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MIXED LEAGUES
(Players rostered in under 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)
Note: Percentages are from the morning of Thursday, July 21
Max Meyer, SP, Marlins (Yahoo: 39 percent rostered)
Meyer had seemed poised for a promotion back in May but went down with an elbow injury. He made a pretty quick recovery, though, and finally did earn his first trip to the majors the weekend prior to the All-Star break. Meyer’s debut wasn’t great as he allowed five runs over 5 1/3 innings against the Phillies, but he looked sharp early on in the outing. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 Draft, Meyer has posted a 3.72 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 65/19 K/BB ratio across 58 innings for Triple-A Jacksonville this season, and those numbers were much better outside of a couple starts right before his injury when he could’ve been compromised. He throws hard and has a devastating slider, so Meyer should be able to miss bats right away for a Marlins team that’s been great at developing pitching in recent years.
Domingo Germán, SP, Yankees (Yahoo: 34 percent rostered)
Germán hasn’t pitched a whole lot the last couple years due to a domestic violence suspension and some shoulder issues. It’s a shoulder ailment which has kept him out of action for the first half of this season, but he’s healthy now and appears poised to join the Yankees’ rotation in the wake of Luis Severino’s lat strain. Germán has been fantastic on his rehab assignment, allowing just one run with an 11/1 K/BB ratio over 20 1/3 innings. That includes six shutout frames in his last start. The 29-year-old was an 18-game winner in 2019 and holds a 4.25 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 251/66 K/BB ratio over 241 1/3 frames since the beginning of that season. He’ll be well-positioned to pick up more Ws with the Yankees’ offense backing him.
José Miranda, 1B/3B, Twins (Yahoo: 19 percent rostered)
Miranda experienced a breakout last season in the minors, putting up a robust .344/.401/.572 batting line with 30 home runs, 32 doubles and 94 RBI between Double- and Triple-A. He struggled during his first stint in the big leagues back in May and was sent back down to the minors. That demotion lasted only one day, though, and since he’s returned Miranda has posted a .300/.344/.533 line with seven long balls, seven doubles and 27 RBI over 38 contests. Miranda doesn’t draw walks and his Statcast data has been pretty middling. The latter has ticked up during his recent run, though, and he’s also a guy who doesn’t strike out much for a power hitter.
Ramón Urías, 2B/3B/SS, Orioles (Yahoo: 30 percent rostered)
Urías has been a big part of the Orioles’ sudden rise to competency. Since returning from a strained oblique in early July, the infielder is sporting a .385/.429/.667 batting line with three home runs and 13 RBI across 12 tilts. Urías’ batted ball data suggests that his hot stretch probably should’ve happened sooner, too. He boasts a hard-hit rate at an even 50 percent which ranks in the 93rd percentile in baseball and also a 90.7 mph exit velocity which sits in the 79th percentile. Urías’ ceiling is capped because he doesn’t contribute at all in the stolen base department and the new left-field configuration at Camden Yards isn’t friendly to right-handed batters, though. He certainly appears worthy of a deep-league roster spot, though, especially given his multi-position eligibility.
José Iglesias, 2B/SS, Rockies (Yahoo: 12 percent rostered)
Speaking of capped ceilings, Iglesias has always had one because he doesn’t hit for much power and he’s only occasionally been useful in the stolen base department. The veteran infielder is a career .279 hitter, though, thanks to elite contact ability which has resulted in just a 12.4 percent career strikeout rate. This season Iglesias’ average sits at .301, and it has been at least .313 in three of four months so far. You might think he has Coors Field to thank for that, but Iglesias has actually been much better on the road (.363/.394/.467) than he has at home (.245/.291/.347) this season. Some positive regression there is likely coming, making the 32-year-old one of the better bets in baseball for average in the second half. Another bonus is that Iglesias was recently elevated to the second spot in the Rockies’ batting order.
Kyle Finnegan, RP, Nationals (Yahoo: 16 percent rostered)
Tanner Rainey had emerged as a reliable closer for the Nationals and a waiver wire gem in fantasy leagues, but he had a UCL sprain in his pitching elbow crop up out of nowhere last week, an injury which is expected to end his season. Insert Finnegan, who collected 11 saves during his time as the Nats’ closer last season and who has been Rainey’s setup man all of this season. The 30-year-old has a career 3.53 ERA and a un-closer-like 3.93 mark this season. Finnegan gets a decent number of grounders with his high-90s fastball, though, and has a nice 42.6 percent whiff rate on his slider. He probably won’t get a ton of saves for the last-place Nationals, but Finnegan is worthy of being rostered in all formats.
Deeper Dandies:
(Players rostered in under 10 percent of Yahoo leagues)
Braxton Garrett, SP, Marlins (Yahoo: 9 percent rostered)
It’s fair to say that Garrett hasn’t developed as hoped since the Marlins took him with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2016 Draft. That’s not to say he’s been a total dud, of course, and the 24-year-old has shown some promising signs, particularly of late. In his last outing against the Pirates, Garrett struck out 11 over six shutout innings, collecting 23 swinging strikes along the way. Nearly half (11) of those whiffs came on Garrett’s slider, a pitch which he has started to throw more than any other this season and has seen it result in a 38.6 percent whiff rate. The left-hander can struggle at times against right-handed batters, but he’s at least earned streamer appeal in favorable matchups.
