Each week we’ll look at a handful of different players whom 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 their position.
All roster percentages mentioned in this column are via FantasyPros as of Friday afternoon.
All 2024 stats are as of the beginning of play on Friday.
Jake McCarthy – OF (4% rostered)
A sudden outpouring of power production and an increase in barrels likely isn’t on the horizon for McCarthy, who is sporting just a 3.0% barrel rate and a .398 xSLG this season.
But once you take that off the board, it’s really the only fantasy category where the 26-year-old shouldn’t provide quality production.
Sporting a .339 xwOBA and a .278 xBA this season, the outfielder has made plenty of contact for the Arizona Diamondbacks, logging a 19.5% whiff rate and a 17.6% strikeout rate, in part helping him maintain the .298 average he’s turned in so far.
Overall, the former 39th-overall pick is batting .298 with a .378 on-base percentage, three home runs, 12 stolen bases, 25 runs scored, and 18 RBI.
The stolen bases in particular are key here for McCarthy moving forward. And while it remains to be seen if he can reclaim the leadoff spot in the Diamondbacks order (something he did for a stretch earlier in the season and something that’d raise his fantasy ceiling considerably), the outfielder has started to hit fifth and sixth with regularity for Arizona as of late.
It’s not exactly hitting leadoff, but hitting more toward the middle of the order should help McCarthy see more RBI chances with his penchant for making contact at a high rate.
Landon Knack – SP, RP (6% rostered)
The 26-year-old Knack enjoyed a reasonably solid first four Major League starts for Los Angeles earlier this season, pitching to a 2.61 ERA and a 4.64 FIP in 20.2 innings while striking out 16 batters to go along with six walks and three home runs allowed. He also tallied a 0.97 WHIP.
That being said, the chasm between his ERA and FIP, not to mention a low strikeout rate and a .196 BABIP, all stand out as rather unideal numbers. Generally speaking, even if Knack’s performances moving forward are more in line with his FIP, that’s not exactly the type of production you go looking for to fill out a fantasy roster.
But, Knack did a solid job limiting walks (with a 7.2% walk rate) and barrels (with a 6.8% barrel rate) in his first stint in the Majors.
Now with the Dodgers rotation in need of some reinforcements due to injury-list placements, Knack is stepping back into the fold.
His ability to limit mistakes will be crucial because even with slightly higher run-prevention, his place in a Los Angeles rotation gives him solid fantasy upside due to the pitcher win potential.
Entering play Friday, Los Angeles’s rotation was tied for third in the league in pitcher wins with 31 behind only New York and Philadelphia. That win total includes seven pitcher wins for James Paxton despite an FIP (4.94) dangerously close to crossing the 5.00 threshold.
In other words, if Knack can remain reasonably productive, pitcher wins should follow.
Carlos Santana – 1B (4% rostered)
If you’re looking for instant offense, look no further than Minnesota Twins slugger Carlos Santana, who’s been on a tear at the plate as of late.
Since May 5, the first baseman has been batting .305 with a .382 on-base percentage, eight home runs, and a pair of stolen bases in 144 plate appearances with a walk rate (11.1%) that is quickly approaching his strikeout rate (13.9%).
Only 12 qualified batters during that span have a higher wRC+ than Santana. Just 23 have hit more home runs.
The slugger is still hitting in the bottom half of the Twins lineup, mostly sixth as of late, but it’s worth noting that he has accumulated the bulk of his RBI and runs scored production during the hot streak as opposed to before it, all despite hitting slightly further down the lineup.
Santana has topped 23 home runs in three of his last five full seasons and has a very real shot at doing so once again, particularly if his barrel rate holds at this rate. Santana is sporting a 7.2% barrel rate on the season, but it’s up to 8.3% during his recent run of form at the plate. If that 8.3% metric was his number for the entire season, it’d be the fourth-highest metric for the slugger since 2015.
Jesse Winker – OF (29% rostered)
Winker has been mentioned in this column before as an outfield option who probably should be rostered in significantly more leagues. That sentiment still remains, and as an added bonus, the veteran has started to steal bases at a career rate (he has 11 this season after recording just three in the entirety of his Major League career before this season). But we’re also now to the point where we have a much larger sample size with Winker’s data, and it’s holding up.
The outfielder is batting .270 with a .381 on-base percentage, eight home runs, the aforementioned 11 stolen bases, a .341 xwOBA, and stellar chase rate (18.4%) and walk rate (12.9%) marks.
All that is obviously good on paper, but Winker has been just as good, if not better, than a number of players both drafted much higher in fantasy drafts than him, as well as ones with significantly higher rostered rates. It’s blind resume time.
As you can probably tell based on the above data, Winker is “Player A” here.
The rest of the players, in order, are Willy Adames, Jose Altuve, Fernando Tatis Jr., Julio Rodríguez, and Francisco Lindor.
Photo by Adobe Stock | Adapted by Carlos Leano.