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10-Team Leagues
Shohei Ohtani , LAA SP (69% ownership), FAAB Bid - $18-20 - Ohtani will return to the mound for the first time since June 6th and boy is it exciting. Ohtani went 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA and a 30.5-percent K-rate. That strikeout rate alone is intriguing in literally any format imaginable. He’ll obviously be on a pitch count seeing how it’s his first game on the mound in over two months, but if all goes well, you could be getting an SP1/2 type pitcher for the stretch run, even if it’s only in small doses.
German Marquez , COL SP (59% ownership), FAAB Bid - $17-19 - I think I’m just going to leave Marquez in this slot until people realize what he’s doing right now. In 42 August innings, Marquez posted a 2.14 ERA and held his opponents to a .173 AVG. More monthly numbers, he posted an elite K/9 of 11.36 while lowering his BB/9 to 1.93. ONLY Jacob deGrom has struck out more opponents than Marquez over the last 30 days. Obviously he pitches in Coors Field, but that hasn’t stopped him lately and it shouldn’t deter you from picking him up.
Hunter Renfroe , SDP OF (22% ownership), FAAB Bid - $13-15 - Renfroe has really turned it on lately which is nice to see because he’s been seen as a power only guy since he was originally called up. He had a fantastic month of August sashing .302/.322/.613 while belting nine home runs. He’s only played in 92 games this year and has 17 homers. He’s someone who, in a full season, could hit 30 home runs. He’s someone you want to own for the remainder of the season and the good thing is he’s available in nearly 80-percent of leagues.
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12-Team Leagues
Trey Mancini , BAL 1B, OF (37% ownership), FAAB Bid - $11-12 - Mancini has not only played well lately, but it’s really been the entire second half of the year. Since the All-Star break Mancini has slashed .295/.325/.523 with a .228 ISO and a .356 wOBA. He’s actually tied with Aaron Hicks for the league lead in runs scored (8) over the past week while hitting .370 with three homers and nine runs batted in. There is no reason he won’t eclipse the 24 home runs he hit during his rookie season last year.
Stephen Piscotty , OAK OF (31% ownership), FAAB Bid - $10-11 - Piscotty has been really good over the past three months and things haven’t changed lately. He’s hitting over .300 over the past couple of weeks with four home runs and 11 RBI. He has 19 home runs and 63 runs batted in, giving him a serious chance at 25 and 75 if he has a big month. Outfield is obviously a position you need a lot of depth for and Piscotty profiles as the perfect OF3/4 for the remainder of the season.
Todd Frazier , NYM 3B (39% ownership), FAAB Bid - $9-10 - The Mets decided to shake things up on Friday night and use Frazier in the leadoff spot. That isn’t going to be a common theme headed down the stretch, but if needed he seems like the guy to leadoff games if Amed Rosario is unavailable. Frazier has been good lately belting four home runs over his last nine games. Frazier now has 16 home runs and eight stolen bases on the year and he missed time due to injury. He could easily get to 20 and 10 and be more than valuable in 12-team leagues.
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15-Team Leagues
John Gant , STL SP, RP (22% ownership), FAAB Bid - $8-10 - You could actually get away with adding Gant in 12-team league formats as well, his peripheral numbers just scare me a bit. He has an excellent 3.34 ERA but his xFIP and SIERA are 4.47 and 4.62 respectively. Gant has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six consecutive starts. He has an elite 0.69 HR/9 and has a very solid 45-percent groundball rate as well. He’s a very solid add in a 15-team league and a decent look in 12-teamers as well, as long as the luck continues to be on his side.
Tyler Austin , MIN 1B (5% ownership), FAAB Bid - $7-8 - If you’re looking for a cheap source of power look no further. Austin has hit five homers just over the past two weeks which ties him for fourth in the league over that span. He’s hit 15 home runs in just 50 games this year and has a .526 SLG to show for himself. He’s going to continue to play everyday with the Twins out of the playoff race and he’s well worth the add in deeper formats.
Ryan O’Hearn, KCR 1B (2% ownership), FAAB Bid - $3-4 - Now this is a nice little pickup that won’t cost you much of your FAAB that could help you at your corner infield spot. O’Hearn has hit seven homers in his first 21 games and has a robust .600 SLG, .343 ISO and a .391 wOBA. O’Hearn has shown power in the past in the minors, but he didn’t show much promise earlier this year, so I’m skeptical to suggest using him in anything more than a 15-teamer.