The key to winning fantasy baseball is knowledge, anticipation and luck.
I can’t help you with the luck part. If you own Timothy Hudson then I can’t help you foresee a fluke injury, like him getting stepped on covering first. I can help you with the knowledge and anticipation.
Everyone else in your league knows guys like Taijuan Walker and Xander Bogaerts are coming up soon to help fill in roster gaps. Here are three guys that came up that only few are talking about.
Jonathan Villar – Houston Astros
Pick-up if you missed out on: Justin Ruggiano (or you had Ben Revere)
The Astros are in a full youth movement. Villar was brought up and will replace the departed Ronny Cedeno. Villar won’t provide much pop, but he brings speed. He has averaged 39 stolen bases each of the past three years. He is sitting at 31 so far. Unlike Billy Hamilton, Villar can get on base – he has a .341 in AAA this year.
|
Year |
OBP |
SB |
|
2010 |
0.313 |
45 |
|
2011 |
0.318 |
34 |
|
2012 |
0.336 |
39 |
|
2013 |
0.341 |
31 |
Henry Urrutia – Baltimore Orioles
Pick-up if you missed out on: Wil Myers
The Orioles need some help in their DH spot. The played in Cuba where he hit .365 per O’s GM Dan Duquette. He was a bit rusty and was sent to AA where he hit .365 before he was promoted to AAA and hit .367. He has power potential that is just now starting to be seen. Sounds like another Cuban playing out in Los Angeles? He is obviously a flier but one that could pay big dividends, especially in long-term keeper leagues.
Jarred Cosart – Houston Astros
Pick-up if you missed out on: Tyler Chatwood
Like I was saying… the Astros are in a youth movement. It is easy to understand that many fans missed Cosart’s big debut. He threw a two-hitter against the rolling Tampa Bay Rays. He followed it up with another seven inning strong performance against the Oakland A’s, giving up only one run. He may not have a high pedigree, but he’s shown the ability to keep hitters guessing. He’s showing flashes of Alex Cobb and Tyler Chatwood with an almost 60 percent ground-ball rate through two games. He may get roughed up the more teams get used to him, but he’ll at least have potential for the remainder of the season with the right match-ups.
With the correct, timely moves, you can climb up the league rankings. If you played it safe up until this point, it may be time to use one of your roster spots for a flier.
Brian Reddoch is a CraveOnline reporter and rabid fan of all teams Seattle. You can follow him on Twitter @ReddReddoch and at www.facebookcom/craveonlinesports.com.
Photo Credit: Getty
