It’s finally a new month! That shouldn’t really mean anything in terms of baseball statistics and how they impact my fantasy teams, but if any of the slow-starting hitters that I’m rostering think that changing the calendar page will help them get going, maybe it actually will help them get going, which would be fine by me. (As Gleyber Torres finally chips in with his first homer… it’s working!) In mixed leagues, sometimes it can actually be more difficult when it comes to decision making, particularly in terms of when to bench or give up on a slumping player completely. In the deepest leagues, however, you often have to just stick with what you’ve got, no matter how brutal it’s going. I’m finding first base the position that is really messing with my deep league rosters this year; in one NL-only league where I need a new first baseman, there are literally none available. Not a single player is out there who is on an active major league roster and qualifies at first base, so a hole in my lineup I have. Hopefully, in your leagues there’s at least a smidge more than that to choose from on the waiver wire; let’s take a look at this week’s players that might be on the radar for those of us struggling to keep a productive lineup going in AL-only, NL-only, and other deep leagues.
AL
Tyler Nevin. Tyler Nevin is rising, my friends; he’d gone from 1 to 7% owned when I first started to write this, and he’s now up to 11%. I’m not sure he’s mixed league material and that it would make sense for that number to rise much higher, but if you’re in one of the deeper leagues where he’s been overlooked it might be time for a check in. I said earlier this season that it was going to be interesting to see who rose to the top after the A’s put a group of random, untested hitters along with seemingly washed up veterans into their big baseball pot and stirred it around for a month or so. Nevin (Phil’s kid, as you probably knew) is the guy floating the highest for now, as he’s been not only A’s-good, he’s been actual good: he’s hitting .325 (.375 OBP) with 4 homers, 10 runs, 10 RBI, and a steal. He qualified at 3B going into the year in most leagues and has already played 6 games at first and 14 in the outfield in addition to 8 at third. Things aren’t likely to go this smoothly for the 26-year old indefinitely, and it’s possible that the crash comes soon and that things never get back on track. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing to see another guy who lost a year of time during the pandemic, manage to break out a little later than expected. Plus Nevin’s earned a long leash at this point — it’s not exactly like the A’s have a stable of players challenging him for playing time (and there’s one fewer body in the way after first baseman Ryan Noda was demoted earlier this week), nor they are going to be worried about bolstering their roster or replacing slumping hitters in preparation for the playoffs any time soon.
Garrett Cooper. Perhaps the most boring hitter in fantasy baseball? Sorry, but no real other way to put it, as for years now he’s the guy who plays just enough to barely stay on the deep-league fantasy radar (but usually has his one productive day out of three months on your bench). He gets a shout out here, though, since he was picked up by the first-base-needy Red Sox. He may be flying under even the deepest league radars at the moment since he has the dreaded red cross symbol next to his name after getting hit in the hand in his first game with Boston, but word on the street is that he’s fine. As if this blurb/the Red Sox first base and DH situation couldn’t get more boring, it’s the right time to mention that they’ve also signed Dom Smith (who, it should be noted, is a left-handed hitter while Cooper is a righty). With injuries to Masataka Yoshida and Triston Casas, there may be playing time for more than one below-mediocre player, so if you’re in a league deep enough to care about every major league at bat you can get, this could be the ugly situation to monitor. Who knows, given the new competition, perhaps 28-year-old Bobby Dalbec will finally rise to the occasion after all of these years. Or perhaps not.
Cooper Criswell. Staying in Boston, how can we not talk about Cooper Criswell for a moment? And why is he only owned in 5% of CBS leagues? If you could go back in time to your AL-only auction (yes, I know there are only about 16 of us humans left who participate in an AL-only auction, but moving on) and know you’d get the following April stats from a pitcher, how much would you pay for him? We’re talking about 16.1 innings, a 1.65 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 11 Ks to 3 walks, and 2 wins. Ridiculous, compared to what half of the “good” pitchers have been doing (the ones who are still standing/have their arms attached properly, that is). I suppose the answer to the above ownership question lies in the fact that, no matter what you think of metrics and such, Criswell’s minor league career numbers of a 4.33 ERA/1.28 WHIP suggest some major regression incoming. Yes, any ratio numbers that low are most definitely going to go up, and perhaps in an ugly manner, but Criswell should at least be on the radar for anyone looking for pitching as we see how things develop for him over the coming weeks and months.
NL
Bryce Wilson. I guess I missed the announcement that the Brewers were throwing Wilson into the rotation, sort of (is he an opener? an actual starter?) I added him to an NL-only lineup thinking he was just a middle reliever who’d had great ratios in the past, so was surprised when he went 4.1 innings against the Pirates the day after I did. To answer my own question again, last time out Wilson not only started, but went 6.1 innings against the Rays. When you add up his nine appearances, his numbers actually look great: 21 Ks in 24 total innings, with an ultra-tidy 3.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. I’m monitoring and may add in a league or two.
Roddery Munoz. Munoz is another player who has nowhere to go but down after an exceptional two appearances, yet deserves a mention due to the exceptional nature of those two appearances. Ah, the deep league conundrum! The Marlins starting pitching is banged up, to say the least, and Munoz has now started two games, with 14 Ks in 11 innings, having allowed just 5 hits and 3 walks. He even has one of the Marlins ultra-rare wins. (Well, at least they were ultra-rare until they started playing the Rockies this week). Munoz’s minor league numbers were so bad this year that they actually made me laugh out loud: he had an ERA of almost 9 and a 9:14 K:BB. Certainly makes his MLB performance so far look like lightning in a bottle, but when you’ve got lightning in a bottle and are a curious sort, why not take a look at it to try to find out how it got there?
Ildemo Vargas. While there have been a few recent high-profile NL call ups like Tyler Black who’ve already entered the mixed league conversation of late, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen my deep-league waivers wires so thin when it comes to NL players, especially hitters. That’s why we’re discussing the 1% owned Vargas, who in one of my NL-only leagues is literally the only hitter available in the free agent pool that currently has positive fantasy value over the last week. It’s always tricky deciding if you’re better off with something bad or nothing at all in leagues this deep, and the math would tell you that lately, you’d have been better off going with nothing. What did Vargas do during that time to distinguish himself as better than nothing? He went 6 for 16 (without a walk), with 2 runs scored, no homers, and RBI, and a steal (of home, for what that’s worth). He qualifies at 2B and 3B in most leagues, so there’s that, and the saddest part of all this is that I’m probably going to throw a few FAAB dollars at him in this league I’m talking about over the weekend since I have so many holes in my lineup due to injuries and a couple demotions. Hashtag deep league life!
Thanks for reading, and best of luck to you and your fantasy teams!
