- Week 5 Preview: Top Sleeper Hitters | Top Two-Start Pitchers
- More Fantasy Baseball: Meet Gleyber Torres | Buy these fast-starting hitters | Buy these pitchers
Gleyber Torres was the talk of the Fantasy Baseball universe this weekend, and rightly so. He's one of the top prospects in baseball and he made his season debut on Sunday. Nevermind the fact he took an 0-fer. Torres has all the tools and deserves every bit of the 86 percent ownership he now has. But let's just not let him overshadow the Yankees rookie who's raking right now.
Miguel Andujar now has a six-game hitting streak, and he's not just dinking and doinking his way to success. In his last six games, Andujar has seven doubles, a triple and two home runs. He's only struck out twice over that stretch. He is on fire.
Andujar doesn't have the pedigree of Torres, but he was a top-100 prospect coming into the year and he did have 54 extra-base hits in 125 minor league games in 2017. He has plenty of pop and for now the Yankees have plenty of places to play him. Sure, there's some concern about what will happen when Brandon Drury and Greg Bird are both healthy. That's not something to worry about right now. Andujar should be owned in any league 12 teams or deeper and should be started in most category leagues.
Teoscar Hernandez is another hitter who started the year in the minor leagues and theoretically didn't have a place to play in the majors. Like Andujar, he's not giving his team much of a choice, and they've said as much. Hernandez has three home runs in his first seven games and now has 15 in 245 career plate appearances.
The Blue Jays have a roster crunch with way too many outfielders, but none of them are hitting like Hernandez. I'm starting him in any league that starts five outfielders and adding him just about everywhere else. He does have some plate discipline problems that may make him less desirable in points leagues, but his minor league numbers give me hope that will improve.
Walker Buehler is one of the biggest challenges on the waiver wire this week. He's a phenomenal prospect who posted a K/9 of 10.8 or better at every professional level he's seen. He also gave up eight earned runs in 9.1 major league innings last year. I'm willing to overlook those nine innings entirely, but they aren't the biggest red flag.
The Dodgers already have too many starting pitchers and the plan is to see Buehler pitch Monday against the Marlins and maybe Saturday in a double header. That maybe makes all the difference in the world.
Buehler is a possible two-start pitcher, which is the crux of his short-term value. He's also relief-pitcher eligible. I'm adding him in a couple of points leagues and starting him with hopes of a second start. Just don't drop someone that's contributing to your roster because Buehler won't likely last more than a week in the majors.
I had plenty of doubts about Miles Mikolas coming into the year. He hasn't answered all of them, but he's answered enough that I expect him to be startable most weeks. Mikolas had a pair of rough starts against the Brewers and two impressive starts against the Reds. Knowing what we know about those two offenses, that isn't all that surprising.
Mikolas does not have elite swing-and-miss stuff, so he may get hammered by good offenses. But he's been efficient with his pitches and he's shown remarkable control, walking just two in 26 innings so far this season. That type of pitcher can be successful pitching for a good team and pitching half of his games in a pitcher's park. Mikolas should be owned in all points leagues and most categories leagues, you just may not start him every single week.
David Dahl would be higher on this list if the Rockies hadn't left Ryan McMahon on their bench for most of the season so far. In theory, they'd want Dahl to play every day and he's be pretty close to must-own if that was the case. As it is, Dahl has a short window to prove he belongs, with Carlos Gonzalez on the DL and Gerardo Parra suspended.
Remember, in 2016 Dahl hit .316 with an .859 OPS in 237 major-league plate appearances. He has good plate discipline and big-league pop. He seems like everything the Rockies need right now. Let's hope they realize that.
