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Pickups of the Day: The King Shall Reign

Guerrero Jr. isn't an elite fantasy power hitter
D.J. Short and Eric Samulski break down Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s fantasy performance this season and why he lacks the "natural lift" in his swing to be an elite fantasy baseball power hitter.

Rotoworld’s brand-new Pickups of the Day column is designed to help fantasy managers uncover a handful of widely-available targets over the course of the season. It could be a breakout candidate, a prospect stash, an injury replacement, a pitcher with a favorable matchup or week, a player who is due some better luck, or any other number of scenarios. If there’s value to be found on the waiver wire, we will find it and bring it your way.

In today’s column, we’re going to explore Michael King’s transition to the Yankees’ rotation and a quality five-category bat that could make an impact over the final few weeks of the season.

PICKUPS OF THE DAY

Michael King, SP, Yankees

Available in 72 percent of Yahoo leagues

When most fantasy managers think of Michael King, they think of a valuable cog in the Yankees’ bullpen – someone who can help protect ratios while adding some strikeouts on a streaming basis – best utilized in leagues that feature daily moves. Many of those fantasy managers haven’t been paying attention to King’s impressive transition to the Yankees’ rotation.

The 28-year-old right-hander has actually been functioning as a starting pitcher each of the last three times that he took the hill – working 2 2/3 innings against the Nationals, four frames against the Tigers and five innings against the Astros. During that stretch, he stepped up his pitch count from 50 to 61 and finally 69 pitches.

In those three starts, he has registered a stellar 0.77 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and a 12/2 K/BB ratio across 11 2/3 innings. The Yankees don’t have any rotation help arriving any time soon, so it stands to reason that they’ll continue to stretch King out and give him a real shot here.

He’s slated to take on the Brewers at home on Saturday (opposing Wade Miley), which provides a nice opportunity at a victory while delivering solid ratios and a handful of strikeouts. If he stays on turn the rest of the way, he’d face the Red Sox in Boston and the Blue Jays at home the next two weeks before finishing the season with a two-start week – at the Blue Jays and at the Royals.

That’s as good of a schedule as you’re going to find off of the waiver wire for the stretch run – especially for a pitcher of King’s caliber.

Ezequiel Tovar, SS, Rockies

Available in 57 percent of Yahoo leagues

Ezequiel Tovar received plenty of fanfare when he was named the Rockies’ starting shortstop this season, but the 22-year-old shortstop still isn’t getting the love that he deserves from the fantasy community at large – despite a strong rookie campaign.

Overall, he’s slashing .254/.291/.419 with 15 homers, 64 RBI and 10 stolen bases across 527 plate appearances. He seems to have kicked it up a notch over the past few weeks though. In his last 27 games, he hit .259/.308/.455 with five long balls, 15 RBI and five stolen bases.

The Rockies play 14 of their final 23 games at home to close out the season which should only boost the solid five-category production that we’ve been seeing from Tovar over the past month. He makes for a nice middle infield option that could help to push your fantasy squad to a league title over the final three-plus weeks of the season.