We’re getting to the point in the season where sample sizes are now relevant, and often times, those figures are sustainable making it much harder as your opponents are making more informed decisions. Some advice for figuring I’d like to give is to look at the situations of possible pick-ups. Whose timeshare is now a full time gig? Who might be getting saves very soon? Whose every day spot in the lineup moved from 8th to 2nd? Now on to this week’s add and drop suggestions.
Players to Add:
Luke Jackson (14.7%): Five saves in his last six appearances (and a blown save at the beginning of the month) has planted Jackson as the 9th inning man for the time being. His elite ground ball rate (68.6%) and above average K rate (10.8K/9) have left no questions as to how he’s getting outs this season.
Hunter Pence (22.8%): The me of just two months ago would have been bewildered that I willingly added Hunter Pence to my team this week. At the age of 36, Pence is undergoing a career resurgence after some average-to-bad years towards the end of his Giants tenure. Some of it could be hitting in a good lineup in a hitter’s park, but the thing is, those things matter to his fantasy production, so there is no reason to think he cannot be a stat stuffing contributor at a roster-heavy position. And what’s not to like with putting Pence weirdness back in the national spotlight.
James McCann (15.9%): This year, and pretty much for the past few years, the catcher position has been a graveyard of offensive talent. Even in shallow leagues that only start one catcher, a few owners will be taking a hit each week with a questionable player not getting frequent starts. McCann isn’t going to win fantasy MVP for you this year, but he can easily go under the radar to put up a top ten end-of-year catcher ranking. If that sounds unreasonable, consider that he’s currently already at 4th among all catchers.
Players to Drop:
Tim Beckham (59.4%): The only reason Tim Beckham is probably rostered in your league was due to an insanely hot start coupled with the Mariners playing a week earlier than 28 other teams. He certainly was the hot add early in the season. Since then, his numbers haven’t just dropped, they’ve fallen off a cliff entirely.
Collin McHugh (58.5%): Demoted to bullpen, struggling mightily this year, just go ahead and drop. Owners won’t be clamoring to scoop him up, so you can likely keep him on close watch to re-add later if he rights the ship.
A final note for those keeping tabs on Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel: The MLB Draft is just three weeks away from completion, so any team signing either of these players won’t have to forfeit and early round pick as compensation when signing. If rumors start to heat up it may be wise to make a speculative add if you can afford the blank spot in your lineup.
