Fantasy Baseball: 5 Late-Round Players to Target in 2018
Taijuan Walker, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Taijuan Walker must be doing backflips over the decision by the Arizona Diamondbacks to install a humidor inside Chase Field. The team hopes that storing game balls in a setting with a higher humidity will help depress some of the offensive numbers that are inherent with playing in such a dry environment and at a higher-than-normal elevation.
Even though Walker performed well with the D-Backs last season, going 9-9 with a 3.49 ERA in 157.1 innings with 146 strikeouts and 61 walks, he was much better on the road (2.92 ERA, 0.63 home runs per nine innings) than he was at home (4.18 ERA, 1.4 HR/9). The humidor is expected to reduce the number of big flies there, meaning Walker (and the rest of the Arizona staff) could see an improvement in his ERA this season.
Our projections show Walker putting up a 4.43 ERA in 166 innings this season with 124 strikeouts and 55 walks, and those projections do account for the addition of the humidor, but last year showed he could easily out-produce that. Walker is a great target, currently at 204th overall, a 17th-rounder in 12-team leagues.
