Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Astros have built together a nice offense with young players like George Springer and Jose Altuve and veterans like Dexter Fowler. There is another player who provides a lot of power to the Astros lineup that is becoming a nice fantasy option. He is the designated hitter, Chris Carter.
Carter is a one-tool fantasy option – power. If you draft Carter in any season, you know that you need to build a team around batting average. His career-high average was .239 in 2012. Last year, Carter his 29 home runs and struck out 212 times. It’s power or bust for him.
However, Carter has turned his stats around. While he is still hitting for power and striking out a significant amount, there has been an increase in average. Over the last 30 days, Carter has hit seven home runs with 16 RBI and a .306 average. Hitting behind Springer and Matt Dominguez has been doing wonders for Carter and his power numbers.
Despite the recent increase in hitting, Carter is still only hitting .215 for the year. If you can take a hit in batting average (especially in Rotisserie leagues), Carter is worth the pickup. There have also been rumors of Carter being on the trade block. If he does get traded to a more-competitive team, then his fantasy value will rise even more.
No one knows if this surge of batting average will last. Though, fantasy owners should take advantage of his improved patience at the plate. He is currently owned in 58.6 percent of ESPN.com leagues, a jump of 27.2 percent over the last week.
Bill Pivetz is a fantasy sports writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @BPiv_Sports.
