Waiver Wired: Waiver Wired: Buying Buxton?
I mentioned Jurickson Profar in Waiver Wired last week, but I didn’t do it with much enthusiasm. I figured he would only be a fill-in for Rougned Odor during his seven-game suspension before going right back down to the minors. After missing basically two full seasons, it seemed like the reasonable course of action. Well, Profar is doing a lot to try to change those plans.
Through six games, Profar is batting .357 (10-for-28) with a homer, a double, and a triple. Here’s the video of the homer, which was his first in the majors since 2013. The 23-year-old has been the Rangers’ leadoff hitter over the past week, so he has also scored seven runs. He has also looked really good defensively at second base.
Rangers manager Jeff Banister estimated to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that they’d need to get Profar four starts per week in order to justify keeping him in the majors. That could be a bit of a challenge, assuming the only options are the two middle infield spots and the DH spot. I’m guessing he still gets sent down when Odor is eligible to return, but hang on to him until we know for sure. At the very least, Profar has reminded the baseball world why he was a consensus top prospect.
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MIXED LEAGUES
Anthony DeSclafani SP, Reds (Yahoo: 19 percent owned)
The wait is finally over. Almost, anyway. Out all season with an oblique strain, DeSclafani allowed one run in four innings with seven strikeouts and no walk in his most recent minor league rehab start and will likely make one more before potentially joining the Reds’ rotation next week. I was excited about DeSclafani coming into this spring after he changed up his pitch mix during the second half while posting 77/14 K/BB ratio over 83 2/3 innings. Hopefully the wait will be worth it and he picks up from where he left off. Sure, he’ll be pitching in a hitter-friendly home stadium and the Reds’ bullpen is historically bad, but he’s a fun stash in most formats.
Byron Buxton OF, Twins (Yahoo: 29 percent owned)
Are things going to click for Buxton this time around? I have no idea. If I knew that, I would be a very rich man and relaxing in one of my various vacation homes. Alas, all we have to go on is Buxton’s upside, which remains considerable. The 22-year-old batted .336/.403/.603 with six home runs and four steals in 129 plate appearances after his demotion to Triple-A Rochester in late-April. He’s getting another chance in the majors now that Danny Santana is down with a hamstring injury. And really, given where the Twins are, they should just put him in the lineup card everyday and deal with the growing pains. As I said in this week’s Waiver Wired video, you probably have better options at your disposal in shallow formats, but there’s enough upside here to take a chance on him in deeper formats.
Travis d’Arnaud C, Mets (Yahoo: 44 percent owned)
Here’s some encouraging news for the struggling Mets’ offense. And for the rotten state of the catcher position in fantasy leagues. D’Arnaud missed all of May with a strained rotator cuff, but he could reportedly begin a minor league rehab assignment as soon as this weekend. According to Marc Carig of Newsday, the 27-year-old has been throwing to bases and participating in other baseball activities without incident. How the shoulder responds in game action will be the real test, so there are still plenty of questions here, but there’s big potential if he can stay on the field. That’s the story of his career, basically.
Matt Shoemaker SP, Angels (Yahoo: 19 percent owned)
Is Shoemaker back on track? It sure looks that way. He’s just doing things a little differently. While Michael Fulmer got all the headlines for his no-hit bid on Thursday against the Angels, Shoemaker held his own on the other side, limiting the Tigers to two runs over seven innings despite giving up 10 hits. He struck out eight batters and now owns a 31/0 K/BB ratio over his last three starts. That’s right, he hasn’t walked a batter since way back on May 15. According to Rotoworld’s own Matthew Pouliot, he’s the ninth pitcher ever with three straight outings of eight-plus strikeouts and zero walks. And how about those whiffs? He has 69 swinging strikes over his last three starts, the great majority of them coming with his splitter, a pitch he’s relying on more often these days. Just as Shoemaker has adapted, perhaps hitters will do the same soon, but he’s back on the radar in mixed leagues for now.
Jonathan Schoop 2B, Orioles (Yahoo: 42 percent owned)
It feels like Schoop isn’t getting enough respect in fantasy leagues. After slugging 15 home runs in 86 games last season, he’s already up to eight home runs and 30 RBI through 51 games this season. Sure, the dude has his flaws. He’s super aggressive and swings at everything. In fact, only the Reds’ Brandon Phillips has swung more often than Schoop this season. His career walk rate checks in at just under three percent. It is what is is. And it will probably keep him from having a useful batting average. But he finds himself in a great home park for offense and should have a good chance at 25-30 homers and 90 RBI if he can stay healthy. That kind of player can help in most fantasy formats, right?
Nick Hundley C, Rockies (Yahoo: 14 percent owned)
I mentioned Hundley in Waiver Wired almost exactly a month ago, which just happened to coincide with him hitting the disabled list with an oblique strain. Sorry about that. The good news is that he finally began a minor league rehab assignment Wednesday with Triple-A Albuquerque. If all goes well, he could be back with the Rockies in the next few days. The 32-year-old owns a .298/.348/.473 batting line with 12 home runs in 116 games since joining Colorado, with most of the damage unsurprisingly being done at Coors Field. By the way, the Rockies will play 13 out of 19 games at home beginning next Thursday. Get ahead on this one if you need catching help.
