Baseball season started last week, which means fantasy baseball is back! The first week of fantasy baseball forces me to put more thought into it than any other time of the season.
It is so early in the season, I do not feel like making a roster move, but I am also thinking whether I am missing out some breakout players because of my hesitancy.
Does anyone know the right time to make a move? The answer is no, based on my experience with fantasy sports.
Fantasy football is more obvious; I have to bid high on a replacement running back or a defense/special team against a bad team.
What about baseball? If a player is struggling for a few games, do I need to drop him? Or if a player is doing fantastic for a few games, should I immediately add him and drop somebody else? But what if that person I drop ends up doing well?
I have experienced both success and failure with waiver wire pickups in early season. Someone I drop early in the season ends up being phenomenal overall, while someone I pick up early ends up be just OK. It is impossible to predict for anyone how players will perform for the rest of the season.
My advice is to find out why a player is struggling or performing well. For example, a pitcher can do poorly at the Colorado Rockies’ Coors Field. Would you drop the player because he did not do well in the first game? Or maybe the pitcher was facing a good team, so he didn’t perform as well as he should have.
The case of batters is trickier. Was the batter doing well in spring games and continues the hot streak? In that case, I would say go for it. However, what if someone was doing horrible in spring games and is struggling now? Again, it is difficult to tell how long hot or cold streaks last.
The baseball season is 162 games long. Even the best player will have a cold streak. However, if you feel like your player is not going to do well or is out for the season due to injuries, here are my suggestions for each position for this week.

Catcher
1. Buster Posey – Posey did not play last year at all, so many experts were skeptical about his performance this season. Also, he has been showing of regression in the past few years. The position of catcher is important in baseball, but it also takes a large amount of energy, which is why having a good catcher is going to help tremendously to do well in fantasy baseball. Having a year off seemed to help him, as he already has had two home runs in two games.

First Base
Jared Walsh – Walsh was my sleeper pick before the draft in my last article. I was worried because he did not play the first two games. However, the last games he had two home runs with six RBI. It will be difficult to bench a person who is on hot streak. He is still available in most of leagues.

Second Base
Ryan McMahon – Another of my pre-season sleeper picks! He is eligible for first, second or third base currently, so he can fill in anywhere you want; But second base would be the worthy spot as it is difficult to find a potential 30+ home run guy there. Currently, he has one homer, three RBI and a .333 average.

Third baseman
Evan Longoria – Longoria is on an early hot streak with two home runs and four RBI with a .364 average. In the past couple years, he has always 20+ home runs with a 0.250 average. I remember Longoria being top 10 picks in my early fantasy baseball years. I wish him luck and enjoy his hot streak while it lasts.

Shortstop
Isiah Kiner-Falefa – I feel like I am on fire when I keep writing about players whom I chose as sleepers! He is currently eligible as a third baseman and a shortstop, but his value is much better with shortstop because of a much thinner pool of good players. He currently has one home run, three RBIs and a .308 average.

Outfielders
Michael Taylor – Taylor has a potential of hitting 20 home runs with 30 stolen bases. However, he never had a chance to shine when he was with the Washington Nationals. This year may look a little different right now as he has two home runs, six RBIs and a .462 average.

Pitchers
Julian Merryweather – The closer for the Toronto Blue Jays was for Kirby Yates, but he is out for the season. And then everyone was confident that the new closer would be either Jordan Romano or Rafael Dolis. However, Merryweather ended up being the man in charge.
Cesar Valdez – Similar to the Blue Jays, the Orioles had a closer named Hunter Harvey, but he is out for a while. So, Valdez stepped up as a closer. Tanner Scott and Shawn Armstrong were mentioned as a potential closer, but Valdez is the one who recorded the past two saves. Stash him before it gets too late.