SP Jake Irvin, Washington Nationals (65%)
That’s two wins now in a row for Irvin, who went six innings without letting up a run against the formidable Atlanta lineup his last time out. Except for his 10 K performance, Irvin hasn’t been striking out many hitters this year.
However, his expected ERA is closer to 3.50 than 4.00, and he’s been doing a great job of limiting the damage done to him. He has only allowed four or more earned runs three times in his thirteen starts this year. He makes for a decent pickup for those needing some solid starts.
2B Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays (63%)
Lowe has a miserable .208 batting average and only two homers to show for it, but he is a much better hitter than this. His batting average will never be high, and he plays up substantially in OBP formats for this reason, but he has also been getting unlucky so far this season, according to his peripheral stats.
Lowe is rocking a strong 13.7% barrel rate and has been starting to heat up lately. He starts and hits high in Tampa’s order against right-handers, making him a decent buy-low candidate or pickup in any 15-team or more OBP leagues in which he is unowned.
RP Yimi Garcia, Toronto Blue Jays (56%)
Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano is out with an elbow injury in his throwing arm, and there is no telling when or if he’ll be back this year. Enter Yimi Garcia, who has a sparkling 2.16 ERA and .720 WHIP with 33 K’s in just 25 innings. Since Romano hit the IL, Garcia has 2 saves and a win, though he did let up runs to make it a close call on both of his saved games.
Garcia had a blown save on May 26th with two runs allowed, which is a bit troubling, but he now has four saves on the season and is very clearly the arm to own in this pen. He has been pitching so well this year that I think he will gradually get over his nerves when pitching in the 9th and settle into the closer role for Toronto. Grab him wherever possible.
OF Heliot Ramos, San Francisco Giants (54%)
After appearing in the Honorable Mentions section twice this year, Ramos has more than earned his spot on this week’s list. He was a very solid performer in May but has caught fire to begin June. Over the first week or so, Ramos has smacked four home runs and netted 10 RBI due to his five multi-hit performances in seven June games. He is now rocking an impressive .327/.419/.554 slash, and the best part is that what Ramos is doing seems largely legitimate.
He is averaging a blistering 94 mph on his exit velocity with a great 13.6% barrel rate and a crazy 57.6% hard-hit rate. The biggest thing holding him back from more consistent power is his 47% groundball rate, but he’s still just 24 years old and is hitting well enough that he’ll still be plenty useful in fantasy even if he can’t start lifting the ball more (though he certainly has been this past week). Ramos is a must-add in all formats and my favorite name this week.
Honorable Mentions
OF James Wood, Washington Nationals (70%)
Will likely be called up once he’s fully back from his hamstring injury. May want to grab him now.
2B Connor Norby, Baltimore Orioles (42%)
Worth keeping an eye on.
RP Ryne Stanek, Seattle Mariners (26%)
Is the arm to own if Munoz’s injury persists.
SS Ryan Bliss, Seattle Mariners (17%)
Already has a homer and three steals in just 20 at-bats with good plate discipline.
