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Week five of the Fantasy Baseball season is officially upon us, and while some teams have the night off, there is still plenty of baseball action to be seen. A few significant headlines have forced fantasy owners rush to the waiver wire to attempt to grab some added depth to their rosters, which is always recommended by myself. Hopefully, this isn’t your first rodeo here, which means you are reading my stuff, so thank you in advance. Below are a list of guys I recommend adding to your fantasy rosters.
Note: Ownership percentages are based off of Yahoo! Sports
Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies (31%): It’s time for a new era in Colorado. A ton of hype has been surrounding the Rockies top prospect Arenado, and now he has finally received the call to play third base for the big league club. At 22-years old, Arenado is an extremely pure hitter, batting .364 with 11 doubles, three homers and 21 RBI in his first 18 contests in Triple-A. He will man the starting third base job for the Rockies, and considering the disappointments and injuries to the position this season, is a very strong add. Playing at home in one of the most hitter friendly ballparks in baseball and a terrific lineup around him, Arenado rarely strikes out (10 percent K-rate in minors) and should certainly be owned in all NL only formats.
Carlos Ruiz, Philadelphia Phillies (28%): Honestly, I was pretty shocked that Ruiz was only owned in 28 percent of Yahoo! leagues. I figured more people would stash him on their rosters on draft day, preparing for now. Ruiz went 1-4 with a double while batting in the number five spot for the Phils on Sunday. It was his first game of the season after serving a 25-game suspension for testing positive for an amphetamine. Coming off of a stellar offensive campaign in 2012, Ruiz should remain batting in the heart of a Phillies lineup that will get the bats going. Go get Ruiz while you can.
Nate McLouth, Baltimore Orioles (47%): Fantasy owners should often ride the hot hand. McLouth is without a doubt one of those hot hands. McLouth, who has now reached base in 22 of his last 36 plate appearances, has bumped his batting average to a whopping .351. Despite only hitting one long ball and seven RBI, McLouth is doing a little bit of everything, stealing eight bases this season (2nd in AL) and scoring 21 runs (4th in AL). Of course, the Orioles outfielder will snap back to reality sooner rather than later, especially since he is 31-years old, but owners who are in need of outfield help should certainly grab him while he is on a hot streak such as this one.
Andrew Cashner, San Diego Padres (23%): Now that Cashner is recently regained a spot in the Padres’ rotation, he is officially fantasy relevant once again. He is a guy who can make batters whiff with his high velocity fastball and pitching in Petco Park certainly can’t hurt his value, right? Cashner is coming off of a solid start against the Giants, where he stuck out five, surrendered five hits and one run through six innings. The appealing number is 12, as in the amount of ground balls he induced during the game. Pick up the 26-year old if you are in need of some pitching depth, but keep in mind he is an injury risk.
Adam Pfeifer is a featured fantasy sports columnist for Rant Sports.
You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.
