Connect with us

Published

on

This week offers up a clear case of opportunity knocking, especially when it comes to outfielders. A pair of longtime rivals, both of whom recently moved into his team’s cleanup spot, stand out among the most popular fantasy baseball pickups.

Alex Verdugo, OF, New York Yankees (34.9% rostered in ESPN leagues): In an unexpected development, especially looking at the big names that grace the Yankees roster, Verdugo earned starts out of the cleanup spot both Saturday and Sunday in Milwaukee. Coincidentally, the team scored 15 runs in each game. Verdugo chipped in with five hits and two homers over the three-game series. He is the only Yankee to have played in all 29 games (as well as all 263 innings) and is batting .333 (22-for-66) over his last 19 contests.

To be straightforward, I’m not traditionally a Verdugo believer. His skill set screams “platoon man” — see his .295 career wOBA against lefties compared to .345 against righties. Plus, he makes only modest contact (never a better than 38th percentile Statcast Barrel rate and only twice greater than 39th percentile hard-hit rate), which might mean he’s still a situational, matchups-type fantasy play. That said, Verdugo has shown much better selectivity against lefties (15.9% walk and 21.2% chase rates compared to his 16.9% and 24.5% career numbers against that side). He’s also showing a hint of elevation in his swing, which is a good thing for a lefty who calls Yankee Stadium his home.

Perhaps Verdugo is a short-term add, best traded at the peak of an upcoming hot streak. However, as his skill set is well-suited for points-based leagues (currently OF8 in fantasy points), perhaps he’s ready to deliver something more.

Wilyer Abreu, OF, Boston Red Sox (17.0% rostered): The most disappointing of Boston’s many outfield combatants this spring, Abreu was fortunate to make the Opening Day roster after hitting just .127/.286/.270 with a 33.8% strikeout rate over 77 Grapefruit League plate appearances. Trevor Story‘s season-ending injury, however, coaxed the team to shift Ceddanne Rafaela to shortstop to compensate, allowing Abreu to sneak into regular corner outfield duty.

Abreu, thus far, has given the team plus-defense and similar power metrics to his brief 2023 stint, and his patience at the plate is another positive. Abreu brings much more power to the table than either Rafaela or Jarren Duran, having posted a .216 ISO while averaging one home run per 19 at-bats between the majors and minors from 2021-23. That’s probably why he has become attractive enough to the Red Sox to earn cleanup-spot starts in six of their past seven games. He’s another “universal add” thanks to his expanded opportunity.

Pay attention: One more “outfielder,” or at least an OF-eligible player to consider is Houston Astros prospect Joey Loperfido (5.6%), reportedly set to join the team for the start of their series against the Cleveland Guardians. Eric Karabell will have much more to say about Loperfido’s fantasy potential on Tuesday.

How are they still available?!

Mason Miller, SP/RP, Oakland Athletics (56.6%): A sensation during the past week’s series against the Yankees, Miller has quickly emerged as a top-shelf closer, armed with a 100.7-mph fastball and slider, each of which has a 50% whiff rate thus far. He has notched the save in each of his past seven opportunities, striking out a stunning 17 out of 24 batters faced while allowing only one hit over that time.

My mea culpa: I did not expect the Athletics to regard him as a traditional, single-inning closer this year — and certainly not this quickly. I likened his probable role to that of Garrett Whitlock‘s for the 2021-22 Red Sox. Well, Miller looks the part, and this year’s Athletics team is nowhere near as terrible as last year’s, on pace to shave 99 runs off their run differential (although admittedly, they’re still likely to be beneath minus-200 in that department).

Riley Greene, OF, Detroit Tigers (40.4%): I was a huge Greene backer in the preseason and remain one today, not that that’s a difficult stance to take when he’s one of those players whose Statcast page is a sea of red — that’s the color you want to see there. Though his surface-level rotisserie numbers appear ordinary, among batting title-eligibles, he has the seventh-best Barrel rate and is the MLB leader in walk rate (19.2%). Greene still seems destined for a 2024 breakout. On a side note, what is it with Tigers outfielders with stunning metrics and so-so back of the baseball card stats (see: Castellanos, Nick while with Detroit)?

Deeper-league add

Jo Adell, OF, Los Angeles Angels (3.3%): Could Adell, the No. 10 overall pick of the 2017 amateur draft (as well as Kiley McDaniel’s No. 10 overall prospect entering his 2020 debut season), finally be breaking through after struggling through four disappointing big league years? He has hit .400 (8-for-20) with two home runs in six games over the past week and, while such small sample sizes carry minimal weight, what stands out in his season-to-date profile is a more all-field approach (career-low 35% pull rate) — especially against fastballs — along with a greater lift in his swing (career-low 32% ground ball rate) and a greater quality of contact (career-best 51% hard hit rate).

It’s not the first time he has enjoyed some very short-term success as he managed to hit .300/.344/.533 over his final 16 games of 2021, for example. However, it wouldn’t be a complete shock to learn that this is the “figuring it out” phase for a player whom scouts said might struggle initially due to his free-swinging ways. Adell is well worth the speculative stash in any league larger than standard.

Two-start streamer

Bailey Falter, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates (15.1%): Any pitcher who draws matchups at the Athletics and at home against the Colorado Rockies is a seemingly automatic start for fantasy purposes (despite my earlier comment about the Athletics’ year-over-year “improvement”). The Forecaster grades both of those opponents as a top-five matchup on either the home or road side of things, for both run prevention and strikeout potential.

