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It’s May already. It’s May already. It’s May already.
Nope. No matter how many times I say it (or type it), I still can’t believe that we are already a month through the baseball season. On one hand, it’s good because it means that football season continues to draw closer. But on the other hand, it stinks because baseball season is one month in the books.
Dilemmas.
However, even if you are off to a scorching start in your league, you never, ever want to become complacent. Streaming pitchers, adding hot bats, and especially this time of year, adding highly touted prospects, can be the difference between winning and losing.
So let’s win.
Note: Ownership percentages are based off Yahoo! leagues.
Oscar Taveras, St. Louis Cardinals (24%): He’s coming. While the Cardinals are struggling to score runs, their top prospect, Taveras, is dominating the minors, riding a 13-game hitting streak, batting .322 with five homers and 19 RBI in 24 contests. The talented center fielder is going to be in the majors sometime this season, and if it isn’t before the Super 2 deadline passes, it’ll likely be towards the end of this month. Similar to George Springer, Taveras is going to be close to universally owned once he is called up, so if you have the roster room, I’d suggest stashing him now. St.Louis is ranked just 26th in runs scored this season, and they need help. And with Matt Holliday and Allen Craig manning the left and right sides, Taveras can come up and slide right into center field, replacing Jon Jay. He won’t steal a ton of bases, but there is legitimate power here and he is arguably the best and most pure hitter in the minor leagues. The hype is deserving.
Nathan Eovaldi, Miami Marlins (45%): I’ve already written about Eovaldi, but his ownership is going to skyrocket in the next few days. The guy is pitching well, eating up innings and getting run support. Surprisingly, the Marlins are sixth in the majors in runs scored, and with two starts for Week 6, he makes for the best streaming option in fantasy. He’ll face the Mets in Miami and then an away outing in San Diego. So basically, he’ll face two of the league’s worst offenses in two of the league’s best pitcher parks. The Mets are striking out around nine times per nine innings, and are sporting the third-worst team batting average in baseball. The Padres, meanwhile, are allowing opposing pitchers to post a league-best 2.24 ERA.
Hector Rondon, Chicago Cubs (38%): Need saves? You better hurry up and grab Rondon, who has taken over the Cubs closing job. He’s recorded saves in consecutive days and now has three on the season. He is also sporting a strong K/BB ratio of 16/4, and at just 26-years old, he is entering his prime. Saves appear to be scarce this season, so Rendon is a must-add if you need them. His ownership percentage has increased about 30 percent over the last day, and while the Cubs have yet to officially name him the rest-of-season closer, Rondon is the guy to own and continue to speculate on.
Rajai Davis, Detroit Tigers (58%): Davis continues to not only bat leadoff on one of the hottest offenses in baseball, but Davis continues to swing a hot bat. Detroit is averaging 7.33 runs per game over their last three games (2nd-most), while Davis is hitting .337 on the year. Now, the red hot and dangerous Tigers offenses faces two of the worst starting rotations in baseball in the Twins and Astros. The Twins are surrendering 4.96 runs per game (most), while the Astros are coughing up 4.90 (3rd-most), and assuming the Tigers light them up, Davis is going to score plenty of runs. These units rank 27th and 26th in opponent on-base percentage, so I like Davis’ steal potential, too. On the year, he has attempted 13 stolen bases, resulting in 11 swiped bags. Meanwhile, Astros catcher Jason Castro has allowed 17 stolen bases thus far, the fourth-most in baseball.
Adam Pfeifer is a featured fantasy sports columnist for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.
