FANTASY BASEBALL

NODA TRUTH (WAIVER WIRE)

By Muntradamus

BEAST DOME NATION.

The Fantasy Baseball Season is almost at the halfway point of the season, and the dog days of Baseball summer will be here. No other sport besides Baseball takes place until August for Football preseason.

Here is a list of good sleepers owned in 50% of Fantasy Baseball leagues that should be owned in way more leagues. You can jump the gun on guys who will give you a big second half by adding them now.

JUNE/JULY BASEBALL BEAST HEDGE
(Coming Soon)

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CATCHER

GARY SANCHEZ (40% Owned)

Crazy that the BEAST DOME Legend Gary Sanchez is still a Free Agent in over 60% of Fantasy leagues. What makes Gary Sanchez so great is his ability to rack up HR & RBI numbers faster than any catcher. Even when he missed many games with the Yankees, he would still lead all catchers in those pivotal categories.

In 11 games with the Padres, Sanchez has 5 HR/12 RBI. Right now Salvador Perez leads all catchers with 13 HR, and Sean Murphy leads all catchers with 46 RBI. Gary Sanchez could still end up leading all catchers in both the HR and RBI categories with a lot of the MLB season left. The Padres have a great lineup, Sanchez is cleaning it up.

1B

RYAN NODA (23%)

The Dodgers had Ryan Noda in their Farm System for a while. With Freddie Freeman blocking Noda from having any chance to make it to the majors, the A’s were able to pick up Noda. After splitting time with Jesus Aguilar to start the season, the A’s are now convinced Noda is their everyday 1B option for the rest of this season, if not the future. The 27 Year Old is a great hitter that not only hits for power, but will hit for a great batting average as well. Noda has 7 HRs and is batting .249 when this article came out. After Alonso (22 HR) and Olson (18 HR), the leader at 1B is Freddie Freeman with 13 HRs. Do not be surprised to see Noda finish in the top 10 for 1B in HR, as well as hit a solid batting average closer to .275 when it is all said and done. Great contact hard line drive hitter that can also hit lefties as a lefty batter.

The only reason you have not heard of Ryan Noda before is that he was in the Dodgers farm system while they had a championship-caliber team, which prevented him from being called up.

2B

TREVOR STORY (52%)

Story will be back sooner than later, and he is a threat to dominate when that happens. Story is one of the best Middle Infield hitters in the game for what seems like almost a decade. Red Sox have a lot of talent this year in that batting order with guys who can get on base, Story will have plenty of RBI opportunities and nothing better than hitting in the Fenway heat over the Summer. Well, hitting in Colorado is better, but this is a top-tier situation. Look for Story to remind us that he still has it when he returns.

3B

ZACH MCKINSTRY (33%)

McKinstry might qualify at 2B/SS and OF as well. This guy is a Swiss army knife who is a great lead-off hitter. He has the ability to go deep, he has the ability to run, but most important of all he can hit. Zach is going to be scoring a lot of runs, while being a great backup to have on your roster that you can plug in at nearly every position. He is like the lefty Mookie Betts, when Mookie Betts is on a cold streak. 15 HR/30 SB is not impossible as he sits at 5 HR/10 SB.

SS

EZEQUIEL TOVAR (42%)

Not the biggest fan of Tovar, but he is in a great situation, which in baseball is 50% of everything. You can be a great player, but because you are in the wrong situation it will ruin your chances of living up to your potential. Perfect example of this can be Miguel Cabrera. Sure Miguel had a Hall of Fame Career and some great years with the Tigers, but can you imagine his numbers if he played in a smaller ball park?

Tovar gets to play everyday for the Rockies at SS, and the opportunities are always there playing at Coors field. Tovar is not a bad player, he is only 21 Years Old and is showing the potential to finish with close to 20 HRs, as he currently sits at five. Expect him to only get better as the season continues as he plays in the summer days of Coors.

I rather have McKinstry, but Tovar will be productive.

OF

LEODYS TAVERAS (30%)

Once upon a time, the Fantasy Baseball community thought Taveras could be a potential 30 HR/30 SB candidate. The dream has been given up after three years, now at 24 years old, Taveras is starting to look like the All-Star many thought he could be. Leodys is batting 9th for the Rangers, which works out great because he is basically the lead-off hitter for the Rangers when the heart of their lineup (Semien/Seager/Lowe/Garcia) comes up every time around. After a slow start, Leodys has 21 runs since the start of May. In comparison, Randy Arozrena has 20 runs in the same amount of time.

Loedys is also showing some pop with 5 HRs in that span, and is coming off of a 2 HR game. Leodys is in prime position to be the Michael Harris Jr. that MHJ is not performing like. Leodys could be among the league leaders in Runs when it is all said and done.

SP/RP

CLARKE SCHMIDT (34%)

Clarke Schmid started the season ice cold, but in his last 10 starts he has been rock solid. ERA 3.59, many of those starts were for 2 ER or less, he only got bombed twice vs. TB (7 ER) and at Texas (5 ER). You take those two games out of the equation his ERA is 1.88 over his last 10 games. That my friends is CY Young material in a MLB where even Max Scherzer is not safe. Clarke just pitched an amazing primetime performance against the Red Sox where he should have got the win, but Michael King let him down.

The Yankees are always a threat to win any game when Judge is healthy, and Clarke is pitching well enough to get those wins. His current win total sits at 2, do not be surprised to see that number reach double digits when the season is over. Clarke is a sneaky pitcher to rack up late-season wins.

 

JUNE/JULY BASEBALL BEAST HEDGE

E-Mail [email protected] to learn more