Few were bigger Mat Latos fans than I was in 2010, when our paths crossed via his (at the time we thought it would be) breakout season with the Padres, and my first Fantasy sports beat covering the offensively flawed team that somehow went into the final game of the regular season with a chance to win the National League West. Latos went 14-10 with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP while also averaging 9.2 K/9. Then 23, he looked to be the anchor of the San Diego rotation at least until his walk into free agency campaign, at which time the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Yankees would initiate a vicious triple threat match for his services. All the while, Latos should have been that one pitcher who was just a notch below Clayton Kershaw and Stephen Strasburg among the elite Fantasy hurlers.

Six seasons and four teams later…well… Rather than being a “can’t cut” pitcher in almost every league, Latos sits in the back end of the flea market of hurlers, currently owned in just under 11 percent of polled leagues. From San Diego to Cincinnati to Anaheim to Los Angeles to Miami to the south side of Chicago with the White Sox, Latos is trying to remind us why we loved him during the summer of 2010. While two starts and 12 innings of work is far from a clear sample of consistency, the big righty looks as if he wants to make us buy into his handiwork at least one more time.

Latos went to 2-0 this season after handcuffing the Twins to an earned run on four hits and a walk over six innings on Thursday. He also struck out four en route to dropping his ERA to 1.33 and his WHIP to 0.50. Granted, both starts (at Oakland, at Minnesota) were in fairly favorable pitcher’s parks, yet Latos is moving on the radar screen for those who didn’t see Vince Velasquez (obviously, the Padres bats didn’t either on Thursday) emerging into a potential staff ace or missed out on Ross Stripling’s impression of Don Drysdale.

Like the summer fling that disappeared into the night, Latos is back at your doorstep, albeit one who lacks the heater that once burned near 94 mph in 2009-2010. That sexy fastball has some curves on it these days, as he averaged just 88.1 mph in his first start against the Athletics on April 7. As his first two starts also indicate, the endurance (I’ll leave that pun alone) isn’t quite there, either. Latos hasn’t averaged over 100 pitches per start since his time with the Reds in 2013 and has spent the last two seasons hovering at just under 90 pitches in his starts.

So why am I buying into a Latos revival, especially since he has yet to pitch at U.S. Cellular, where a couple of bad outings will scar the soul and numbers of any pitcher not named Chris Sale? One reason, Latos remains a tough cat to get on base against. With a career WHIP of 1.18 and a still-solid 8.05 K/9 ratio, Latos may not have the premium octane from 2010, but he’s never lost the ability to limit baserunners. Only once in all of his stops has his WHIP jumped above the 1.30 range, which oddly enough came in his time with the Dodgers last season, where Latos was clipped to the tune of a 1.52 WHIP in six appearances. As long as he has those two tools working in his favor, Latos will continue to be relatively effective, albeit not in the manner we might have expected in the early part of his career.

Yes, Latos has a reputation for not being the most popular guy in the locker room. Yes, his list of injuries and last year’s penchant towards offering free baseballs to someone 420 feet away from home plate dogged him like the question, “You’re 45….shouldn’t you find someone to settle down with,” as it dogged me at my birthday gathering last Saturday. Yet, in all three cases, you still take your chances. On the heels of his outing Thursday, chances are you may have to toss just a little more FAAB money in Latos’ direction than you might have wanted, but as long as he’s able to take the ball every fifth day, you’d have a serviceable arm that just could revert back to the pitcher Latos still might become.

If Latos isn’t your whim of the week, perhaps one of these players might be:

Brad Brach, P, Orioles: Let’s ride the Orioles’ hot streak for as long as possible, which means taking a shot at Brach, owned in just four percent of polled leagues. If your league has holds as a category, Brach’s value climbs, as he’s the type of middle reliever who can also vulture wins while also earning that bold (H) next to his name in the box score. Brach also averages over 11 strikeouts per nine innings, and with the Orioles showing no fear in using him extensively thus far, Brach has the makings of being the economical-friendly version of Dellin Betances.

Neftali Feliz, P, Pirates: Like Latos, 2010 was filled with rainbows, puppy dogs and happy Fantasy owners for Feliz, who saved 40 games for the then-AL champion Rangers. After recording 32 saves the following year, he then appeared in just 34 big league games between 2012-15, as injuries made Latos look like Cy Young compared to Feliz when it came to endurance. Now in Pittsburgh, Feliz is looking like his old self again, complete with a mid-90s heater that has cut down seven batters in just 5.1 innings. He’s currently owned in five percent of polled leagues, but if something happens to closer Mark Melancon, it’s not a stretch to envision Feliz getting at least a token look at shutting it down in the ninth.

Adonis Garcia, 3B, Braves: He has the name of someone who should poised to take the WWE title from Roman Reigns, yet looks like a field goal kicker. However, the former Cuban has surprising pop in his 5’9, 190-pound frame along with the everyday job with the Braves, where he entered Thursday’s play hitting .286 with a .412 OBP. On a better team, Garcia would be a heck of a utility player/pinch-hitter, but will get plenty of ABs with Atlanta’s woefully offensive-challenged roster. He’s owned in less than four percent of polled mixed leagues, but Garcia has the makings of someone who can offer up 12-15 homers and a handful of steals at a low price. He’s more geared for deeper leagues, yet can generate a broader appeal if the OBP remains good.

Yunel Escobar, 3B, Angels: Those looking for runs scored should look in Escobar’s direction as he has reached the pay station at least once in five of his last six games. The veteran infielder won’t give you too much in homers and ribbies, but Escobar has a career OBP of .351, which suggests that as long as Mike Trout and Albert Pujols can show him the way home, he will have reasonable value in deeper leagues. Escobar is owned in just under 11 percent of mixed polled leagues, numbers which will take a climb so long as the Angels continue playing above expectations.

Chase Utley, 2B, Dodgers: With the Dodgers’ outfield racking up injuries to the point where former epic flop slugger Billy Ashley’s name is on speed dial, Utley will remain in the lineup while Howie Kendrick, who returned from the DL earlier this week, could see time in left field. Utley still has some sting in his bat, as his three doubles and one triple early on suggests. His .324 batting average is a mild surprise, but his .395 OBP, .471 slugging percentage, and .865 OPS are on par with his career numbers of .365/.479/.843 in those categories, which hints there might be a power spike coming down the road. Owned in 14 percent of polled leagues, Utley’s value will remain high as long as the Dodgers are forced to go to Guy’s Groovy Grab Bag in search of outfield help.

J.P. Crawford, SS, Phillies: Let’s end with a future attractions tease, shall we? Crawford is batting .355 and has scored six runs in Double-A Reading’s first seven games. He swatted his first homer of the season on Wednesday to boost his slugging percentage to .516 and his OPS to .928. Crawford is owned in three percent of polled mixed leagues at this time, and with Freddy Galvis hitting just .182 with a .503 OPS, the question isn’t if but when the Phillies finally bring up their top prospect. It could turn out to be a foot race between Crawford and Triple-A pitchers Jake Thompson and Mark Appel, the franchise’s second and fourth-rated prospects as to which one arrives into the City of Brotherly Love before the other two.