What is up party people? I’ll be honest, I’m getting really tired of all these outfield injuries. At the risk of jinxing things, I hate that it feels like every week I have to find a replacement for an outfielder. There is no replacing Ronald Acuna Jr and that’s a fact you didn’t need me to tell you. Nevertheless, after his injury, we find ourselves in need of a replacement. None of the guys I’m about to bring up can entirely fill the hole that has been left in your heart but that can at least help your team.
Matt Vierling – It’s time to recognize the work he’s been doing, not just over the past week but all season. Now, I don’t want to build him up too much, he’s not a top 3 outfielder but as a fourth or fifth outfielder, you have to be very happy with his numbers. And he is still very widely available if you feel that your team is lacking in the outfield.
Patrick Bailey – If you are disappointed in your current catcher situation, I highly encourage you to take a look at Bailey. He has been battered a bit this season but when he does take the field he has been excellent, batting over .300 with 4 bombs. Defense has been his calling card in the majors and that will guarantee him a healthy dose of playing time.
Julio Rodriguez – So far he hasn’t been the hitter we expected during draft season. His batting average is down as is his power. That has understandably caused some managers to panic, however, this past week has given us reason to hope for a turnaround. As we all know, his power is not up to his previous levels but he has doubled his home run total in his last seven games. I’ll admit I was out on him for points leagues because of his ADP but he still has all the tools to be pretty darn good. I valued him as a second round guy in draft season and I still believe he can return that value going forward. Maybe it’s recency bias, but I refuse to believe that he has suddenly forgotten how to swing a bat. This is your window.
Brett Wisely – If he has a spot in the lineup, I’m interested. If he doesn’t, then everything I’m about to say is irrelevant. As it stands, Wisely has a hot bat in very limited action which makes him at the very least a temporary fill in. It is highly unlikely that he can keep this up, obviously, he won’t bat over .400, but he does have the chance to claim an everyday, or near everyday, spot in the Giants lineup. Worth a shot in deep leagues but for everyone else, just keep an eye on the situation.
Tyler Freeman – He has eligibility at multiple positions and he may just have a hold on the leadoff spot as well. I’d like to see more than a .230ish average and I think he can bump that up into the .250-.260 region. If he can do that, we might have something.
Max Kepler – Talked to my inside source (the sportsmaster) and this is what I heard. “The Twins really hit it out of the park winning at home”and who am I to contradict that? Kepler has been fairly productive this season and more importantly, he’s seeing the field fairly regularly. Don’t expect world beating numbers but he can certainly help out on the end of your bench.
Dylan Moore – Took him a while to get to the party but here he is. Recently, he’s been everything that we thought Julio would be. There’s no way he can keep up this kind of production but even when he cools off, I’m still very interested to see how he settles in. I think that he is wildly under rostered based on what he has shown us. Even if he doesn’t keep going at this torrid pace, he can still be a great option.
Luis Matos – Now that he is locked into the everyday lineup spot, it won’t be long until he is rostered everywhere. So far, it seems that news hasn’t caught up with the masses and he’s still out there in roughly 40% of leagues. The past week has not been kind to him but he has big time talent and he was crushing it, He’s still super young so don’t be surprised if there are some peaks and valleys as he grows into his talent. I may be biased, but he is one of my favorite targets.
Alec Burleson – I feel like I am repeating myself here, but Alec is still available in way too many leagues. Look, if you don’t want a .300 average with solid pop, I’m not really sure what to tell you.
Masyn Winn – He was a sleeper coming into the season and he has been doing everything he can to live up to that billing. He’s hitting regularly, and he’s hitting well. Winn isn’t a big power guy but he does have speed. We love ourselves some doubles.
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