.png)
We're heating up into the thick of fantasy baseball season. Right now is the time to bolster your team into your league's frontrunners! Take a look at three players you should consider adding to your fantasy team right now.
Christian Javier - RP/SP, Houston Astros
3-2 W/L record, 2.43 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 48 K
If you're like me, you stacked up on pitchers, only to have a few totally miss their mark, and they ended up on the waiver wire (cough, cough, Tyler Mahle). But in its wake, I found a gem in Christian Javier. I am never one to recommend anyone with any ties to the Houston Astros, so this should mean a lot to you. Javier is cruising through the first two months of the season, with a 2.43 ERA and sub-one WHIP, striking out nearly 12 batters for every 9 innings of work. He just allowed only 3 hits, 1 walk, and no earned runs through nearly 6 innings. He's got a lethal fastball-slider combo, and the data is showing that he's getting his opposing batters to whiff against his pitching at a higher clip than he ever has (33% whiff percentage so far this year). Not to mention, he's listed as a RP and SP in most leagues, so you've got the flexibility to put him in an RP-specific spot if your league requires it.
Mitch Garver - C/DH, Texas Rangers
.214 BA, 6 HR, 12 RBI
3 home runs in last 3 games
My league is a rarity in the sense that you're required to start two catchers in the same lineup. This obviously puts catchers in the "premium" category, so you need to start looking for diamonds in the rough. Mitch Garver was probably name you passed over in this process. He is rostered by less than 20% of teams in standard ESPN 10-man leagues, and got off to a pretty sub-par start to the year. But now that he's back from a forearm strain, the Rangers are planning to entrust him as the primary DH. Keep in mind, he was awful at the beginning of 2021, but hit .292 with nearly a 1.000 OPS after the start of May. Garver can't solve all your problems, but he can at least be a stopgap while you look for a trade for that elite catcher you've been looking for. Who knows, he may even break through.
Austin Hays - OF, Baltimore Orioles
.283 BA, 4 HR, 20 RBI
Outfielders are a dime a dozen, but Austin Hays should be at the top of the list here. Sure, Max Kepler and Anthony Santander seem like good picks too, but Hays has been a reliable contributor for the Orioles this year. Hays takes a six-game hitting streak into the weekend against the Red Sox, and had three-straight games with at least two RBI's until the streak was broken on Wednesday night. The O's are definitely bullish on Hays, and it might be wise to grab him now before he gets snatched up later in the year; he's only rostered by less than 70% of ESPN ten-man leagues.
And, if your league accounts for defensive statistics, he's 100% your guy.