It’s officially halfway through the season, with the majority of MLB teams having completed at least 80 out of 162 games. Most teams have established roles within their teams, however in some situations teams are pulling guys up to assume places in their lineup. These exciting shiny new toys are thrust into action (yes, even Heston Kjerstad – though it took a second call-up) to sink or swim at the MLB level. Some will earn their keep (and an inflated FAAB bid) while others will flop and flounder in their first few weeks of action and make us all wish we had spent our budgets more wisely. With several exciting call-ups this week, it’s time to sort out the noise and find the right guys for our squads.
Let’s take a look at the landscape of the league and find some players to spend our FAAB on this weekend while we’re hanging out in the hammock, hoping to improve our teams at the near midway point of the season.
As a reminder, we’re focusing on players who are between 20-25% rostered in most 12-team leagues and/or 25-50% rostered in 15-teamers. Every league is different, so we won’t be labeling player bids with any sort of recommended dollar amount but instead will use a four-tier investment rating system, ranging from a minimal spend to a potential difference-maker (or LEAGUE-WINNER, if you will).
Investment Rating System
For the coming week, six teams are slated for a full seven games as the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Washington Nationals each play seven times. Not only do the Colorado Rockies have seven games this week, all seven are at home with a four-game slate against the Brewers and three more hosting the Kansas City Royals over the weekend.
SEVEN GAMES: COL, HOU, MIL, NYM, TOR, WAS
Batters
Outfielders
James Wood ($$$$): Knock, knock. Who’s there? James Wood. James Wood who? James Wood look really good in a Washington Nationals uniform … and on your fantasy team. Wood has the power to be a difference-maker, with 28 home runs over his past 140 minor leagues games. Built like a left-handed Aaron Judge, Wood stands at 6’7 and is just as physically imposing as the perennial all-star. Wood has tallied a 173 WRC+ in AAA this season, with a .353/.463/.595 slash line. It sounds like he won’t debut until Monday, so some NFBC managers may have to wait patiently until next week’s FAAB run.
Michael Toglia ($$): Seven home games this week means that Toglia is in play. He’s outfield and CI eligible with a penchant for power and a lot of swing-and-miss.
Jesús Sánchez ($$): Sanchez has a 35.9% hard contact rate but is batting just .236. Something doesn’t add up here. He’s hitting the ball hard, but his BABIP is down almost 40 points from last season and his xAVG is .273, nearly 40 points higher than his actual. Positive regression should be coming for Sanchez who has been unlucky so far this season.
Hunter Goodman ($): Another cheap Colorado Rockies outfielder with the ability to hit three or four home runs this week. Toglia has been hot recently, but I think I might like Goodman better over the course of the season.
Ramón Laureano ($): Regular at-bats in the Atlanta lineup is enough to pique my interest. Even if the product hasn’t been great (9-for-35 with a home run), it’s enough to warrant a streaming pickup in deep five-outfielder leagues.
Infielders
Tyler Soderstrom ($$$): I think we might be buying into Soderstrom. It seems like he’s figured things out a little bit at the major league level, tapping into the power that has really always been there. The strikeout rate is down slightly from a season ago and the contact that he’s making is LOUD. He’s also registered a .229 average and .335 wOBA compared to his .269 xAVG and .397 xwOBA. He’s another candidate for positive regression in the second half.
Jhonkensy Noel ($$): He homered in his first major-league at-bat. That’s enough to get us excited about him, right? It’s an extremely small sample so far and his glove won’t help him get playing time. But at 6-3, 250 with 80-grade raw power, Noel might remind some of Franmil Reyes, who exploded with power for a season but was kind of a flash in the pan. Here’s hoping managers get the flash in the pan part and not the complete disappearing act that Reyes pulled more recently.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa ($$): It’s like he stole Ezequiel Duran’s talent, “Monstar” style. Kiner-Falefa was batting leadoff while Bichette was out, but has since been relegated back to the bottom third of the Blue Jays’ lineup. He did, however, post a crazy good week last week with six hits, a home run and seven runs scored in four games. His roster eligibility makes him even more valuable if he continues to hit.
Daniel Schneemann ($): What the heck’s a Schneemann? Sounds like a Dr. Seuss character. Well, for the time being it’s actually a Guardians’ starting outfielder. Daniel Schneemann hasn’t posted spectacular numbers, but he is batting in front of José Ramírez and Josh Naylor so at the very least he provides the potential for runs scored.