Domingo Santana OF, Brewers (Yahoo: 16 percent owned)
This wasn’t the plan going in, but DL stashes seem to be a theme this week. Here’s another one if you need some outfield help. Santana had a lot of momentum as a breakout pick in fantasy leagues coming off a monster spring training, but he batted .239/.353/.381 over 36 games prior to being placed on the disabled list two weeks ago with a lingering shoulder injury. It looks like the rest did him some good. He homered in his first minor league rehab game on Tuesday and should be back with the Brewers within the next couple of days. He wasn’t delivering much in the way of fantasy value prior to the injury and the strikeouts will cap the batting average upside, but there’s power and patience here and you have to like the home ballpark. It will be interesting to see where Santana hits in the lineup once he returns, as it’s pretty clear that Jonathan Villar is the leadoff man.
A.J. Reed 1B, Astros (Yahoo: 13 percent owned)
Reed had a bit of a slow start to the season before hitting the disabled list with a hamstring injury last month, but he’s batting .344 (11-for-32) over nine games since returning to action with Triple-A Round Rock. Granted, he hasn’t hit a home run in that time, but he has produced five doubles. The 23-year-old is batting .255/.352/.467 overall this season, so the numbers haven’t been as gaudy as we saw between High-A and Double-A last year, but he’s still drawing plenty of walks and we know the power potential is there. Tyler White has faded in a big way since the first week of the season and Luis Valbuena is getting more time at third base since Colin Moran’s recent demotion, so it still feels like it’s just a matter of time before Reed gets an opportunity.
Mike Napoli 1B/OF, Indians (Yahoo: 48 percent owned)
Welcome back, Mr. Napoli. The veteran slugger has amassed five home runs in his last nine games and 12 overall. He’s really selling out for the power, as he’s striking out a career-high clip of 35.1 percent. Only Steven Souza and Justin Upton are striking out more often this season. You obviously aren’t going to get much help in the batting average department like this, but he’s hitting plenty of balls in the air and finds himself among the league leaders in hard-hit rate. If you can take the batting average hit, he’s worth a look if you are in need of some power. The Indians are in line to face three left-handers next week (James Paxton, Wade Miley, and Hector Santiago), which makes him more appealing.
Mike Leake SP, Cardinals (Yahoo: 48 percent owned)
Leake landed a five-year, $80 million deal with the Cardinals over the winter, which didn’t look so great when he struggled out of the gate with a 6.03 ERA with six home runs allowed over his last six starts. Fortunately, he turned things around of late, posting a 1.59 ERA over his last five outings. He has pulled his ERA all the way down to 3.82 for year, which is right in line with his career norm. Leake isn’t going to strike out a lot of guys, which is a factor if we’re talking about leagues with innings caps, but he limits walks and has one of the league’s best offenses behind him. He should be owned in all leagues with a two-start week against the Reds and Pirates coming up.
Shopping at the five-and-dime:
(Players owned in under 10 percent of Yahoo leagues)
Daniel Hudson RP, Diamondbacks (Yahoo: 3 percent owned)
My first of two reliever stashes this week, Hudson has been strong in a set-up role with the Diamondbacks this season, posting a 1.25 ERA over 22 appearances. This comes after he had a 3.86 ERA in 64 appearances out of the bullpen last season. Granted, he has only struck out 16 batters in 21 2/3 innings this season, but he has issued just five walks and has a ground ball rate right around 50 percent. Brad Ziegler has never fit the mold of a typical closer and has been shaky overall this season, so there could be a change at some point. Ziegler could also be a trade chip later this summer.
Michael Feliz RP, Astros (Yahoo: 4 percent owned)
As we try to speculate on the Astros closer situation, chances are Ken Giles (Yahoo: 45 percent owned) and Will Harris (Yahoo: 20 percent owned) are already owned in a lot of leagues. We have mentioned both of them in the past as possible alternatives to Luke Gregerson. But we shouldn’t overlook what Feliz is doing in this bullpen. The 22-year-old has been awesome, posting a 3.75 ERA and 37/5 K/BB ratio in 24 innings of work. Only Craig Kimbrel, Andrew Miller, and Dellin Betances have a higher strikeout percentage among relievers. The overall numbers are sort of deceptive. Four out of his five walks came in his season debut. After giving up nine runs in his first two appearances, he has allowed just one run in his last 18 2/3 innings. Oh, he also has a ground ball rate north of 50 percent. The Astros have used him to pitch two innings or more on six occasions since the start of May and perhaps they’d like to keep that sort of flexibility. That’s fine. Feliz is showing that he can help fantasy owners even if he isn’t getting saves.
