10 Team Leagues

Scott Oberg RP COL; FAAB Bid: 20% - Well it finally happened. Wade Davis finally cost himself the Rockies’ closer job. Davis got lit up by the Dodgers to the tune of five earned runs on Wednesday night and cost the Rockies the game. He touts a 5.68 BB/9, 1.42 HR/9, and a 6.82 ERA. Those are all terrible marks for a closer and opposing hitters have a .337 BABIP off him. Insert Scott Oberg . Oberg’s not perfect, but he’s been significantly better than Davis this season. Oberg has a 1.56 ERA, averages a strikeout per inning, and has a 0.69 HR/9. Additionally, he converted his first save as the Rockies official closer on Friday night. Saves are very difficult to come by so you’ll need to spend up for this closer. And if Oberg has already been claimed then look to see if Ian Kennedy is still out there. No matter how many times I’ve mentioned him, his ownership never budges and he has 20 saves for the Royals this year.

Bo Bichette SS TOR; FAAB Bid: 12% - It’s a small sample size, but Bichette has been fairly impressive in just five games heading into Saturday night. He’s already collected nine hits, four of which have been for extra bases and the Blue Jays have moved him up to bat leadoff. Bichette is just another talented Blue Jays rookie that is the son of a former MLB ballplayer (i.e. Cavan Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ) and he should see regular playing time over the course of the next two months. It would be nice if he could showcase some of the speed on the base path that saw him register 15 steals at the Triple-A level earlier in the year.

Will Smith C LAD; FAAB Bid: 10% - Smith continues to swing a hot bat since being named the primary catcher for the Dodgers. Entering Saturday night, in six games as the Dodgers starting catcher he has three homes runs, four doubles, and 13 RBI. He is probably the premiere catcher to own at this moment and all signs are pointing to this being the Dodgers’ year after back-to-back losing trips in the World Series. Smith should continue to produce no matter where the Dodgers put him in the lineup.

 

12 Team Leagues

Adam Duvall OF ATL; FAAB Bid: 8% - Duvall has been one of the hottest hitters in the league since getting brought up from Triple-A. Basically in his first week of action at the big league level in 2019 he hit five home runs and drove in seven total runners. He’s shown this kind of pop in the past. In 2016 and 2017 he hit 64 total home runs with 202 RBI. You don’t need to go high with the FAAB bid because he’s an outfielder. But he should be rostered at this point because he’s displaying fantastic power.

Josh VanMeter 2B, 3B, OF CIN; FAAB Bid: 5-7% - VanMeter’s cooled off from the run he was on a week ago where he hit a home run in three straight games. However, he should still get more playing especially since Yasiel Puig was traded to Cleveland. While it’s been a week since VanMeter went yard, he has back-to-back games with a stolen base. He’s shown pretty good speed in the minor leagues so it’s not like this is a new frontier for him. He’s not as much of a priority as Oberg, Bichette, Smith, or Duvall but he’s a well-rounded player that offers position flexibility.

Alex Wood SP CIN; FAAB Bid: 2-5% - I’m not wild about Wood based on his two performances this year, but they came against a couple of good offenses in the Rockies and Braves. He’s only allowed four earned runs in 11.1 innings of work, but at the same time he’s surrendered three home runs. It doesn’t get any easier for Wood as his next two starts come against the Cubs and the Nationals. I’m optimistic Wood can eventually return to the form he showcased in 2017 when he went 16-3 and averaged a strikeout per inning. But he’s a cheap pitcher than can be had off waivers who has some upside. If you can get him for absolutely nothing, go for it! If you aren’t sold on Alex Wood , give Dylan Cease a look. He’s a two-start pitcher next week against the Tigers and Athletics and you can get him for cheap.

 

15+ Team Leagues

Dustin May SP LAD; FAAB Bid: 3-4% - The prospect formerly known as “Gingergaard” made his major league debut on Friday night and looked solid through five innings of work before getting roughed up in the sixth inning against the Padres. His fastball regularly averages over 95mph on the radar gun so you would like to see more than the three strikeouts he totaled Friday night. But the good news is that he didn’t walk anybody, despite giving up nine hits. He should stick in the Dodgers rotation for now with Ross Stripling dealing with neck issues. The Dodgers must feel pretty good about him considering they called him up at the ripe age of 21.

Willie Calhoun OF TEX; FAAB Bid: 5% - I can’t quite pin point why Willie Calhoun is still coming in with such low ownership, but alas here we are. As mentioned a week ago when Joey Gallo got hurt, this creates a nice window of opportunity for Calhoun and he’s taken full advantage. Since last Friday Calhoun has two home runs, three doubles, with six runs scored, and seven RBI. The Rangers are typically hitting him fifth in the order and I know you probably have plenty of options at the outfield spots, but Calhoun is worth mentioning even in a deeper league where he may just be a utility player for your team. Mike Yastrzemski is another deep league outfielder you can take a shot on. Like Calhoun, he’s also been swinging a solid stick lately.

Eric Thames 1B, OF MIL; FAAB Bid: 1% - The good news for Thames is that Jesús Aguilar has been shipped out of Milwaukee, thus ending the split time at first between the two. The bad news is that it likely opens up more split time with Ryan Braun at the position. But for now, I’m optimistic Thames continues to get a majority of the starts, and if that isn’t the case then you can just send him back to the waiver wire. It’s been a bit of a frustrating season for Thames due to the lack of consistent playing time, but he has an opportunity to win over the Brewers down the final two months and he has some fantastic matchups coming up next week.