That’s What I Like: Trent Grisham, Kyle Stowers, Shelby Miller

It’s article #200 for yours truly! At least on the baseball side. I lost track of where I was on the football side — way over 200, that’s all I know. But who cares about fantasy football, that’s like…weeks away. Right now, you’ve got a terrible fantasy baseball team, and you’re looking for some sweet adds, aren’t you? Let’s get some deep cuts on your radar.

That’s What I Like

Trent Grisham, OF, NYY: I’m not above profiling players that I’ve already profiled. I mean, it’s not my fault if y’all didn’t believe me the first time. They say that messages need to be delivered seven times using seven different methods. The first time was writing. The second time was…also writing. When it gets to be the third time, that will also be writing. OK, maybe I’m out of method ideas. When Razzball TV gets up and running again, maybe you’ll get the second method. ENYWHEY. TGrish has four bombs in his last 40 at bats to go along with…4 RBIs. That’s OK, I like to go solo too. He’s still available in 50% of leagues and has even climbed into the top of the order on a high-octane Yankees team where he might get more opportunities for Runs. People are right to worry about his historically bad average hurting your team, but his K rate at 23% isn’t terrible and he’s walking at a 10% rate still. That means — when he’s not crushing, he’s getting on base for guys like Judge to drive home. For free off the waiver wire, I’m not complaining.

Kyle Stowers, OF, MIA: A lot of people did the OF free fall during draft season and have been wondering what to do while waiting for Acuna to come back from the IL. I warned you that OF sucked this year! But that’s OK because inevitably, some rando gets a shot at a starting job and becomes our FAAB all-star. In his last 40 AB, Stowers has batted nearly .400 while adding 5 dingers and 15 RBIs. Such a torrid pace! Why haven’t we heard of this Atlas before? Because he’s never kept his K rate below 30%. How many players in 2024 managed to garner qualified at bats while also keeping a 30% K rate? 4 — Zack Gelof, Elly De La Cruz, Colton Cowser, and Oneil Cruz. Maybe that’s not the worst company. But you get the idea — if you’re striking out that much, you either need to be a top prospect, an elite talent, or on the Athletics. Stowers is none of those, so we gotta keep our fingers crossed. He’s managed to keep his K rate at 27% — which is driven by a nearly 18% swinging strike rate. But if you’re in a regular fantasy league where batter Ks don’t really matter, then who cares? Stowers is available in 40% of leagues.

Shelby Miller, RP, ARI: Roleless Rob alert! One time in the ancient past, you could have traded an entire fantasy team for Shelby Miller. Me: “I’ll trade you Albert Pujols and Ubaldo Jimenez for Shelby Miller.” Them: “Hah! Throw in Mike Trout and we’ll start talking.” Miller’s 34 years old now and way past the prospect hype train, and he’s settled into a role as a…Roleless Rob. In the past two weeks, Miller’s racked up an 11+ K/9 rate while securing a Win, a Save, and 2 Holds. His ERA on the season? 0.00. Sure, but what about his FIP? 1.96. So even if he wasn’t getting a bit lucky, he’d still be stingy on runs. Miller’s available everywhere, and might be an RCL darling if he keeps up this hot streak.

I’m the Problem, It’s Me

Sandy Alcantara, SP, MIA: I’m like a broken record on Sandy — he’s just not that good. A couple years ago, he had a great year of weak contact and lucked his way into a sub-3.00 ERA and 14 Wins. Despite having a losing record on his career, fantasy mavens all decided that Sandy should be their top pitcher. He throws hard. He has control. And, well, that’s about it. He’s never been a top strikeout artist, and the Marlins are a terrible team, which limits his Win rate. Right now, Sandy’s K rate is nearly the same as his walk rate, and his ERA is north of 8.00. Yeesh. There’s not even trade value there. Sure, he’s young. Sure, he can bounce back from this. But how long are you going to wait for a guy to normalize to a 7 K/9 form? Maybe Alcantara gets 8 Wins this year if he’s lucky?  It’s time to move on — trade if you can get anything, or drop in all but the deepest formats.