The Moment of Zen:
The last few weeks have been a blur both personally and professionally. I’ve been working too much, making it where I feel continually behind and rushed – most frustratingly, like I can’t be fully engaged with anyone or anything because I have so many other things to think about and get accomplished. Add to this some of the personal highs and lows that we all go through, and, as any of us would, I feel like I’ve been underwater trying to get my head up long enough to take a deep breath – to just be ok. In many ways, I think this is the story of working and living in America’s fast-paced, give-it-to-me-now culture, so I suspect anyone reading this shares my story.
In those overly-busy times, the Buddhist concept of equanimity gives me some level of comfort simply by reminding me that anxiety and stress and sadness all happen. So do joy and love and moments of awe. If I sit for a bit, I suspect that whatever anxiety I feel now will somehow become joy or even a reason for pride soon enough.
Equanimity, or the practice of remaining mindful, non-reactive, or balanced among the trials, tribulations, and celebrations our lives bring us, is accomplished only if we have the idea of impermanence in view: If something happening now is unpleasant, don’t worry – that will change. On the other hand, if something incredibly pleasant is happening now, don’t worry – that too will change.
With the truths of impermanence in mind, it could be easy to think that since whatever I’m feeling now won’t last, then the event or feeling probably isn’t really all that meaningful. But Buddhism, as I understand it at least, approaches impermanence with the acknowledgement that because whatever is happening right now won’t last, it is important for just that reason. Getting to know the moment, accepting it as is, not wishing for change, simply examining and being in the experience – that’s an approach that reminds us the moment has something to teach us, but that moment doesn’t have to define us.
In fact, the word “equanimity” in its original Pali form apparently comes from either of two different words: 1) upekkha, which essentially means to observe or look over with some level of patience; 2) tatramajjhattata, a combination of words meaning to stand among things or be in the middle of things. In each case, the implication seems to be that we should not only look at what is in front of us, but all around us. If we are aware of the whole, we can have a better understanding of the relative impact of any given moment – an impact that often isn’t as life-changing as we sometimes may feel it to be.
How in the world does this apply to fantasy baseball?
As I went into this weekend, I had finally come to a slowing point at work. So for the first time in what seems like a month, I was finally able to sit down for an extended period of time and take a look at the condition of my teams. And oof. I knew I wasn’t exactly dominating, but things look pretty bad right now. I’m winning a couple of them, and within shouting distance in a number of others, but by and large, I am currently middle of the pack or worse. Yikes. Are you sure you want to be taking fantasy advice from me?
Part of my issue has been the weirdly-inconsistent play this season from some of the players we depend on for banked stats – guys like Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, even Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Even more frustrating has been inconsistent pitching – Garrett Crochet and Jesus Luzardo aren’t dominating as I had hoped, and otherwise dependable starters like Sonny Gray have been anything but. But mostly, the problem comes down to the seemingly continuous pitcher-injury cycle.
I get that fantasy baseball pales in importance to the rest of life, but obviously, the game is something I spend quite a bit of time working on. And it’s a way to escape the other stresses of life, but the condition of my teams is anything but reaffirming currently. And that’s where equanimity comes in, particularly in two ways. First, awareness of the moment in the context of the whole: We’re in mid-May. The season goes through September. We still have a LONG way to go. That allows me to feel better, especially when I look at my rosters and think, “I still like all these guys.” I have to think the slow starts will even out.
As far as injuries go, a second way equanimity has helped me is how the practice of it has led me to prepare for multiple contingencies in basically every situation. I have learned that I can’t control outcomes, but I can control preparation. If I prepare for the contingencies that won’t necessarily happen but could, then if / when they do, I’m ready to respond, not react.
Usually, that means I’ve picked out player options to turn to in case disaster strikes – which when it comes to pitching, means I have a group of guys I can turn to for K help if any of my big guys go down. Well, my big guys are going down, so here are two players I’ve been paying attention to that are starting to pay dividends for my teams. Maybe they can pay dividends for you as well. One is for shallow league consideration, while the other is for our deep league players, and coincidentally, they are both Houston Astros.
Arrighetti has been a favorite of mine for a couple of years. As often happens, I was too early in loving his skills, so though I benefited from his early 2024 strikeouts, my teams got to absorb the Arrighetti blow-ups that also happened during the season. Coming into 2026, I was excited he was coming back from injury and felt like with a couple of additional seasons of tutelage from the Astros’ pitching factory, he’d likely be a good option this year. I very much enjoyed snapping him up late in every draft I could – right up until everyone else seemed to catch on to his ridiculously low preseason price and kept drafting him before I could get to him. So, Arrighetti is a known commodity to the hardcore fantasy managers. But as I was checking my home league (10-team Yahoo) waivers just over a week ago, I noticed he was somehow sitting out there waiting to be picked up. I just assumed he’d be gone and hadn’t even thought to look for him (his rostership in NFBC is 100%), so I couldn’t believe my luck. When I checked waivers on other sites, I saw that he was mostly rostered in Fantrax (89%) and CBS (86%), but his Yahoo rostership is only 60%, and ESPN is 41.8%. This guy should be on rosters everywhere – but with some discretion.
Arrighetti knows how to strike guys out – in fact, I think his current 23% K% is low compared to what he likely will do. In 2024, he had a 27.1% K%, which I suspect is closer to who he will be. The problem is he lacks control – his BB% is 13.8%, leading to an underwhelming 9.2% K-BB%. But he also carries a nearly 28% Whiff% and is suppressing hard contact so far this season. While his fastball velo is currently under 93 mph, he was at 94+ in 2024, and the extension he gets when releasing his pitches is 99th percentile, making his just under 93 mph appear faster. This is reflected in the K numbers he’s capable of getting to each game: He has games of 10 and 8 Ks this season. But we also have to be aware of his potential consistency issues: He also has K games of 3 and 4 this season, with as many as 5 BB (yikes). His stuff can be filthy at times: he’s maxed out at 119 Stuff+ on his cutter, 112 on his sinker, 110 on his 4-seam, and 109 on his slider – dominant nasty stuff. But he’s also bottomed out at 63 on his changeup.
Arrighetti isn’t necessarily a “set it and forget it” guy – I would be hesitant to put him in the lineup against offenses like Atlanta’s or the Dodgers’, but against a weak AL West, I’m happy to have him in my lineup most of the time. If he’s on your wire, there are Ks waiting for you – go get them.
Raise your hand if you’ve heard of Kai-Wei Teng. I just recently discovered him myself, and it looks like I’ve been missing out on something here. By the looks of his rostership, we all have: 1.1% at ESPN; 4% at CBS and Yahoo, 7% at NFBC, and 23% at Fantrax.
If you’re like me, you’ve been overlooking a guy putting together a 24% K% and a 14.4% K-BB%. Teng, like Arrighetti, is suppressing hard contact (though he’s also benefitting from some luck with an 85% LOB% and a low .244 BABIP). That said, he is in the 68th percentile in Barrel% and HH%, and his 4-seam fastball, slider, and cutter all come in at just above 100 in Stuff+. Do I think Teng is about to win a Cy Young? No. But for someone who can be easily scooped off the wire, his Ks and hard-contact suppression seems worth taking for a stroll.
The fantasy baseball season is a grind, and the managers who are able to respond to bad injury luck and underperformance are the ones who will end up winning leagues. Do I want to pitch Arrighetti or Teng instead of Crochet? Of course not, but if these guys keep me afloat until my ace gets back, maybe I’m still in position to make a run. A little equanimity goes a long way.
Until next week. –ADHamley
