RP James McArthur, Kansas City Royals (60%)
McArthur made a name for himself last season which was just his first season in the majors by pitching notably well. This season, he’s pitching even better and already has as many saves (4) as he did last season. He’s moved definitively past Will Smith and is now the clear favorite for saves in the Kansas City bullpen. Grab him where available.
SP Jameson Taillon, Chicago Cubs (57%)
Taillon had a great second half to 2023 and was climbing draft boards this offseason before lower back tightness caused him to miss all of Spring Training and to start the year on the Injured List. He is finally back now and his first start was a very promising one against Miami. He is definitely worth consideration for those in need of starting pitching (so most likely everyone).
OF Jesse Winker, Washington Nationals (55%)
Wink looks like his old self on his new team. He’s hitting .339/.455/.532 with 2 homers, 2 steals, 12 runs, and 8 RBI in the early goings. He is only owned in just over half of Fantrax leagues right now, likely because he plays for Washington. While this does mean suppressed counting stats it also means almost guaranteed playing time for Winker. He’s a great pickup in most leagues if you need an outfielder.
RP Kirby Yates, Texas Rangers (50%)
I’ve been shouting from the mountain tops for a while now that Jose Leclerc does not have the mental game to stick at closer, and for this reason, I really liked Yates as a late-round saves target early in the offseason. However, when David Robertson signed with the Rangers, I figured that he was more likely to become the closer for Texas. Well, after blowing both of his save opportunities and with Yates having converted both of his so far, it certainly appears as though Yates has become closer for The Rangers. Yates is an excellent reliever with prior closing experience, just like Robertson. He has yet to allow a run and has 10 strikeouts to just 2 walks so far. If Yates is somehow still available in your league and you could use some saves then run- don’t walk- to pick him up.
2B Luis Garcia Jr., Washington Nationals (31%)
Last week I had Garcia in my “Honorable Mentions” section and noted that he might be starting to grow into some power this year, which is something we’ve been hoping would happen for a while now. Well, Garcia did smack a home run the next day but what is even more interesting is that he has stolen 3 bases in the past few days and now has four on the year. Last year he had a career-high 9 thefts so it seems like he might actually be developing some speed to his game. It’s at the very least worth keeping an eye on. Either way, Garcia makes for an intriguing pickup in deeper leagues and is even more interesting than he was last week.
OF Wilyer Abreu, Boston Red Sox (33%)
Cora recently announced that Abreu will be playing every day against righties. He has now started eight of the past nine games for the Sox and has shown great plate discipline with an impressive .370 on base percentage. He also hit his first homer on Friday and has 4 steals so far this season. He makes for a great pickup in most leagues and especially so in OBP and deep leagues.
Honorable Mentions
SS Blaze Alexander, Arizona Diamondbacks (41%)
He has a .412 BABIP but hasn’t stopped hitting.
SP Keaton Winn, San Francisco Giants (40%)
He has a 1.091 WHIP and just logged his first win.
OF Jonatan Clase, Seattle Mariners (39%)
He’s starting for at least the next couple of weeks and has a ton of speed.
C Patrick Bailey, San Francisco Giants (31%)
One of the best full-time catchers so far.
1B, SS Gabriel Arias, Cleveland Guardians (26%)
He has awful plate discipline but excellent batted-ball data and is outplaying Rocchio.
