Normally at this point in the fantasy season, I like to look at how all the teams are doing compared to their actual place in the standings. That is fun to do to see if any teams are actually doing better or worse than they should be, but it is fairly boring. And as you can see from the standings, I am in first, so who cares if my team is overperforming. This year I thought I would mention the best fantasy player at each position.
CATCHER: Buster Posey–San Francisco Giants
Owner: Josh
Stats: 35 R/12 HR/28 RBI/0 SB/.328 AVG/.421 OBP
Ryan added Buster early in the season, then he dropped him. I picked him up on April 28th and since then he has been a huge part of my winning ways.
FIRST BASE: Vladimir Guerrero Jr–Toronto Blue Jays
Owner: Ryan
Stats: 72/31/78/2/.332/.430
Ryan drafted Vlad Jr in the 4th round, which is the first round after the keeper rounds. Very wise decision.
SECOND BASE: Marcus Semien–Toronto Blue Jays
Owner: Adam2
Stats: 70/23/58/10/.277/.345
Adam2 drafted Marcus in the 14th round and only had to wait a few days until he gained 2B eligibility. Smart pickup.
THIRD BASE: Manny Machado–San Diego Padres
Owner: Josh
Stats: 58/16/65/9/.276/.360
Manny was one of my keepers this year.
SHORTSTOP: Fernando Tatis Jr–San Diego Padres
Owner: Jason
Stats: 73/28/64/22/.291/.372
Kept by Ryan then traded to me…then traded to Jason in one of the dumbest trades possible. Who trades away a guy who is at +130 to win the NL MVP?
OUTFIELD: Nick Castellanos–Cincinnati Reds
Owner: Matt
Stats: 59/18/59/2/.330/.384
Matt drafted Nick in the 7th round. Too bad he does not pay attention to his team at all. Also, if I am being honest here, Ronald Acuña was the best OF in the first half, but after his season ending injury, it is too depressing to mention him here. Also also, the odds of Castellanos winning the MVP are at +4000, crazy for a guy hitting .330.
UTILITY: Shohei Ohtani–Los Angeles Angels
Owner: Gideon
Stats: 66/34/74/12/.277/.363
Ryan added Shohei early in the season, but then dropped him. Gideon wisely picked him up a few days later and now he is looking at the favorite to win the AL MVP (-275).
STARTING PITCHER: Jacob deGrom–New York Mets
Owner: James
Stats: 7 Wins/146 Ks/1.08 ERA/0.55 WHIP
Obviously James kept deGrom. I am sure he is trying to figure out a way to keep him for life. Even with a few injuries this season, he is still better than any other starting pitcher.
RELIEF PITCHER (SAVES): Liam Hendriks–Chicago White Sox
Owner: Dustin
Stats: 4 W/23 Saves/65 Ks/2.68 ERA/0.74 WHIP
Dustin drafted Hendriks in the 8th round. Technically Mark Melancon has more saves, but Liam has been more dominant with those low rate stats.
RELIEF PITCHER (HOLDS): Giovanny Gallegos–St.Louis Cardinals
Owner: Josh
Stats: 5 W/1 Save/58 Ks/15 Holds/2.61 ERA/0.66 WHIP
I picked up Giovanny during Spring Training to go along with Alex Reyes. I think a few days into the season Reyes had a bad outing (or maybe in ST), so I traded him and Giancarlo Stanton to Dustin for Gerrit Cole.
As you can see, there is a reason that mine and Ryan’s teams are awesome: we have the best players. Or we just keep trading the best players back and forth. Streaming pitchers pays off for James, at least for the most part. He is 14-0 in strikeouts, but only 10-3-1 for wins and just 7-7 in the rate stats. I have a feeling if deGrom misses a few weeks, he may lose some more of those battles. The last few weeks of the regular season should be exciting!
