Fantasy angst: Replacing Corey Seager
No one wants to see stars get hurt. Corey Seager is a star. Monday was a lousy day.
Seager needs Tommy John surgery and is out for the year. His injury-addled spring and slow start turned out to be warning signs that were trying to tell us something.
Now fantasy owners need a new shortstop. Here are some ideas.
• Looking Shallow: Scott Kingery might settle down now that the Phillies can play him at shortstop all the time; J.P. Crawford is hurt. Kingery’s position jockeying was probably not helping his offense. It’s not a bad time to trade for Kingery, if he’s owned in your pool; some of his owners are starting to get restless . . . Jose Peraza’s bat has woken up, and he’s still just 24. He’s a sure thing for 20 bags and could easily grow into 30 or more . . . Daniel Robertson is a position grabber with a dreamy BB/K ratio. Anyone who walks more than they strike out is interesting for us . . . Eduardo Escobar is another multi-position guy, and one of the few Twins not driving us crazy (do not say “Lance Lynn” to me right now). Escobar has an OPS-plus of 151 (outstanding), and clubbed 21 homers last year.
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• Looking Medium: Chris Owings covers three positions and gave us a 12-12 season in just 97 games last year . . . Teammate Nick Ahmed is already up to five homers, with a .340 OBP and .524 slugging . . . Dansby Swanson has no shot to make the top of Atlanta’s lineup given the other studs there, but he’s at .287 with a couple of homers and a couple of steals, and his pedigree offers latent upside . . . Addison Russell has been overrated for most of his MLB career, but he did have a 21-95 season in 2016, and he’s still just 24. It’s not like his job is in any danger. Just be realistic with batting-average expectations.
• Looking Deep: The Rays are going to play Adeiny Hechavarria, and while his .284 average is hard to trust given career norms, he has pushed up his walks and cut his strikeouts . . . Freddy Galvis had two category-juice years in Philly, and while he’s not off to a strong San Diego start, he’s at least getting on base (.333 OBP) . . . Jurickson Profar is a post-hype sleeper who at least is controlling his at-bats with a solid K/BB. He’s only 25, and his sluggish career is mostly explained by injuries.
Nope, there’s not another Corey Seager there. But let’s hang in, stay the course. It’s a long season. Your opponents are probably getting crushed by injuries, too.
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