Fantasy baseball drafters made third base a highly drafted position, with at least three going in the first round (depends on how you want to classify Manny Machado). Unfortunately for fantasy baseball drafters, three of the top six third basemen drafted (Josh Donaldson, Kyle Seager and Adrian Beltre) are currently banged up. Donaldson and Beltre hit the DL, but Seager is merely day-to-day. Still, owners might be looking for a replacement at the hot corner. Below are three fantasy baseball options available in 50% or more of Yahoo! leagues. Don’t fear deep leaguers, as the third guy on this list is out there in at least 90% of leagues.
[Jeff]
Joey Gallo, Texas (41% owned)
Gallo’s rocketed up ownership ranks and overall ranks faster than one of his mammoth home runs leaves his bat. Gallo came up and got regular at-bats after Adrian Beltre’s injury caused the Rangers to tap the high-power hitter. Gallo has had a monstrous last seven games, with four home runs in that time frame (and a stolen base). Gallo’s ownership almost doubled from a week ago, so make sure you get him as soon as you can. His ownership will only continue to fly upward. There’s no reason for his ownership to be 3% lower than currently-at-AAA Yoan Moncada. He’s already up, and already raking, so snag him.
Yuli Gurriel, Houston (29% owned)
Just like Gallo, I wrote about Gurriel last week, and just like Gallo, he’s gotten even better since then. Gurriel still swings at everything, but he’s adapting to MLB pitching. Gurriel has smacked a home run while going 10/21 with 4 runs and 4 RBI. He’s batting low in Houston’s lineup, which means more RBI opportunity. If he keeps hitting, however, he should move up. That would get him a good mix of runs and RBI from here on out.
Martin Prado, Miami (8%)
Prado missed the first few weeks of the season, and returned about a week ago and has done classic Martin Prado things. Prado has a home run in his last week, but his .300 average is why you would go out and get him in deeper leagues. Unfortunately deep third base is mostly a minefield of middling-to-bad fantasy baseball options, so you’re looking for someone who won’t hurt you here. The Marlins’ lineup has failed Prado so far, as his only RBI is himself on his first home run of the season. Don’t expect him to blow you away, but he is a great stop-gap. Deep leaguers in need of a stop-gap for one of their injured 3B should check him out.