Brooks Lee ($): A speculative add – Lee has been gaining hype in AAA while slashing a .342/.412/.632 line. If the Twins give up on Edouard Julien and Kyle Farmer, neither of whom have been that inspiring, Lee is next man up. A former top-10 overall pick, there’s no good reason the Twins won’t let him run with a middle infield position if he can hack it.
Catchers/UT
Heston Kjerstad ($$$): He’s ACTUALLY getting some playing time in this stretch of games. Is this an audition for the other 29 teams in the MLB? Who cares. Anyone who acquires him is going to give him regular playing time. If the Orioles decide to keep him, it will be because they want him in the lineup for the stretch run. Currently utility only, Kjerstad will his OF eligibility in the coming games.
Ben Rortvedt ($$): A solid second catcher who is punching well above his weight this season, carrying a .378 BABIP. Get him while he’s hot.
Ben Rice ($): Ben Rice was eligible at catcher on NFBC this whole time and nobody told me?! Look, he’s not an MLB-level hitter, but he’s getting MLB at-bats and is catcher-eligible. And frankly, the bat is better than a handful of second catchers out there.
Pitchers
Starting Pitchers
David Festa ($$$): Festa earned a win in his MLB debut, despite allowing five earned runs in five innings. He generated six whiffs on 78 pitches, but missed exactly ZERO bats with his fastball. Starting for the Twins should give him a decent shot at recording wins, but if he doesn’t start missing bats with the fastball, he’ll struggle against major league lineups.
Jeffrey Springs ($$$): The sweeper pioneer, or at least one of the guys on ground zero of the sweeper revolution, Springs is getting close to completing his comeback from Tommy John Surgery early last season. Springs has thrown a couple of rehab starts and is trending to be back near the All-Star Break. He was absolutely filthy for three starts in 2022, registering a 13.5 K/9, a 0.56 ERA and a 1.82 FIP. Fantasy managers likely shouldn’t expect him to pick up exactly where he left off, but he could help push fantasy teams to a big second half.
Robbie Ray ($$): Another guy who is on his way back from a major injury, it will be fascinating to see Ray back in the NL West, this time in one of the pitcher-friendliest parks in the big leagues out in San Francisco. The problem with Ray has always been volatility. Similar to new teammate Blake Snell, Ray could post a Cy Young caliber season, or post a 6.00+ ERA and tank your team. We’ve literally seen him do both.
Simeon Woods Richardson ($$): This guy has Toby written all over him. He’s been okay enough to be considered in deep leagues, but he’s only reached six innings pitched in four of 13 games started and has registered more than a strikeout per inning just once. An upcoming two-start week against a sputtering Detroit offense and the hot-and-cold Astros bats has potential to be fruitful.
Davis Daniel ($$): Eight innings of shutout baseball in his MLB debut is enough to get him in the column, but is Davis Daniel really THAT guy? In 14 AAA starts this season, Daniel carried a 5.33 ERA and was allowing a .378 BABIP against. Granted, that’s the infamous Pacific Coast League, so maybe take those stats with a grain of salt. His next start comes at Oakland, so there’s a chance he shines again, but temper expectations a bit from his stellar debut.
Relief Pitchers
Aroldis Chapman ($$$): Bednar strained his oblique and likely won’t be rushed back. Chapman is the best option that Pittsburgh has for the ninth inning, but could end up being jettisoned at the trade deadline. If he ends up with a contender, it’s unlikely that he’ll be the feature closer on that team.
Chad Green ($$): With Nate Pearson looking completely ineffective and Yimi García headed to the injured list with an elbow thing, Chad Green is the Toronto Blue Jays closer for the time being. The Blue Jays have won just three of their last 11 games and haven’t registered a save in two weeks. That’s not to say that variance won’t swing Green’s way, but it does indicate that Toronto might sell at the deadline. Green could be a depth piece for a contending bullpen, where he likely wouldn’t close.
Colin Holderman ($): If we’re going to speculate that Chapman gets traded, we might as well tout his most likely successor in Pittsburgh. Holderman has been a reliable Holder, man, for the past few years in front of Bednar. If Chapman is traded, he would be next in line for the ninth inning.
Schneemann is German and means snowman. ;-)