10 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Assets to Buy Before the Second Half

Jameson Taillon, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates

Jameson Taillon just got his season-long ERA below 4.00 last week, so his stats don't carry the same stench they may have before. But he seems to have unlocked some extra potential by adding a slider, so we'd be wise to do a price check before the ERA drops any lower.

Taillon threw the slider for the first time on May 22nd but used it just 5.5% of the time in that one. In his next start, though, he amped that usage up to 35.3%, and it has been at 24.6% from that day on. It has done wonders for his upside as a fantasy asset.

In this 9-start span, Taillon has a 3.48 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA), down from 3.98 prior to that. He has kept his ground-ball rate above average, at 51.7%, while churning out a 24.6% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate. Those are really solid numbers, and we can buy into them because they coincide with the introduction of the slider.

Taillon has thrown at least seven innings just twice in this span, and he has had more than seven strikeouts just once, so we have to keep in mind that the upside here is not that of a true fantasy ace yet. But his value is going up, and it should continue to do so in the second half.