Fantasy baseball is all about the long game. Players you drafted early who struggle are not suddenly untalented bums who should be dropped to the waiver wire at a moment’s notice.
There is a method to the madness of this game and baseball as a whole. Slumps happen, and when a talented player gets out of one, they typically do so in a glorious manner.
Fantasy Baseball 10 Burning Questions
We have to be patient unless something substantive, like injury or age concerns, becomes evident. Without either of the two, we are merely two months into a grueling, 162-game season, which can only be conquered through a diligent process.
This week’s ’10 Burning Questions’ are below. For any questions or concerns, contact me on Twitter/X (@RotoSurgeon).
1.) When should we expect Roman Anthony‘s call?
Yes, the Red Sox could be manipulating Roman Anthony’s service time, but the more likely issue is that their infield is in shambles rather than their outfield. Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran are all great outfielders, while the possibility of Anthony as the team’s designated hitter is out of the question given the Rafael Devers conundrum. Devers only wants to play third base, which makes the Red Sox settle with him as their designated hitter.
Many assumed the Alex Bregman injury would open up a roster spot for Anthony, but this brought Marcelo Mayer to the Majors instead. The likeliest scenario for Anthony’s call-up going forward is an injury to one of the three starting outfielders or a trade. He will be up this season based on his production, but we may have to wait until the deadline. If you are short on roster spots and behind in the standings, dropping him is warranted, but otherwise, hold for another few weeks, given the Red Sox’s slide in the standings.
It is not looking good. Zac Gallen is a shell of his former self since his ridiculous second start against the Yankees with 13 strikeouts, three hits, zero walks and zero earned runs in 6.2 innings. He has posted a 5.95 ERA and 4.61 xFIP with an 8.5% K-BB rate across his past 10 starts (56 innings).
There have been no reports of an injury for Gallen nor velocity decline, which makes this downtick in performance all the more confounding. Unfortunately, there has been a steady decline in Gallen’s strikeout rate over the past four seasons while his walk rate increased. This concerning trend may indicate that this is closer to who he is going forward, rather than the elite form he demonstrated in 2022.
Gallen can be safely dropped given that he struggled at home against awful offenses like the Pirates and Rockies.
Yes. This is the second season in a row that Ryan O’Hearn has shown significant growth. However, this jump is well beyond his strikeout cut and increased walk rate last season. O’Hearn is hitting the ball hard just right with the lowest launch angle and highest sweet spot of his career. This is resulting in more groundballs but with his second-best line drive rate and best xwOBA ever.
O’Hearn is making regular, quality contact against both lefties and righties, and that is driving this surge. On top of that, the re-adjustment of Oriole Park at Camden Yards has helped add a few early home runs. O’Hearn is six dingers away from tying his 2024 career-high with 103 games to go. Expect him to cross that total soon while maintaining a quality average. Roster him everywhere if possible.
4.) Who should we buy low?
Juan Soto is an obvious answer, but he is the best buy-low candidate in fantasy baseball. Soto is hitting the ball as hard as ever while walking and striking out at normal career rates. Nothing has changed besides his offensive environment from the friendly confines of Yankee Stadium to the pitcher-friendly Citi Field.
Soto may not hit 35+ home runs like the past two seasons, but he should post plenty across the rest of this season while increasing his batting average back to his career .280 range.
5.) Who should we sell high?
Jacob Wilson‘s batting average is very real, but his power is a fluke. Wilson has benefited from pulling several balls over the left field, but his hard-hit rate remains in the bottom 5% of the league.
Wilson should remain a valuable fantasy asset throughout the season in the Athletics’ hitter-friendly park and improved offense, but without much power or speed, his production is much more replaceable.
6.) Who can we drop?
Get rid of Marcus Semien. Yes, he is somewhat unlucky, but even with expected regression, Semien is in the twilight of his career. The 34-year-old second baseman is striking out at his highest rate since 2017 while also batting toward the bottom of the Rangers’ order. This combination is deadly for his fantasy value, which was reliant on accumulating stats from the leadoff spot.
This Texas offense is not good enough to risk holding Semien much longer. Corey Seager is on and off the injured list (IL), Wyatt Langford is not a superstar yet, Evan Carter has failed to stay healthy and Adolis Garcia has declined. The Rangers are testing new lineups every week, and none of them work. Use Semien’s roster spot on a younger middle infielder in a much better offense or at least a great home park (Colt Keith, Brett Baty and Marcelo Mayer are all worth a shot).
7.) Does Clayton Kershaw have anything in the tank?
As a Dodgers fan, it breaks my heart to say that Clayton Kershaw is done. The organization is simply desperate for starters due to their injury situation and is giving Kershaw grace in his (likely) final year to crack 3,000 strikeouts. The future Hall of Famer is 26 strikeouts short of the historic mark and should cross it within the next two months. Once he does so and the other starters return, he is likely getting relegated to a spot-starting role, if not phantom IL.
Kershaw’s fastball velocity is lower than ever (averaging 89.2 miles per hour) while his strikeout and walk rate are even. He is not a viable MLB starter and will have games with crooked numbers in the earned run column. Do not roster or stream him.
The offseason fears for Willy Adames have come to fruition. He is struggling to hit in another pitcher-friendly park, not stealing bases like he did in 2023 and he is not displaying any glimmers of hope.
Adames’ expected batting average is even with his actual average, while his slugging percentage is just slightly behind his expected number (.386). The Giants’ offense as a whole is struggling to produce, yet they are still several games above .500 thanks to their talented pitching staff.
Unless San Francisco makes a major trade deadline acquisition that bolsters this 23rd-ranked offense, Adames will continue to struggle due to a lack of support.
9.) Is Andy Pages worth holding with the Dodgers’ offense healthy?
Yes. Andy Pages is one of baseball’s best corner outfielders this season and has produced well with his bat. He has nine home runs and six steals through 52 games with a quality .270 average in one of baseball’s best offenses.
Also, Mookie Betts may miss time due to a stubbed toe. Every day playing time is a near-lock for Pages, who has only missed one game across the past two weeks unless his bat cools down significantly.
10.) Who should we stash?
Another obvious answer like Juan Soto earlier… Jac Caglianone. He was recently promoted from Double-A to Triple-A without losing a step. Caglianone is hitting the cover off of balls this season with 14 homers and nine doubles in 47 games. That is desperately needed in a Royals’ offense ranked fifth-worst by wRC+. His strikeout rate increased slightly, but so did his walk rate.
The Royals’ top prospect is knocking on MLB’s door and should be called up early in June.
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