Patience is the name of the game when waiting for a top draft pick to play up to their potential.  While MLB teams try to boost their prospects’ confidence with long stays in hitter-friendly minor league destinations or playing them in low pressure situations in the big leagues, fantasy GM’s are not afforded such luxuries.  We do not have the ability to drop our struggling draft picks in the batting order or send them to the minors to work it out (hey Ike Davis, I’m talking to you).  We can only banish them to our bench and hope they eventually play themselves back into our good graces.

A lot of GMs are demonstrating the patience of a two year old while waiting for their players to get back on track.  I have seen last year’s NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey actually come across the waiver wire in one of my leagues.  While Dickey’s WHIP is not what it was with the Mets last year (1.31 vs. 1.05), his strikeout rate has been getting better over his last few starts.  I think the adjustments to switching leagues, as well as early season injuries, have gotten Dickey off to his rocky start.  Who knew knuckleballers could suffer minor injuries that affect their statistics?  If Dickey can cut down on the walks and stay healthy he can make it back to the top of a fantasy rotation.

Julio TeheranJulio Teheran was every experts’ pick to be the next big thing coming out of spring training.  While Matt Harvey and Shelby Miller have performed like fantasy studs to start the year Teheran has slowly built up a little steam.  He showed poor command and little fantasy value as he started the year cold.  He started the year with a whimper as he shelled by the lowly Cubs.  He was able to escape without a loss thanks to the Upton brothers and Carlos Marmol, but his next few starts were not much better.  He has slowly worked his way back to fantasy relevance ever since.  His 9.00 ERA has come down to 3.99 and his record is a respectable 3-1.  His 5.4/9 K rate and 1.35 WHIP show that he is not yet a fantasy star as many predicted, but if his current form continues he could be a nice pitcher to have on your roster (especially when he faces the offensively-challenged Mets and Marlins within the division).

Whenever I look at a surprise name on the waiver-wire I am reminded of a fantasy football all time blunder in one of my fantasy football leagues.  The year was 2001 and everyone and their mother were looking for the next Terrell Davis to take them to the championship.  Priest Holmes had moved from the world champion Baltimore Ravens to the Kansas City Chiefs and looked like he could be a nice RB2 if he was given a chance.  After week two of the NFL season Holmes had a combined 51 yards rushing with zero touchdowns.  A very good friend jettisoned him to the waiver-wire and the rest is history.  Holmes rushed for over 1,500 yards with 600 yards receiving to go along with ten touchdowns.  He went from a waiver-wire refugee to a fantasy football stud.

Priest HolmesI refuse to be the next guy to drop a future fantasy MVP before the season even heats up. I saw my friend desperately try to make up for his big mistake, eventually trading for Holmes a few years later just so he could put that miss-step behind him.   I will place Josh Hamilton and B.J. Upton right where they belong, sitting next to each other on my bench while I weather the storm with the Jason Kubel’s  and Dominic Brown’s of the world.  Just because your guys go through a cold streak or are at the top of Yahoo’s most dropped charts doesn’t mean you have to panic.  Just try to be patient and think of Priest Holmes running into the end zone for someone else’s team.

This article was originally posted at www.FantasyJudgment.com