Kutter Crawford, SP/RP, Red Sox (Yahoo: 5 percent rostered)
Rich Hill (knee) and Michael Wacha (shoulder) are hurt and Chris Sale (finger) is injured again, which means the Red Sox are going to need some guys to step up in their rotation. Crawford has certainly proven capable of the task lately. Over his last five appearances – four starts – the right-hander holds a 2.84 ERA and 30/7 K/BB ratio across 25 1/3 innings of work. The former 16th-round pick has been viewed as a pretty middling prospect but has some nice numbers in the minors, including a 131/20 K/BB ratio over 94 2/3 frames between Double- and Triple-A last season.
Austin Slater, OF, Giants (Yahoo: 8 percent rostered)
Slater has offered sporadic fantasy production the last couple seasons. Much of that has been due to the fact that his playing has also been sporadic. More than 80 percent of his starts last season came against lefties, which isn’t going to lead to a ton of volume. It’s been a similar breakdown of playing time on the whole for Slater in 2022, although he has drawn more starts versus righties of late and has actually hit them better this season (.882 OPS) than he has lefties (.850 OPS). Although he’s yet to homer, Slater has a 1.066 OPS so far in July and has gone 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts. Since the start of 2020, Slater has a .810 OPS with 22 homers and 29 steals in 590 plate appearances. We can’t necessarily count on the playing time being there, but there’s a good chance Slater will be productive when he’s out there.
Weekend Warriors:
José Ureña at MIL (Yahoo: 6 percent rostered)
Ureña has been pulling a Chad Kuhl since entering the Rockies’ rotation this month, posting a 1.45 ERA over three starts even as he has just a 9/8 K/BB ratio over 18 2/3 innings. Even more surprising is that two of those outings came at Coors Field and the other one was at Dodger Stadium. That makes his matchup this weekend in Milwaukee his easiest so far on paper. Perhaps there’s also a bit of “revenge factor” here as Ureña faces a team which cut him loose back in May. I’m not going to pretend this is a slam-dunk option, but the Brewers’ offense is gettable and Ureña has been keeping runs off the board.
Marco Gonzales vs. HOU (Yahoo: 28 percent rostered)
The Mariners will be looking to extend their winning streak to 15 games when they host the Astros on Friday night. No, it’s not the most favorable matchup for Gonzales. However, he’s actually had Houston’s number this season, posting a 2.66 ERA and 0.98 WHIP over three starts. Gonzales has been one of the worse strikeout pitchers in baseball this season, but he boasts a 3.50 ERA and that mark has been 3.29 across his last six outings.
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AL ONLY
Gunnar Henderson, SS, Orioles (Yahoo: 5 percent rostered)
Could the surprising Orioles capitalize on momentum and push Henderson to the big leagues in the second half? The former second-round pick turned just 21 a few weeks ago, but he’s looked like he might be ready for the challenge, putting up a .294/.428/.540 batting line with 13 home runs and 15 stolen bases between Double- and Triple-A this year. Henderson has also cut down on his strikeouts this season (21.2 percent) while maintaining an excellent walk rate (18.1 percent). The Orioles’ best alignment right now would probably be Henderson at third base, Ramón Urías at second, Jorge Mateo at shortstop and Rougned Odor on the bench (or off the roster). Henderson can also play short if they want to sacrifice some defense for more offense. A Henderson promotion isn’t a necessity or even likely, but it would seem to be on the table.
Nate Eaton, OF, Royals (Yahoo: 0 percent rostered)
Eaton got his first promotion to the big leagues last week courtesy of a bevy of Royals players that were unable to travel to Toronto due to being unvaccinated. He went 2-for-12 with a home run in four games and was then sent back down after the series. With the Royals well out of playoff contention and likely to trade multiple pieces, Eaton should find his way back to the majors soon enough. The 25-year-old has 13 homers and 19 steals this season in the minors between Double- and Triple-A. He’s never hit for this kind of power before, but the speed has been a constant for him.
NL ONLY
Robinson Canó, 2B, Braves (Yahoo: 1 percent rostered)
I’m frankly not sure Canó has anything left. The Braves surely don’t, either, but they at least thought he was worth a roll of the dice after Ozzie Albies broke his foot and Orlando Arcia tapered off. Canó has a lowly .396 OPS over 29 games this season for the Mets, Padres and Braves are missing all of the 2021 campaign while serving a PED suspension. He’s also 39. Canó did pop 10 home runs while putting up a .896 OPS during the shortened 2020 season, though, and he should play regularly for another month or so while Albies is out.
Aníbal Sánchez, SP, Nationals (Yahoo: 0 percent rostered)
Speaking of aging veterans whose gas tank is dangerously close to reading “empty.” Sánchez had been out all season with a neck injury before being activated for last week’s start against the Braves. The 38-year-old sat out last season after posting a 6.62 ERA in 11 starts in 2020, so it’s anyone’s guess as to whether he’s a major league quality pitcher anymore. Sánchez did hold a 3.85 ERA across 30 starts in 2019, and it’s not as if the Nationals have a ton of rotation competition.
