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.
Kyle Hendricks – 2%
Kyle Hendricks was mentioned in this column last month as a potential short-term streaming option for fantasy managers given his decidedly fantasy-friendly upcoming schedule at the time.
Hendricks’ rostered rate remains decidedly low, and once again, he has a few fantasy-friendly starts on the horizon, assuming the Angels’ rotation continues as is without interruptions. The veteran’s next start, set for Sunday at home against the Houston Astros, is probably one to skip. But after that, he gets three straight starts against the Washington Nationals (at home), the Toronto Blue Jays (on the road) and the Texas Rangers (at home).
The Nationals, for the season, have outscored just 10 other teams and have the league’s ninth-lowest wRC+ with a 94.
The Blue Jays, who have actually been fairly productive in terms of scoring runs both lately and on the season, have not been productive on the road. Only the Pirates and White Sox have scored fewer runs away from home than Toronto this season.
Another team you’ll notice on that table is the Texas Rangers, who’ll have to face Hendricks on the road.
So all that is good and encouraging for Hendricks’ fantasy prospects in the short term, but he’s also enjoyed a fairly effective spell on the mound as of late. Since the calendar flipped to June, Hendricks owns a 3.00 ERA and a 2.89 FIP in three starts and 18 innings, striking out 14 batters in the process against just four walks and a home run allowed.
Hunter Dobbins – 7%
Dobbins’ lower strikeout rate and overall lower swing-and-miss metrics limit his fantasy ceiling somewhat, but he’s a quality addition for fantasy managers in deeper leagues seeking rotation reinforcements, both in the short-term and the long-term this season.
The 25-year-old has pitched to a 3.74 ERA and a 3.66 FIP in 11 appearances (including nine starts) spanning 55.1 innings of work this season for the Boston Red Sox. He’s posted just an 18.4% strikeout rate on the season and has logged a 22.9% whiff rate, two metrics that rank in the 25th and 35th percentile league-wide. However, he’s also turned in four pitcher wins and has found plenty of success by limiting mistakes and inducing grounders for the American League East club.
Entering play on Friday, Dobbins had posted just a 4.8% walk rate. Among pitchers with at least 40 innings of work in the majors this season, just 11 pitchers have a lower walk rate. Elsewhere, the right-hander has limited opposing batters to just a 6.9% barrel rate while inducing grounders at a 46.2% rate.
Being able to find success in those last three statistical categories gives Dobbins a fairly stable fantasy floor in deeper leagues moving forward. Even with the lower strikeout rate, his rostered rate should probably be much, much higher.
Justin Wrobleski – 1%
With the Los Angeles Dodgers in need of rotation reinforcements in the short term, Justin Wrobleski makes for an ideal streaming option for fantasy managers in deeper leagues for the next few weeks.
The 24-year-old left-hander has so far worked both as a traditional starter and as a bulk pitcher, throwing between four and six innings in each of his five outings.
Overall, he’s thrown 24.1 innings for the Dodgers, striking out 20.8% of the batters he’s faced compared to a 5.9% walk rate. Wrobleski has allowed 1.48 home runs per nine innings and has pitched to a 5.18 ERA so far, but his 4.21 FIP tells a decidedly different story and points to more optimism for the future, particularly from a pitcher win standpoint, considering the strength of the Dodgers’ lineup.
The left-hander has logged two pitcher wins in his five appearances so far and – assuming Ben Casparius continues to work as a bulk pitcher after Shohei Ohtani for the time being – Los Angeles doesn’t have an obvious fifth starter after Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May, especially with Emmet Sheehan just optioned to Triple-A.
As long as Wrobleski is starting or working as a bulk pitcher in Los Angeles, he’ll be worth a look in deeper fantasy leagues for pitcher win potential.
Graphic by Carlos Leano.
