Some fantasy baseball replacements if Robinson Cano just screwed you over

4. Jose Pirela, San Diego Padres

There’s not a lot that stands out on Pirela’s batting line so far this season, but zero home runs for a guy that hit 23 home runs over 545 plate appearances between Triple-A and the Padres last year might qualify. But a hard contact rate just north of 35 percent screams for a correction, if he can start hitting a few more fly balls and fewer ground balls (60.3 percent ground ball rate so far this year).

Pirela has already played more than enough at second base (18 games) and the outfield (27 games) to have eligibility at both spots in fantasy leagues, and all but seven of his 189 plate appearances to this point have been in the 1-5 spots in the lineup. If there’s production to be had for fantasy owners in San Diego’s lineup, the first handful of spots is where it will be. For what it’s worth, Perala’s best spots in the lineup so far in 2018 are No. 2 (.333, .777 OPS-34 plate appearances) and No. 4 (.356, .830 OPS-49 plate appearances).

Pirela should dent the home run column before too long, and when he does it might be in bunches. He’s very widely available, likely due to playing on a last-place team that has long been floundering, but Pirela is worth a look for those looking to replace Cano.

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