Happy Donut Day: 5 Players With Fantasy Baseball Zeroes

Happy National Donut Day!

Here to celebrate this most significant annual occasion, we've put together a list of five players who are posting a big fat donut in a fantasy category - and how much longer that zero will last (statistics through Thursday's games):

HR: 2B/3B Jed Lowrie, Athletics

Lowrie has had a confounding fantasy season to date; his .315 batting average is a career high, and he's on pace to finish with 70-plus RBIs and 60-plus runs scored - not bad for a guy who largely went undrafted in mixed leagues. But he's still looking for his first homer after 155 fruitless plate appearances.

Lowrie has some power - he hit 31 combined home runs with Houston and Oakland in 2012 and 2013, and had nine in just 230 at-bats with the Astros last season. O.co Coliseum isn't the friendliest place for homers, but Lowrie is too good a hitter to remain without a round-tripper for much longer.

First HR Prediction: Mid-June.

HR: 3B Martin Prado, Marlins

Prado has been a model of stunning consistency over his previous seven seasons, as indicated by his year-to-year home run totals: 11, 15, 13, 10, 14, 12, 9. It's going to be difficult for him to keep that streak going, however, as he is without a home run though his first 213 plate appearances in 2016.

Like Lowrie, Prado is having an otherwise terrific year at the plate, batting .313 with 15 RBIs and 18 runs scored through 50 games. He puts the ball in play a lot, too, which helps his cause. It may take him a little longer than Lowrie, but Prado should put his home-run slump to an end soon enough.

First HR Prediction: Mid-June.

SB: SS/3B Manny Machado, Orioles

It's difficult for fantasy owners to find much fault with what Machado has accomplished through the first two months of the season; he ranks 13th overall in FantasyPros' Value Based Rankings, and is on pace to establish career-highs in batting average, homers, RBIs and runs scored.

But it's that fifth 5x5 category that might have some owners confused. After swiping 20 bases a season ago, Machado has gone 0-for-3 on steal attempts through the first 52 games of this season. He has clearly settled into a slugger's role, but he still has wheels - and he'll use them, eventually.

First SB Prediction: Early July.

SB: Matt Kemp, Padres

Kemp is the player who famously predicted in 2012 that he would become the first player in major-league history to hit 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season. He didn't - not by a long shot - and now has devolved into a player who still hits plenty of home runs but hasn't even attempted a steal in 2016.

Age is an obvious factor here - he'll be 32 in September. But it can't help that he enters Friday's action with a dismal .249 OBP, more than 60 points lower than any full-season total he has posted in his career. Given his struggles, and lack of interest in steals, this donut should hang around all year.

First SB Prediction: Sorry, not this year.

W: Kevin Gausman, Orioles

Gausman was a hot fantasy sleeper in the latter stages of March after showing flashes of potential as a part-time starter in 2015. But while he has improved on some of his peripherals - BB/9 and K/9 among them - he's still searching for that elusive first victory.

It's not like he hasn't pitched well - Baltimore is actually 3-5 in his starts. But he hasn't been able to stick around long enough for the offense to bail him out; he threw eight shutout innings May 5 against the Yankees, but the Orioles didn't score until the 10th. He's too good to stay winless for long.

First W Prediction: Mid-June.