What stands out with Falter, however, is his amount of extension with his pitches, releasing his fastball 7.4 feet in front of the pitching rubber, which ranks among the very highest numbers in baseball and gives his 91.3 mph pitch the look of a pitch noticeably faster. He averaged 92.0 mph with the pitch while striking out eight Milwaukee Brewers in his last turn, which was a solid stepping stone toward these advantageous matchups.

Feel free to cut: Jackson Holliday (35.7%), although certainly not in keeper/dynasty formats; Triston Casas (64.0%); Adbert Alzolay (54.2%); Gavin Williams (14.9%).

Continue Reading

Sports

Knight’s Choice salutes in Melbourne Cup boilover

Published

on

By

Knight's Choice salutes in Melbourne Cup boilover

Knight’s Choice has won the 2024 Melbourne Cup, defeating Warp Speed and Okita Soushi in a thrilling finish at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon.

The massive outsider saluted for Irish-born jockey Robbie Dolan, who claimed victory in what was his first ever ride in the “race that stops a nation”.

In what was a gripping 164th staging of Australia’s most-watched thoroughbred race, Knight’s Choice proved too strong in a sprint to the finish, pulling over the top of Okita Soushi and holding off Warp Speed by the barest of margins.

Trained by John Symons and Sheila Laxon on the Sunshine Coast, Knight’s Choice was well down the betting across all markets. It was Laxon’s second Melbourne Cup triumph after she trained Ethereal to victory 23 years ago.

“This is the pinnacle of all pinnacles, this is the Melbourne Cup,” Symons said.

Zardozi rounded out the first four.

As the field approached the final few hundred metres it appeared as though Jamie Kah, aboard Okita Soushi, would become just the second woman to ride the winner in the Melbourne Cup. But Okita Soushi was swallowed up as the winning post neared, with Knight’s Choice beating Warp Speed to the line after a peach of a ride from Dolan.

“We’ll be singing tonight after a few beers,” Dolan, who was a contestant on the 2022 edition of “The Voice”, told Channel 9.

“It is amazing and a lot of people doubted this little horse. Doubt me now.”

Laxon was more than happy with the ride, with Dolan threading his way through the field from near last on the bend.

“He started the race, and he knew how to ride him. We didn’t give him instructions, he knew what to do,” she said.

“I love it being down for the Australians. The Australian horse has done it, and Robbie is Australian now as well, so I’m thrilled to win the Cup, and it is the people’s Cup, and that’s what it is all about.”

Knight’s Choice is just the sixth Australian-bred horse to win since 1993, and the first since Vow and Declare back in 2019.

The five-year-old gelding carried only 51kg to victory and was making its first start over the 3200m trip. It had most recently come off a fifth-placed finish in the Bendigo Cup, but had showed sparing little form this preparation otherwise.

“I watched every Melbourne Cup for the last 40 years. I thought my best chance was to get him to stay the trip and, hopefully, he can run home and do the quick sectionals he can on a good track and he proved everybody wrong,” Dolan said.

Continue Reading

Sports

Peralta picks up option with Padres, Kim declines

Published

on

By

Peralta picks up option with Padres, Kim declines

SAN ANTONIO — Left-hander Wandy Peralta exercised his $4.25 million option to remain with the San Diego Padres on Monday.

Gold Glove infielder Ha-Seong Kim declined his $8 million mutual option to become a free agent and will receive a $2 million buyout.

Peralta was guaranteed $16.5 million under what could be a four-year deal. He had a $3.35 million salary this year, and the deal includes player options for $4.45 million in both 2026 and 2027.

The 33-year-old had a 3.99 ERA in 46 relief appearances this year. He was sidelined between July 9 and Sept. 4 by a left adductor strain.

Kim tore the labrum in his right shoulder on Aug. 18 and needed season-ending surgery. He hit .233 with 11 homers and 22 stolen bases in the final season of a $28 million, four-year contract.

Continue Reading

Sports

Kershaw declines option, is officially free agent

Published

on

By

Kershaw declines option, is officially free agent

SAN ANTONIO — Three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw declined his $10 million player option with the Los Angeles Dodgers, electing to become a free agent.

The MLB Players Association listed Kershaw as a free agent in a statement released Monday. The left-hander is still expected to re-sign with the Dodgers, his only big league team during his 17-year career.

The 36-year-old was hurt for much of last season, finishing with a 2-2 record and a 4.50 ERA over seven starts.

The Dodgers did exercise a $5 million option for infielder Miguel Rojas and a $3.5 million option for catcher Austin Barnes. Barnes is the second-longest tenured Dodgers player behind Kershaw, playing 10 seasons.

Rojas, 35, just finished one of the best seasons of his 11-year career, batting .283 with six homers and 36 RBIs. Barnes hit .264 with one homer and 11 RBIs.

Los Angeles also extended a $21.05 million qualifying offer to slugger Teoscar Hernandez, who hit a career-high 33 homers. Players have until 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 19 to accept.

If Hernandez does, he will be under contract with the Dodgers for another season. If he declines and signs elsewhere, his new team must forfeit at least one draft pick and Los Angeles will receive at least one draft pick as compensation.

Continue Reading

Trending