Lucas Duda is off to a hot start for the Mets this season. But, is the slugger back in the discussion as a waiver wire add?
Fantasy sports are dictated by results, and our opinions as owners are often shaped by what players have done for us recently. With this recency bias, there are some players that often get overlooked or bypassed. Lucas Duda mashed a total of 57 HR and 165 RBI with the Mets over the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Yet, all it took was for one down season last year to wipe those totals right out of fantasy owners mind. But, now that Duda is off to a hot start so far, should he be back in the good graces of fantasy owners?
It is first important to note that Duda battled a nagging back injury for most the of the entire year in 2016. It limited him to only 47 games and 7 HR/23 RBI. The injury turned out to be a stress fracture and the lefty would only have eight at-bats after May last season.
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Back injuries are always tricky, look no further than David Wright, so fantasy owners were more than willing to ignore Duda during the draft process this season.
Duda continued to battle nagging injuries this spring as well, further driving down any resemblance of fantasy value. Yet, he was able to start the season on time and manned first base opening day, All he has done so far this season has displayed the power that he did two years ago. He currently holds a .333/3 HR/6 RBI line.
His most impressive effort was his two-homer game against the Phillies on April 11. It is a small sample size for sure, but Duda has notched four hits in seven plate appearances versus LHP this season. When healthy, he will always mash RHP, but if he can be respectable against LHP, we could see 30 HR once again.
Fantasy owners should feel comfortable adding Duda off the waiver wire. He is hot at the plate and looks to be as healthy as he has been in the last two years. The Mets lineup provides him plenty of counting stat opportunities, so there are no reasons to think that he can not post solid numbers.
He may lose some starts to Wilmer Flores, but Duda is the Mets option at first. Five of his eight hits have been for XBH, and even though he will not be an AVG asset, he has drawn four walks to 10 walks.
Next: Week Two Waiver Wire Adds
Lucas Duda may carry plenty of injury risk, but he also carries a solid resume when on the field. Fantasy owners should at least add him while he is hot at the plate, with the upside that he could be a 25+ HR source if he stays on the diamond.