Every fantasy manager who plays long enough will have both good and bad experiences with the waiver wire and FAAB. It could be a player you were able to claim because you bid a little more in FAAB than the second-place bid. Or there might be a player you cut whom you came to regret for being so impulsive.
That player for me is Max Muncy. In 2018, Muncy had been called up to the Dodgers, and he immediately went into a slump that had him hitting .190 by May 9. I grabbed him in an NL-only rotisserie league, my main league, where any kind of free-agent hitter is scooped. I had claimed him for $5 of a $260 budget.
I was beyond frustrated with Muncy, as he was regularly sitting against lefties. There were rumors that he’d go to the minor leagues soon, and this after he hadn’t appeared in a big league game since 2016. It stood to reason that Muncy might be gone for good. He was hitting .190 as of early May, and Muncy’s lifeline was thrown to him when Justin Turner went on the IL.
That day, May 8, I cut Muncy for a relief pitcher who shall remain nameless. That first week, Muncy hit a homer and did it 32 more times over the rest of the season. His ROS batting average was .272, and he walked 72 times. The sign of the perfect slugger. Yes, he was.
And I had cut him right before going on a torrid streak. Yes, I remember it well, and dwell on it sometimes. Just can’t do that. You need to keep adding and dropping players throughout the season to hit some gold mines to outshine the clunkers. What you do is regroup, put blinders on and move forward. And keep adding and dropping players until either hitting the right combo, running out of FAAB. Just know there will be regrets. Maybe not as big as I have to Muncy, and one should be so lucky. Let’s get into some deep sleepers.
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Deep Sleepers & Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 8
Merrill Kelly (ARI – SP) ECR: 206
The surprising Diamondbacks can thank Kelly, in part, for their being in second place. The right-hander had a 25:3 K:BB rate over his past three starts, giving up 6 runs in 20 innings and picking up a pair of wins. With a 3.27 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, and coming off a season when he threw 200.1 innings, Kelly is a good bet to stay in the rotation all year. Starting Sunday against the slumping Pirates makes Kelly a streaming option who could stay on your team for good.
David Robertson (RP – NYM) ECR: 216
Robertson has four saves, two holds and one victory over his last seven appearances since April 27. After Edwin Diaz suffered his season-ending injury, the Mets’ bullpen is a battle of attrition. Robertson has 24 strikeouts in 18 innings, to go with a 1.00 ERA and pristine 0.94 WHIP. The Mets will get hot, and Robertson will get a good number of saves over the next four-plus months.
Jake Fraley (OF – CIN) ECR: 238
The Reds are bad, 19-24 bad, so that means players like Fraley get opportunities. A few days from his 28th birthday, Fraley has 29 RBI on 32 hits in 38 games. So he’s made every hit count. With five homers and five steals, Fraley will contribute across the board as long as he’s in the lineup. He’s a left-handed hitter, so he’s getting dropped in the lineup occasionally, though against righties he’s usually hitting between the second and fifth spots in the order.
Tanner Bibee (SP – CLE) ECR: 313
Needing a streaming pitcher in one of my leagues a few days ago, I grabbed Bibee and he rewarded me with 7.2 innings, allowing one run, two hits and striking out seven in a no-decision against the Angels. He’s given up two or fewer runs in three of his four starts since getting called up by the Guardians. Caution, he may get his innings limited later in the season because his career high in innings is 132.2. Sunday the Guardians are at Citi Field taking on the Mets, and Bibee will dealing against Max Scherzer.
Brent Rooker (OF – OAK) ECR: 323
Rooker has had short to moderately long cups of coffee in the big leagues, with a high of 58 games and 213 at-bats in 2021. He’s 28, so not quite a post-hype prospect. Yet him being on the A’s puts him out of mind for most fantasy players. Though a player with a .295 average, 11 homers and 30 RBI in 38 games qualifies as a player to target for fantasy. With 23 walks, he’s sporting a fantastic .408 OBP. Remember, for fantasy, it doesn’t matter how good the team is that your player is on, as long as he’s putting up stats. And Rooker is raking.
Matt McLain (2B,SS – CIN) ECR: N/A
McLain is the latest hot-shot prospect to make his major-league debut, and he could not have arrived fast enough for the Reds. The 2021 first-round pick out of UCLA destroyed Triple-A pitching to the tune of a triple-slash line of .348/.474/.710, and hit 12 homers with 40 RBI and 10 steals in 38 games. That was a surprise coming off a disappointing Double-A season where he hit .232 with 127 strikeouts in 371 at-bats. What’s especially encouraging is that he hit second in the lineup his first two games.
Yes, Elly De La Cruz and Noelvi Marte are other stud minor-league infield prospects for the Reds, but McLain has the chance in the bigs right now. With a three-game home series against the Yankees starting Friday, there will be extra eyeballs on McLain. He may struggle with strikeouts at times, but with power and speed, and playing home games in a hitter’s paradise, he could reward those who scoop him up quickly.
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