As the second week of baseball season kicks off, fantasy owners will be searching the waiver wire for help. Luckily, we've got you covered with a handful of useful players that are still available in the majority of fantasy leagues.
Fantasy bonus: Two-start pitchers
Charlie Blackmon, OF Rockies (Owned in 51 percent of CBSSports.com leagues) - Blackmon is arguably the hottest player in baseball and the fantasy community is taking notice. The 27 year old is hitting .542 with a homer, six RBI and two steals through seven games. While Blackmon will obviously cool off eventually, he has a legitimate shot to play every day and lead off for the Rockies and is worth a roster spot in all formats until he cools off. Blackmon has hit for a solid average throughout his minor-league career and has the speed to score a ton of runs if he continues hit atop the order.
Casey McGehee, 3B Marlins (59 percent) – McGehee, who was only owned in five percent of leagues on Opening Day, already has 10 RBI to go along with his .375 batting average. If he continues to produce and receive regulat at-bats, McGehee is capable of approaching his .285-23-104 line from his career season of 2010.
Yangervis Solarte, 3B/OF Yankees (20 percent) – Solarte can play all over the diamond and should receive regular at-bats, considering he backs up some of the oldest, most injury-prone players in baseball. Solarte is hitting .470 with five RBI and could emerge as the regular third baseman if he continues to hit. Mark Teixeira is already on the DL and Kelly Johnson figures to slide over to 1B for the foreseeable future. Even if Teixeira returns, the fragile Derek Jeter and Brian Roberts figure to miss enough time to make Solarte relevant all season.
Abraham Almonte, OF Mariners (18 percent) – Almonte is playing every day and has proven the ability to be productive, hitting .280 with a homer, five RBI and a steal through six games. He’s an exciting player and his ownership percentage will skyrocket if he has a highlight-reel play or does something to get noticed by the masses. If you play in an AL-only or deeper league, the wise move would be grabbing him now.
Edinson Volquez, SP Pirates (7 percent) – The Pirates a terrific at finding pitching reclamation projects ala A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano. Volquez hasn’t been a productive fantasy pitcher since 2008, but he’s healthy and looked downright filthy at times on Sunday. It’s worth a stash in deeper leagues in case the Pirates revive the once-promising career of Volquez.
Jenrry Mejia, SP Mets (51 percent) - Mejia seems to be completely recovered from Tommy John surgery and should be a fixture in the team's rotation. He has the stuff to emerge as a front-line fantast starter, though we might be a few years away from that. Either way, Mejia is talented enough to be owned in most formats. He’ll rack up Ks, but needs to keep his walks down to avoid being a WHIP killer.
Questions? Hit me on Twitter @briansflood
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