There’s a theme apparent with Week 8’s top fantasy baseball pickups, as each represents a bit of a dart throw in ESPN standard leagues. Being that we’re still in the early stages of the season, however, it remains a wise time to take chances on higher ceilings.
, OF, (available in 43.4% of ESPN leagues): OK, OK, I know, how could I be going back to the well with him? After all, Buxton has made 12 trips to the injured list totaling 312 missed Twins games since the beginning of the 2019 season, representing 34% of their schedule during that time. Nevertheless, during the rare times that he’s fully healthy, he’s capable of delivering some of the best power/speed combined metrics of any player in baseball. Buxton’s Statcast Barrel rate is 15th-best among batting title-eligibles, fueling his nine total home runs, and he’s the major league’s leader in sprint speed, explaining his perfect 8-for-8 on stolen base attempts thus far. There’ll always be the threat of another injury interrupting one of his hot streaks, but he needs to be universally rostered for as long as he’s performing like he has so far. Here’s a bonus: Buxton’s Twins are set to play a good share of their upcoming schedule at homer-friendly home ballparks, including 19 at their own Target Field (May 19-21 and 23-25; June 6-8, 10-12 and 20-26), three at Tampa’s George M. Steinbrenner Field (May 26-28), four at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park (June 2-5) and three at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park (June 17-19).
, 1B/3B, (available in 76.6%): As his recent, unexpected demotion to Triple-A Round Rock reaches his required minimum stay on Monday, he might be in line to reclaim the Rangers’ everyday first base job as the team begins a seven-game home stand. Burger batted .391/462/.696 with a pair of home runs and four multi-hit efforts in his six games for Round Rock, but most importantly struck out only twice in his 26 trips to the plate while there. When at his best, he’s capable of delivering 90th-percentile-or-better raw power metrics, meaning he’s every bit the 30-homer candidate he was when he was drafted in the 16th round on average during the preseason. If someone cut Burger at the time he was sent down, scoop him back up to help provide you pop from either corner infield spot.
, OF, Rangers (available in 96.4%): One of the game’s most exciting prospects at the time of his Sept. 8, 2023, big-league debut, and among the top-ranked entering his 2024 rookie campaign, Carter has disappointed ever since, batting only .188/.272/.361 last season and failing to make this year’s Opening Day roster. Though he had solid, yet hardly eye-popping, numbers while with Round Rock — he batted .221/.333/.416 with three homers and six stolen bases in 21 games there — Carter got another chance with the big club beginning last Tuesday, when the Rangers moved on from in center field. Carter hit a home run on Saturday and stole a base on Sunday, and so far the back issues that plagued him last season don’t appear to be an issue. As Carter is a 20/30 capable player, he’s well worth a speculative pickup.
, SS/3B, (available in 94.9%): He and Carter could easily swap spots here, but the reason Lawlar lands in the “rotisserie” section is lesser promise of regular at-bats as he attempts to break in at the big-league level. Kiley McDaniel’s , Lawlar is expected to be recalled by the Diamondbacks on Monday, where he’ll presumably slot in all around the infield initially. He batted .372/.432/.628 in his most recent 20 games for Triple-A Reno, making eight starts at second base, six at third base, five at shortstop and one at designated hitter during that time, with second base the most logical spot for him to see the most at-bats initially ( could shift to designated hitter). Lawlar is a speedy prospect who was 9-for-9 on his steals attempts during that same 20-game span, so he should be added in all rotisserie leagues immediately.
, SP, (available in 85.8%): The Cubs have an absolute dream of a Week 8 schedule, with six home games, and three apiece against two of baseball’s worst teams in the and their hometown rival . The Marlins, while middling in runs per game for the season, have averaged only 3.2 in the month of May, while the White Sox rank third-worst in the category for the year and fifth-worst in terms of strikeout rate (23.8%). Rea has averaged 10.6 fantasy points in five starts since joining the Cubs’ rotation in place of the injured , with his heftier reliance upon his four-seam fastball making much of the difference. He’s employing an entirely reworked seven-pitch mix with some of the best control metrics we’ve seen from him at the big-league level, so he should offer sneaky-good stats off the free agent list in leagues with weekly lineups.
Deeper league pickups
, (available in 89.9%): The Padres’ rotation replacement for the slow-starting Kyle Hart, Kolek has since made back-to-back scoreless starts, including, most incredibly, a five-hit shutout at Coors Field on Saturday. Though he lacks an elite swing-and-miss pitch — his sweeper is the only one that has better than a 25% whiff rate so far during his big-league career — his sinker/changeup/cutter-reliant repertoire helps him generate a ton of ground balls while minimizing hard contact. Kolek should have some value as a matchups play, and while there might be fewer of those in the National League West than in other divisions, bear in mind that the Padres have only 18 more intra-divisional games between now and the All-Star break.
, SP, (available in 90.9%): The three-time Cy Young Award winner, 2014 National League MVP and surefire Hall of Famer is set to rejoin the Dodgers’ rotation in the coming days, as his eligibility date for activation from the 60-day injured list arrives on Saturday. Kershaw might not throw nearly as hard as he did during his prime, nor does he work as deeply into games as he once did, but he does have a 2.84 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 31 starts since his 35th birthday, and he managed a 3.60 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 20.7% strikeout rate in four starts during his minor league rehabilitation stint. At the very least, he should serve as a matchups candidate, with one of the game’s best offenses and better bullpens backing him.
