or at second where Dixon Machado is trying to make a mark, or even DH-ing where perhaps Victor Martinez, now 41, might be seeing the end of his playing time.
Joey Lucchesi (P, Padres): When Dinelson Lamet went down with elbow issues, the Pads — another team with a lot of fun young players — turned to their fourth-round pick in 2016. Lucchesi has some fantastic minor league totals, going 11-9, 1.99 with 204 whiffs over 181 frames allowing just an 0.93 WHIP. The 24-year old lefty, who only went as high as AA San Antonio last year (5-3, 1.79) could be an interesting pick in any kind of format.
Nolan Fontana (SS, Angels): Ian Kinsler is down with a strained groin, another of those injuries that often nags for an entire season. The Halos do have Luis Valbuena, but the team called up the 26-year old Fontana, a second-round selection of the Astros in 2012. Fontana has a reasonable .244-27-233 line over 557 minor league games, but boast a fairly impressive .382 OBP (417 walks to 529 strikeouts), and with Valbuena struggling (2-for-14 thus far) Fontana is another name who could grab some playing time and make a mark.
Miguel Socolovich (P, Braves): Finally, the Braves are indeed another fun team largely peppered with youngsters, so their advancement of the wonderfully named Miguel Socolovich could at least be the “feel good” player of the year. The hurler, aged 31, has a total of 84.6 big league innings collected (5-2, 4.15) since debuting in the Gulf Coast League in 2006. In the minors, the righty has compiled a 43-35, 3.68 line over 635.6 innings, with 24 saves, 599 strikeouts, and a 1.27 WHIP. Obviously, Solocovich is a deep league gamble, if that, but it might be fun to watch him be that story of an older player making his mark late during a career. Just saying.
