It’s August. it’s hot everywhere, it’s vacation time, and a third of your league is no longer paying attention.  It is the Dog Days of Summer!  But if you’re still in the top eight, or within twenty games, honestly you’re not out of it, so let’s look at how you can gain some ground.  The question you have to ask is can you make up ground in the counting stats, or do you need to take some chances to compete.  It was only two years ago I picked up Jake McCarthy for $1 and he added 19 stolen bases after August 1st to help me gain six posts in that category and win my pool.  Is he going to do it again, likely not but let’s chat about him to start, just in case.

Jake McCarthy – OF – ARI – 9% Yahoo, 37% FanTrax

McCarthy has been up and down, and in and out of the Diamondback lineup all season but seems to have solidified a regular spot recently.  In 255 at bats this season he has an impressive .294/.370/.412 slash line to go with just three home runs but sixteen stolen bases.  McCarthy isn’t likely to be much of a source of power the rest of the way however, his 97th percentile sprint speed means he should be a reliable source of steals.  He also has an impressive 17.0 K% which is 76th percentile and a slightly above average walk rate, so if he can keep getting on base at a .370 clip, he will likely keep running.  Prior to the All Star break McCarthy was mostly on the strong side of a platoon however, in the last week he has started against the three left-handed starters Arizona has faced, so it appears full-time at bats are now available to him.  At this point of the season steals can be hard to find on the waiver wire, but given regular at bats McCarthy could steal 10-15 bags the rest of the way, like he did two years ago when he ran crazy in August and September and carried many teams in that category.  I like McCarthy anywhere you need steals, average or on-base percentage in category oru points leagues.

League size recommendation: 12-team leagues or deeper

Want to get access to the rest of Doug’s article? You’ll need to have a FANTASYPASS membership. Click here to learn more and sign up!
Premium Access Required
Click here to join us on Discord! And Follow us on Twitter by clicking here
Join the SportsEthos team by filling out an application by clicking here
Follow Doug at @Doug_Reid34 You can also find Doug’s Top Plays with our WagerPass!