Joey Gallo (+71.3%) was the most added player in fantasy baseball this past week. The 21-year-old top prospect was a bit of a surprise call-up by the Texas Rangers following the injury to Adrian Beltre, but fantasy owners don’t seem to be complaining. That’s because of what Gallo brings to the table. Power. Lots and lots of power. Since being drafted in 2012, he’s hit an incredible 113 homers in 330 minor league games, including 30 in 102 games at the Double-A level over the past two seasons. On the flip side, Gallo strikes out at a rate that makes Mark Reynolds look like a contact hitter. His 33.6% K% in Double-A this season was actually a substantial improvement over his 39.5% K% across nearly three months at that level in 2014. For the rest of this season, expect some tape measure shots with a few golden sombreros mixed in. Here were a couple of other big adds and drops in fantasy baseball from this past week:
Mike Pelfrey – 31.0% owned (+13.5%)
Would it surprise you to learn that Pelfrey has been the 38th most valuable starting pitcher this season (according to the Razzball player rater), ahead of players such as Collin McHugh, Jordan Zimmermann, and Jon Lester? That his 2.28 ERA is the 10th lowest among all qualified MLB starting pitchers? That Kevin Spacey was Keyser Söze all along? All of these things certainly caught me off-guard. How is this Mike Pelfrey resembling someone other than the old Mike Pelfrey that we’ve grown to know and ignore from years past? The key has been the increased usage of his sinker and splitter, which has resulted in the 9th highest GB% in MLB (55.2%) as well as the 7th lowest HR/9 (0.40) among SPs. There are a couple of big issues however. Pelfrey’s 4.57 K/9 is 101st out of 106 qualified starters, and his 4.35 xFIP suggests that the regression fairies are lurking nearby and ready to pounce. Don’t let the pretty ERA fool you. TRASH.
Ryan Howard – 31.0% owned (-9.6%)
Poor Ryan Howard. From 2006-2011, he was the premier power hitter in major league baseball, leading the league with 262 homers and 796 RBI over that span. Then this happened in the 2011 NLDS against the Cardinals and he hasn’t been the same player since. From 2012-2014, Howard produced a .233/.309/.412 triple slash line while averaging 16 homers, 65 RBI, and 128 strikeouts per season, and only playing in 304 out of a possible 486 games. This season, Howard is performing at his highest level since the achilles injury. He’s already smacked 11 homers, and his average fly ball distance of 297.37 ft (35th in MLB) confirms that there’s still some juice left in the old man’s bat. His 26.3% K% (lowest since 2010 and 3rd lowest of his career) and 70.5% Contact% (career high) are very encouraging signs as well. Start him against all right-handed pitching to take advantage of this zombino. TREASURE.
