Each week, we’ll look at a handful of players who fantasy managers should consider picking up in deeper fantasy baseball leagues. Many of these players will have the most value in larger leagues where waiver wire options aren’t as plentiful. Still, they could also occasionally be useful additions in other, more standard-sized leagues, depending on your options at each position.
All roster percentages mentioned in this column are via FantasyPros as of Friday afternoon.
Tomoyuki Sugano – 16%
Sugano was mentioned in this column earlier this season as a pitcher with a fantasy-friendly upcoming schedule, and that’s very much the case again with the 35-year-old right-hander.
Overall, Sugano has pitched to a 3.23 ERA and a 4.59 FIP in 13 starts spanning 75.1 innings of work for the Baltimore Orioles. He’s logged five pitcher wins in the process while striking out 5.02 batters per nine innings.
The right-hander’s walks and home runs allowed per nine innings rates both sit at 1.43 as of the start of play on Friday.
And while a .251 BABIP and the elevated FIP suggest some statistical regression coming at some point for Sugano, he’s been markedly consistent in keeping runs off the board so far, allowing more than three earned runs in a start just once while also giving up two earned runs or fewer on eight different occasions.
Assuming the Orioles’ rotation continues as is without any interruptions, Sugano’s next three projected starts will come against the Angels (at home), Tampa Bay (on the road), and the Rangers (at home).
All three have struggled with consistency at the plate at times this season.
Sugano is once again very much worth a look as a short-term streaming option for the next few weeks.
Jake Irvin – 18%
All told, Jake Irvin has pitched to a 4.21 ERA and a 4.78 FIP in 83.1 innings for the Washington Nationals this season, adding 54 strikeouts compared to 25 walks and 13 home runs allowed.
The strikeout numbers could certainly be better, and fewer home runs would be ideal, but Irvin has limited walks at an above-average rate – his 7.1% walk rate ranks in the 67th percentile league-wide – and he’s shown he can provide solid fantasy production in the right matchups.
The 28-year-old has surrendered three earned runs or fewer in nine of his 14 starts so far, and has rattled off five pitcher wins in the process.
To that point, he has a few fantasy-friendly projected starts on the horizon that make him a potentially solid streaming option for fantasy managers in the short term.
Assuming Washington’s rotation continues as is without any interruptions, Irvin’s next three starts will come against the Colorado Rockies (at home), against the Los Angeles Dodgers (on the road), and against the Los Angeles Angels (on the road).
The Dodgers start is obviously one to skip, but Irvin is worth a look as a starting option in the other two outings for fantasy managers in leagues with 14 or more teams.
The Angels, as noted before, have struggled at times recently to score runs. And then there are the Rockies, a team that, for the season,n has the league’s lowest wRC+ on the road with a cumulative 58.
The next closest team is the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 73 road wRC+.
Quinn Priester – 7%
Prstieer, like Sugano, has been mentioned in this column before as a potential short-term streaming option for fantasy managers.
And while the 24-year-old struggled at times early in his tenure with the Milwaukee Brewers, noticeably giving up 12 earned runs, seven walks, and two home runs in a 9.1 innings stretch spanning two starts from April 26 through May 2, the right-hander has been decidedly more effective as of late.
In those two starts, Priester has given up more than an earned run in a start just twice in seven outings. For reference, the two times in which he gave up more than an earned run were on May 19, when the Orioles scored three runs against him in 5.1 innings, and on May 30, when the Phillies managed two runs in six innings versus Priester in Philadelphia.
That’s it.
Otherwise, the right-hander has allowed exactly one earned run in six of his last eight outings. During that stretch, he’s logged a 2.35 ERA and a 3.52 FIP in 38.1 innings. And while he’s struck out just 26 batters in those 38.1 innings, the right-hander has scattered just 10 walks and three home runs in the process.
His upcoming slate of projected starts doesn’t stand out as being overly fantasy-friendly (or unideal, for that matter, on paper) like Sugano’s and Irvin’s might, but the Brewers starters should see his rostered rate rise significantly in the coming weeks.
Add him now before that happens.
Graphic by Carlos Leano.
