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Gerrardo Parra is one of the least sexy guys to own in baseball. He’s isn’t particularly flashy, with no outstanding one category skill and he doesn’t have a cool name (Saltalamacchia or Gregorius, for instance). These are serious marks against him. But, it looks like Parra is on the move to Baltimore, where he should slot into an improved lineup, with the likes of Adam Jones, the smoldering-hot Chris Davis, and Manny Machado. Parra has been very under the radar this season but has a fantastic .326/.367/.517 triple slash with 9 bombs and 7 legs on the year. Parra is probably owned in your league, as he is available in just over 25% of ESPN leagues. His OBP since the ASG is third-best in baseball at .512, behind only The Earth Shaker (Joey Votto) and Au Shizz (Paul Goldschmidt). So, if he is out there, I’d gobble up Parra right away, as his .365 OBP could be legit. This is a guy that could be breaking out as a player at age 28. He should get into the mid-teens in both power and speed (15/15 is doable).

Preston Tucker has gotten a lot of love by ‘perts, as I’ve seen his name pop up in a few waiver-wire columns around the internet. Tucker is just another fun, talented Astro rookie, and if you really want to join the Astros bandwagon, go ahead and pick him up. He’s going to hit for some power and should drive in plenty of runs as he moves into a more prominent position in the Houston order. But, I’m going to preach caution for OBP formats. His 20.2% K rate is acceptable, but his 7.0% BB rate isn’t great. Consider that the OBP-dreg Luis Valubena’s K-rate is only slightly worse, but with a better BB%. Tucker’s OBP sits at .316 on the year, and while I think this should pick up a tad, I’m not expecting much. He did have a .365 OBP over 4 seasons in the minors, so he shouldn’t kill your ratio. I’d own him, but don’t expect much more than what you’re seeing now.

Have you seen what Aaron Hicks has done lately? Grey has mentioned him as a hot schmotato in a few daily posts. Over the last two weeks, Hicks is 11-for-34 with a .385 OBP, raising his season’s OBP to a more respectable .345. Hicks is just 25, but after a few lousy seasons in the big leagues, he feels like old news. It’s easy to forget that he was a well-regarded prospect, finishing in the top-50 per Baseball America from 2009 to 2011. He has always been more of a glove-first guy, but his OBP skills in the minors were impressive, with a career .379 minor league OBP. If you are in a deeper OBP league, I would take a shot on Hicks. He may be more schmotato than breakout, but I’d take the gamble. He could be a poor man’s Denard Span. Heck, he could be a rich man’s Span. In a span of days, he could be a poor man’s A.J. Pollock. How about that? (Aside: I just finished reading Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicle. First off, it’s awesome. Second off, I enjoy saying “span of days,” as Rothfuss does in his books. I’m not sure what it means, but I’m adopting it henceforth.) 

I’ll throw some love the way of Carlos the Cunning, Carlos Gonzalez. Razzball has covered his stretch of dominance, as has almost every other fantasy outlet worth its salt. This guy is en fuego, and his OBP game has been on point. Since the break, CarGo is in the top-10 in OBP at .467, and he has been ratcheting up his season-long OBP significantly, which sits now at .332. This is a guy who should settle in at around .340 to .350, so the adjustment fairies have sprinkled The Cunning with some pixie dust. If he can stay healthy (and doesn’t get traded to a god-forsaken ballpark like Safeco), he should have a stellar second-half, with plenty of power and OBP-goodness.

One of my favorite prospects entering into the year was Kyle Schwarber. In my keeper league, I drafted him and heard quite a bit of ho-humming, with other owners saying that he wouldn’t sniff the majors until 2016. Well, based on Kris Bryant’s timeline, I tended to agree with them, but figured it was worth the shot. As it turned out, we all discovered that Schwarber does not stick to any mortal timeline. He is above that. Schwarber is completely awesome and has sky-high upside going forward in keeper/dynasty formats – particularly in OBP formats. This guy should be an OBP machine. When he was drafted, the comparison all of the analysts tossed around for his bat was Joey Votto (who you know I also love). Schwarbs crushed through the minors with an impressive .446 OBP/.589 SLG. He hammered bombs, didn’t strikeout a ton, and took his walks. So far in the big leagues, he’s doing exactly that. If he starts to pick-up more at bats by playing in the outfield, that will boost his value even further.