Fantasy Baseball: 7 Mid-Round Starting Pitching Targets for 2018

Taijuan Walker, Arizona Diamondbacks

ADP: 217.47

Last week, we talked about how the new humidor will potentially affect Arizona Diamondbacks hitters and pitchers. One of the starters who stands to benefit from this is Taijuan Walker.

Even without the humidor, Walker was quite good during his first season in the desert -- he posted a 9-9 record in 28 starts and an ERA of 3.49. His 4.04 FIP was also pretty good, and he saw his K/9 reach an all-time high of 8.35, along with a 21.4% strikeout rate that was tied for his career best. He did see his walk rate jump to 8.9% (it was 6.5% in 2016), so that's a concern, but he increased his ground-ball rate (from 44.1% to 48.9%) and decreased his fly-ball rate (37.9% to 32.8%), a good thing with the increase in dingers around the league.

He's still just 25 years old, entering his prime, and is an excellent target in the middle rounds as a potential breakout star.