Middle Infield Roundup – A Constant Amidst The Chaos

Howdy again, folks.

Going to start this one off candidly: It’s a weird time for me. Beyond being in the midst of starting a new job, I also just emptied my entire life into a storage unit while I search for a new place to live. A lot of stuff is in flux for me right now, and to put it plainly, it’s tough!

That said, it could be a lot worse without baseball. Between catching a game with some friends I made through the online baseball community (hi, Janice and Dalton); spending time in voice and video chats with the best pals that baseball brought me (you each know who you are); and having this article to look forward to writing each week, baseball has been a constant source of joy and connection amongst the chaos. All you folks who read what I write are part of that, so I want to say thanks for taking the time. It means a lot.

Okay, enough being heartfelt. Let’s put on our thinner-than-a-communion-wafer pair of baseball pants and get to work.

Edouard Julien 

Edouard Julien had a hell of a week for the Twins, and perhaps credit is due to their lucky new cured meat mascot (meatscot? I’m workshopping it). The second baseman is only rostered in about 50% of Yahoo leagues and 11% of ESPN leagues, so until the rally meat spoils, he might be a good pickup, especially since they have a series against the *holds back vomit* red-hot White Sox to kick off the week, and will face five righties after seeing lefty Garrett Crochet on Monday.

Willi Castro

Keeping the cured meat streak going, Willi Castro initially had a rough go of things when he took over everyday shortstop responsibilities for Carlos Correa and his strained oblique on April 13, but his strong last week has pushed him to a .296/.350/.519 slash over the last 15 games.

Despite the solid performance, Carlos Correa is due back sometime this week, but Castro could still get ample 3B reps and spell Correa on off days, making him a fine addition to a deep league roster if you’re in need of relatively steady plate appearances.

Francisco Lindor

After underwhelming us by hitting just .098 over the first two weeks of the season, Lindor has looked more himself of late, hitting nearly .300 since April 12. What you also don’t see in the above statline is that that he went 1-for-3 with a homer and two stolen bases in Sunday’s game, which would bump him even further up in the dollar values generated in the past week on the Player Rater.

Do I think he’s the same stolen base guy we saw last year in the first season under the new disengagement rules? Not particularly; he’s only 3-for-5 on steal attempts this year. But he should handily nab ~15 over the full season, all while hitting ~25 home runs, and steady, reliable plate appearances and production are hard to come by in an injury-plagued 2024 fantasy season. (God, I hope I’m not the one to jinx this.)

Brice Turang

Have I already covered Turang? Yes. Do I think it’s worth bringing him up again? Absolutely. Am I doing a service to myself as a Brewers fan by talking about him? Yes.

A very smart and handsome friend of mine said something I can’t get out of my head:

“I feel like Brice Turang is what we thought Nico Hoerner was going to be this year.”

I feel like I should have seen this coming after Craig Counsell’s departure, but man am I annoyed with myself for not chasing Turang more aggressively late in deep leagues. He hasn’t been caught stealing in 13 attempts so far this year, and you know what’s more impressive? He’s managed to walk 9.3% of the time while striking out just 12.4% of the time.

The absurd bat to ball skills and patient plate approach should keep him on base even when the BABIP starts falling back to earth, and there’s a really good shot he’s a 50+ stolen base candidate. He’s still out there in some ESPN and Yahoo leagues, so check your waiver wire.

Anyone I didn’t cover that you wanted me to touch on? Drop some names in the comments and I’ll be happy to share my thoughts!