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.
Jonah Bride – 4%
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the Marlins’ trade activity at the deadline – you may have heard, they traded a bunch of players – Jonah Bride has stepped into a key role in Miami’s lineup.
Of course, he was playing with some regularity in July leading up to the deadline, but Bride has hit either third or fourth in every game he’s played in since July 31.
In most instances, someone like Bride hitting further up in a lineup that now doesn’t feature Jazz Chisholm Jr., Josh Bell, and Bryan De La Cruz would probably only be beneficial from a fantasy standpoint due to the increased plate appearances and purely the fact that he’s getting more chances at the plate.
But, in this instance, Bride is getting all those plate appearances, all those extra chances and he gets to hit near the likes of Jake Burger, Xavier Edwards, and Jesus Sanchez in the lineup on a regular basis.
We’ll get to Bride’s production in a moment, but hitting near that trio is going to do wonders for his fantasy production.
Burger has been one of the league’s very best hitters in the last six weeks, batting .287 with a .354 on-base percentage, a .322 ISO, and a 163 wRC+ in 96 July plate appearances before batting .365 with a .354 on-base percentage, a .481 (!) ISO and a 241 wRC+ in his first 60 plate appearances in August.
Then there’s Edwards, who has been excellent at both making contact, with just a 16.6% strikeout rate, and getting on base in general with a 13.1% walk rate and a .437 on-base percentage. There’s a .430 BABIP that’s probably (going out on a limb here) a bit unsustainable. However, Edwards’s ability to draw walks, make contact, and steal bases (he has 19 so far, including six in his last four games) make him an extremely effective leadoff hitter.
Edwards and Burger have hit first and second as of late, with Bride and the last member of the trio (Jesus Sanchez) alternating between third and cleanup. Sanchez’s .242 average and .295 on-base percentage in 394 plate appearances might not stand out on paper, but he’s collected 15 home runs and nine stolen bases, while ranking in the 79th percentile or better in xwOBA, xSLG, barre rate, hard-hit rate, and bat speed.
But back to Bride. He’s hitting .276 in 105 plate appearances, with a .381 on-base percentage, a .195 ISO, and a .317 BABIP. The 28-year-old has also added five home runs so far, 10 runs scored, and 20 RBI.
With a .367 wOBA and a .316 xwOBA, there’s some worry about eventual positive regression here, but even if the infielder provides passable surface-level production hitting in the top half of the Marlins’ lineup with Burger, Edwards, and Sanchez, he’ll be well worth a look for fantasy managers in leagues with 14 or more teams. Even in 12-team leagues, he’s worth a look as a streaming option.
Jesus Sanchez – 4%
Speaking of Sanchez, he’s rostered in far too few leagues.
Maybe it’s the average. Maybe it’s the sub-.300 on-base percentage. Who’s to say?
But the reality is that he should be on significantly more fantasy rosters.
After the Jonah Bride section, you get it, Sanchez has made a bunch of quality contact at the plate this season. Sure, he’s striking out 25.9% of the time with a 30.2% whiff rate and a 35.9% chase rate but by and large when he makes contact, it’s of the loud variety.
He’s a potential impact hitter.
And while his .294 BABIP doesn’t quite point to positive regression coming in the same way the chasm between his wOBA (.308) and xwOBA (.345) does, Sanchez’s surface-level numbers are rounding into form as we enter the season’s stretch run.
Since the start of July, Jesus Sanchez is batting .262 with a .314 on-base percentage, eight home runs, a 125 wRC+, and three stolen bases. He’s driven in exactly 19 runs and scored 19 as well.
It’s been an extremely encouraging stretch for the outfielder, one that doesn’t look too dissimilar from some other impact hitters around the league.
Zack Littell – 16%
Littell has been a solid rotation option for both the Tampa Bay Rays and fantasy managers alike this year, making 24 starts and pitching to a 3.89 ERA and a 4.11 FIP in 129.2 innings of work for the American League East club.
Along the way, he’s amassed five pitcher wins while striking out 116 batters compared to 26 walks and 20 home runs allowed. If you’re doing the math at home, that spits out to the following:
The home runs are admittedly a bit high, and while Littell has struggled with them lately, he’s limited them to solo home runs more than anything.
In fact, in the veteran’s last outing, he gave up just one hit (it was a home run) in five innings against the Houston Astros while striking out three and walking two.
It was the fifth time in six starts that Littell has given up one run or fewer in five or more innings of work. And they’ve all come against fairly formidable competition too.
And while the FIP numbers for each start certainly leave something to be desired (as do the strikeout totals), Littell makes for an ideal short-term rotation option for fantasy managers looking to replace an injured pitcher or simply add more pitching production to their team.
Moving forward, the veteran’s upcoming fantasy slate isn’t tremendously easier on the whole. Assuming the Rays’ rotation continues as is without any interruptions he’ll face the Padres and Twins at home and face the Phillies and Guardians on the road. However, before all that, his next scheduled start is next week in Oakland, a matchup that you’ll want to have him in your fantasy lineups.
David Festa – 8%
One of the Minnesota Twins‘ most promising pitching prospects, and prospects in general, Festa has so far pitched to a 5.20 ERA and a 5.16 FIP in six appearances (five starts) spanning 27.2 innings of work.
Though, with that being said, much of his ERA can probably attributed to allowing 16 hits, 12 earned runs, four home runs, and a walk in his first two starts (10 innings of work).
Since then, Festa has given up just three earned runs in 17.2 innings, striking out 25 batters while scattering just 12 hits, eight walks, and four earned runs. That’s good for, at least from a strikeout and walk rate standpoint, a 34.2% strikeout rate and an 11.0% walk rate during that span.
And while Festa has reached the five-inning mark just twice in those two starts, his strikeout upside is too noteworthy to ignore fantasy-wise, particularly with the Twins rotation struggling with injuries and Festa seemingly all but assured (speculatively speaking) of a rotation spot moving forward.
For the season, he’s sporting a 27.5% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate in the Majors.
Assuming the Twins rotation continues as is without any interruptions, two of Festa’s next three upcoming starts will come against teams with the fifth (Atlanta) and 14th (St. Louis) highest strikeout rates this season.
Photo by Adobe Stock | Adapted by Carlos Leano.