With April behind us in the fantasy baseball season, it’s time to start taking a harder look at those players not performing and finding out if those surprising stars of April will continue their dominance.
Here’s three pitchers who may still be on your league’s waiver wire who should get a serious look.
Aaron Nola, SP, Philadelphia
Fantasy baseball owners who didn’t pick up on Nola earlier in April may be all out of luck.
According to ESPN’s fantasy league, he’s now owned in 61.4 percent of leagues, and after Tuesday’s performance, that will likely rise again.
But, for now, that still leaves 40 percent of leagues still not aware of Nola’s strikeout prowess.
Nola isn’t a new commodity to those who follow up and coming prospects. He was a top-100 prospect at one time in his career and he’s picking up where he left off late last season for the Phillies.
During his first stint in the big leagues, he went 6-2 for the Phillies late in the year last season with a 3.59 ERA. He averaged 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings during that time.
This season, he’s improved in all categories, going for a 2.92 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and a 9.9 strikeout-per-nine-inning ratio. He continues to get better, and is currently on a 20 scoreless inning streak after defeating the Cardinals on Tuesday.
He’s only 22, so expect some bumps in the road, but fantasy owners cannot deny his ability to register strikeouts.
Matt Wisler, SP, Atlanta
He may not generate a lot of strikeouts, but he’s shown the ability to contribute in other ways so far this season.
Wisler is only 1-2 overall, but he’s tossed two shutouts already this season and owns a WHIP of 0.90. He’s also coming off a solid performance Tuesday against the Mets, going eight innings and allowing only one hit.
So far this season, Wisler has eaten up innings for fantasy owners, throwing six or more innings in all but one start.
He’s young, but in his second season with Atlanta, he’s showing improvement. His ERA is down to 3.51 from 4.71 a year ago, and his WHIP has tumbled from 1.459 to 0.90.
Despite his inability to register strikeouts yet in his MLB career — his best is this season at 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings — his Minor League career did feature a decent amount of strikeouts.
He averaged an 8.4 strikeout-per-nine-inning average during his Minor League career.
Wisler is owned in less than 5 percent of ESPN leagues, so keep an eye on him as a possible option in your fantasy league.
A.J. Griffin, SP, Texas
Injuries have slowed down Griffin during his career, so that’s why I’m confused why fantasy owners haven’t jumped on his bandwagon yet.
He’s owned in only 30 percent of ESPN leagues, despite being 3-0, with a 2.32 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. He’s also limiting opposing batters to hit .180 off of him, which puts him among the top-10 in Major League Baseball.
Strikeouts haven’t been his calling card, but he’s showing that he can cobble together a few strikeouts each outing to keep fantasy owners happy. He mustered nine strikeouts in his last outing Monday against Toronto, and has gone for at least five in the three previous outings.
When he wasn’t injured, he was becoming a solid starter for the Oakland Athletics. He totaled a 21-11 record during two seasons, with ERAs of 3.06 and 3.83.
Now that he’s healthy with the Rangers, he’s showing why he belongs in Major League Baseball. Griffin is a must-add in fantasy leagues.
