As a Red Sox fan, I spent part of every day dreaming of Roman Anthony's upside. He's the best hitting prospect in baseball, probably a future MVP candidate. Despite being young for Triple-A, he's mashing at Worcester (.302/.423/.476), with 28 walks against 33 strikeouts. Anthony turns 21 on Tuesday; imagine when he figures out how to actually play the game.
Boston, of course, hasn't recalled Anthony yet. There's no clear opening on the roster, so Anthony remains blocked for the moment. It's a bit frustrating. But not every team approaches things like this — consider the case of Arizona and their touted prospect, shortstop Jordan Lawlar.
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The Diamondbacks have a top 5 offense and the lineup is filled with hitters better than league average. There's no obvious slot for Lawlar to play right now — shortstop Geraldo Perdomo has been surprisingly excellent (139 OPS+) and veteran third baseman Eugenio Suárez is sitting on 12 homers and a .500 slugging percentage. But the Snakes aren't seeing roadblocks, they're seeing opportunities. They're planning on promoting Lawlar, the idea being that he can be a super-utility guy and bounce around the field, help keep everyone fresh.
Long-term, of course, Lawlar will own shortstop. That's the plan. But for now, let's see if he can hit the ground running in his second MLB trial. The PCL can't get him out — he's slashing .336/.413/.579 there, with six homers and 13 steals (on 14 attempts). This could be a fun story.
Lawlar is free to grab in about two-thirds of Yahoo leagues.
Here are some other pickups of note as we move into the second week of May.
1B/3B/SS/OF Josh Smith, Rangers (35%)
Texas was the worst-scoring team in the majors not long ago, but things are coming around. Evan Carter is back. Corey Seager is healthy. Jake Burger will probably return soon, too.
And then there's Smith, who bats leadoff against right-handed opponents. He's filling the boxscore nicely, with a .316/.395/.474 slash, four homers, four steals. His walk and strikeout rates are both above code; this is a professional hitter at work. I have to assume Texas can eventually be a league-average offense, at minimum, and Smith is part of the solution. He's especially handy in the Yahoo format, qualifying at first, short, third and outfield.
2B/3B/SS/OF Daniel Schneemann, Guardians (28%)
Here's another position-grabber for us — Schneemann can fill second, third, short or outfield. I always want a few of those guys on my bench; play positionless fantasy whenever you can. Schneemann isn't a runner but he's hitting a solid .273 with five homers.
Most of his work comes against right-handed opponents, but 10 of the next 12 Cleveland opponents work from the right side. Schneemann's body type and line-drive stroke remind me a little of Brendan Donovan in St. Louis.
1B/2B Colt Keith, Tigers (20%)
Keith was well under the Mendoza Line in late April, which explains why his front-door stats might scare you. But over the last 11 games he's come alive, slashing .303/.378/.667 with four home runs. He's getting routine work in the No. 3 batting slot, which tells you how much manager A.J. Hinch believes in Keith.
And the hard-hit stats suggest Keith has been comically unlucky — his Savant page insists his batting average should be .269 and his slugging percentage should be .471. Kismet is starting to normalize for Keith; be early to this story.
3B/OF Miguel Andújar, Athletics (2%)
Here's a deep-league name to consider, a well-traveled veteran who's popping a touch in his age-30 season. Do you remember Andújar conking 27 home runs with the Yankees back in 2018? Feels like a lifetime ago.
He's quietly carrying a .306 average for the Nomad Athletics this year, with a pristine strikeout rate (just 11.2%). Put the ball in play, good things can happen. Sutter Health Park is one of the best scoring environments in baseball, and even with Andújar not showing pop yet (just two homers), I want exposure to this bandbox whenever possible.