Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there on this FAABulous Sunday! Enjoy your day, but don’t forget to get your bids in this evening! Huge thanks to Vlad Sedler (@RotoGut) for taking the time on Father’s Day weekend to join Adam Howe (@EightyGrade) and myself on this morning’s episode of On the Wire (@OnTheWirePod)! A couple of great points came up in our discussion.
I briefly mentioned last week that things are so league, format, and team-dependent at this point. Vlad expanded on this a bit regarding FAAB bid amounts. Players that may have warranted higher bids a month ago are going for less now that many fantasy players have spent a large portion of their season’s FAAB. He mentioned that he had written that a player was worth $60 – $80 of $1,000 FAAB, but was able to roster that player in a couple of spots for $10 and $15. I’ve completely abandoned recommending dollar amounts or percentages due to this fact. I’m more than happy to give my opinion if you hit me up with specifics on Twitter (@hastingkevin) or in the Pitcher List Plus discord.
Let’s get to some names!
Catcher
Alejandro Kirk (24% TGFBI, 4% Yahoo) – As mentioned last week with Austin Nola, it’s really difficult to roster a catcher that isn’t in your starting lineup, but Kirk is set to return within a couple of weeks and may be worth the roster spot if you have an opening. We’ve seen him display his power potential and with his low K% and nice BB% carrying over from the minors in his first 71 PA at the MLB level, he can be a rare four-category contributor from the position. This may be the final week to grab him inexpensively.
Mike Zunino (95% TGFBI, 23% Yahoo) – I’ve mentioned Zunino here in the past, but he is underappreciated in shallower and single-catcher formats. Yes, he’s hitting .192, but at less than 13 AB per week that .192 is acceptable for the second-most HR, third-most RBI, and eighth-most R at the position.
First Base
Wilmer Flores (63% TGFBI, 3% Yahoo) – The Giants only play five games this week, but with three scheduled to be vs lefty starters, Flores should continue to receive the double-digit PA he has the past couple of weeks. He’s been a big part of San Francisco’s success vs south-paws hitting .295 with a HR, five RBI, and 10 R in just 64 PA. He’s also eligible at 2B and 3B, so he’s nice to have rostered with all of the injuries that continue to occur throughout the league.
Second Base
Cesar Hernandez (100% TGFBI, 18% Yahoo) – Despite 93rd percentile sprint speed, Hernandez has not attempted a stolen base since 2019. However, with 11 HR, 28 RBI, and a whopping 43 runs scored he shouldn’t be available in over 80% of Yahoo leagues. His K% and BB% are right in line with his career numbers, his career BA is .273, and his .253 in 2018 was his only season below .272 since 2014, so I fully expect his current .221 to be on the rise as well.
Third Base
Abraham Toro (0% TGFBI, 2% Yahoo) – Including today, Toro has gotten the start at third base in two of the three games the Astros have played since Alex Bregman’s injury. He was hitting .352 with 2 HR, 11 RBI, 10 R, and 2 SB in 17 games at AAA before his most recent promotion. The BA hasn’t been what it was in the minors in his 66 career MLB games dating back to 2019, but as good as the Astros lineup has been and still just 24 years old with a great K% and BB% track record, the runs and RBI will definitely be there.
Short Stop
Nicky Lopez (7% TGFBI, 1% Yahoo) – Lopez is 12 for his past 29 including what he’s done so far today with a couple of SB bringing his season total to seven and his BA up to .256. The Royals are off tomorrow and then play 20 straight days heading into the break. His defense will keep him on the field for most if not all of those games, so if you’re in need of SB he’s a widely available option.
Outfield
Jesús Sánchez (0% TGFBI, 12% Yahoo) – We get really excited when 23 year-olds get the call. We get even more excited when those 23 year-olds were hitting .349 and slugging .643 with 9 HR, 28 RBI, 19 R, and 1 SB in just 33 AAA games. Sánchez may hit the ground running this time around, but he didn’t in his 2020 debut with just one hit in 29 PA. Yes, that’s only 29 PA and he’s had another year of development including in-game competition that wasn’t available last season. I’m just not going crazy here. I’ll have my bids in, but I don’t expect to be rostering him later tonight.
Adam Duvall (100% TGFBI, 35% Yahoo) – I’m more interested in Sánchez’s teammate in the 12-team leagues he’s available. When Duvall gets hot, the home runs come in bunches. We don’t get credit for the 7 HR, 19 RBI, 10 R, and 3 SB over the past two scoring periods, but I look for at least the power production to continue. The batting average is a concern, but he has gone 14 for 43 the past two weeks to approach the more respectable .237 he hit last season.
Pitcher
Chris Flexen (42% TGFBI, 10% Yahoo) – It’s going to be difficult to trust many pitchers for a while as the foreign substance suspensions become possibilities on Monday. However, that is not going to change the fact that my favorite matchup for any pitcher is the Rockies in their first road game after a homestand. They have averaged one run per game in six such instances so far this season and have been shut out in three of those. Flexen has gone at least six innings in his past four starts, most recently tossing eight scoreless with eight strikeouts vs the Twins last week.
Ross Stripling (68% TGFBI, 10% Yahoo) – As Vlad pointed out on this morning’s episode of On the Wire, Stripling has performed better recently, giving up just 8 ER with 29 K in his past 29 1/3 IP over five starts. He’s lined up for a trip to Miami and gets Baltimore back in Buffalo this week. With a lineup capable of plenty of run support, at least one win should be in the cards. With the two starts on tap, we may have to bump our bids a bit, but he looks to face Tampa in back-to-back starts heading into the break (19th in runs scored the past couple of weeks), so hopefully, this will be a long term acquisition.
Happy Father’s Day
Again, Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there! One thing I’m being a bit cautious of this week is Phillies hitters. They have both Monday and Thursday off and face Taijuan Walker and Jacob deGrom over the weekend. Good luck tonight and enjoy the games!
Photo from Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire | Design by Quincey Dong (@threerundong on Twitter)
Kevin,
Stuck with Luzardo at a next year $13 price in a 12 team AL Only 5×5 8-keeper league. I’ve held him throughout, hoping for a turn-around….believing the talent was just too good- better than all the recent call-ups, for sure. FASB is today. Do I drop him for a MR or hold him for one more week, hoping for a minor league demotion.
This is tough for a deep league such as yours. The homeruns have been disastrous. He’s still just 23 years old, so I think I’d try to wait it out a bit longer if I could. But he can’t be in a starting lineup right now, so if you don’t have room to stash him, dropping him for some depth you can actually use right now is justified. The pickup would have to be going into my starting lineup for me to make the drop, especially if a demotion would clear the spot in your format.
This is circumstance: “The pickup would have to be going into my starting lineup for me to make the drop, especially if a demotion would clear the spot in your format.” I would pick up Colin McHugh off waiver and release luzardo, which would cost me one of my limited (4) free moves. I’m in a weird spot because I personally believe McHugh could be a surprise. Knowing TB, at some point I could see McHugh starting and in meantime offer solid stats for MR.
Meanwhile, Aceviedo is getting called up by Oakland, which could mean Luzardo is getting demoted.
Looks like this worked out!