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.
Daniel Lynch IV – 2%
Daniel Lynch IV isn’t the Royals’ primary closer (that would be Carlos Estévez) nor is he their primary setup man – that would be Lucas Erceg.
Lynch probably isn’t Kansas City’s best reliever full stop. Again, that’s probably Erceg after the former A’s hurler pitched to a 2.53 FIP in 61.2 innings last year and has a 0.96 ERA and a 2.05 FIP in 11 appearances and 9.1 innings this season.
But, Lynch has carved out a role in the Royals’ bullpen this season, and a fantasy-friendly one at that.
The 28-year-old hasn’t overwhelmed with strikeouts, he has just eight in 13 innings. But he’s found success by getting plenty of batters to chase (with a 32.4% chase rate) and hit pitches into the ground. Entering play Friday, opposing batters had turned in a 52.6% ground-ball rate against Lynch, a number that ranked in the 81st percentile league wide.
And while his 50.0% hard-hit rate against (which ranks in the eighth percentile) isn’t ideal in a smaller sample size, the Royals have routinely utilized the left-hander in fantasy-friendly scenarios. Or rather, scenarios that have led to impactful fantasy scoring.
Lynch has pitched to a 1.35 ERA and a 4.14 FIP in 12 appearances and 13.1 innings pitched this season, adding three pitcher wins and a save in the process.
No other reliever so far has more pitcher wins than the Royals left-hander, who is tied atop the league leaderboard with three other pitchers.
Even as a short-term addition, he’s a must-add in leagues where saves and holds are part of the scoring. In leagues where there isn’t much in the way of rotation streaming options available, he’s very much worth a look for fantasy managers in search of pitcher win production.
Shane Smith – 11%
Smith has enjoyed a solid start to the season for the Chicago White Sox, pitching to a 2.30 ERA and a 3.31 FIP in five starts spanning 27.1 innings of work. Smith has just the one pitcher win so far, and might not push for a ton of pitcher wins given how the White Sox have struggled to score lately, but he makes for a quality streaming option in the coming weeks.
Assuming the White Sox’s rotation remains unchanged and uninterrupted, Smith will make his next three starts at home against the Milwaukee Brewers, on the road at Kansas City, and at home against the Miami Marlins.
All three teams are in the bottom half of the league in wRC+, and while the Brewers might be the most challenging start of the group, and one to potentially avoid depending on your pitching production this week, it’s an otherwise fantasy-friendly slate of projected starts for Smith.
Kansas City in particular figures to be a game to start him with confidence in. The Royals entered play Friday with a collective 73 wRC+ that was better than just two other teams.
Chad Patrick – 6%
Speaking of streaming options, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Chad Patrick is very much worth a look for fantasy managers seeking short-term reinforcements for next week and in the short term in general.
Patrick entered play Friday with a 2.11 ERA and a 4.24 FIP in five appearances, four starts and 21.1 innings, logging a pitcher win and 20 strikeouts in the process while scattering 19 hits, nine walks, five earned runs and three home runs.
He’ll start Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals, but after that, things open up considerably from a fantasy standpoint.
Assuming the Brewers’ rotation remains unchanged and without any interruption, Patrick will take on the White Sox in Chicago next week, start against the Houston Astros at home the following week, and then get a start in Cleveland against the Guardians.
All three teams rank in the bottom third in the league in runs scored, and also double as three of the 11 teams that have yet to reach 100 runs scored as of the start of games on Friday.
Cleveland has been a bit better from a wRC+ standpoint, ranking behind just 12 teams with a collective 102. Still, in fantasy leagues with 14 or more teams where there aren’t as many quality streaming options, Patrick is a viable rotation option for the next few weeks, regardless of whether you start him or not against Cleveland.
Graphic by Carlos Leano.
