Welcome to our weekly fantasy baseball burning questions article. Each week, I’ll dive into 10 key questions that are popular within the fantasy community.
These will be carefully chosen to ensure that only the most polarizing topics and players are featured. Let’s get into my 10 burning questions.
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Fantasy Baseball 10 Burning Questions
1. Is Gerrit Cole back?
Gerrit Cole has been phenomenal since returning from Tommy John surgery. Heading into Wednesday’s action, he threw 12.2 scoreless innings with a 26.7% strikeout rate.
Like Zack Wheeler, this is another example of how you should never underestimate an elite pitcher, even if they’re coming off a serious injury. It’s wheels up for Cole for the rest of the season.
2. Should you pick up Noelvi Marte?
Noelvi Marte surprisingly got sent down earlier this season. This shocked fantasy managers, as many had liked his upside, especially after a strong second half last season.
Marte slashed .369/.409/.575 with eight home runs and nine stolen bases in 176 plate appearances once sent down. I think he’s going to hit the ground running, making him a must-add in all formats.
3. Is Joc Pederson back on the fantasy radar?
Joc Pederson was extremely disappointing last season, which was his first season with the Rangers, where he slashed .181/.285/.328 with nine home runs in 306 plate appearances.
But Pederson has been red-hot lately, making him worth a pickup, especially in on-base percentage (OBP) leagues. In his last 14 days, he has a .300/.404/.750 slash line with five home runs in 48 plate appearances.
4. Should you buy low on Tyler Soderstrom?
There’s still time to buy low on Tyler Soderstrom. His season-long slash line is still abysmal at .226/.315/.425 with seven home runs in 241 plate appearances.
However, Soderstrom is starting to get on track, slashing .381/.480/.643 with two home runs in 50 plate appearances in the last 14 days. Try to see if you can get him at a discount. It looks like he’s back.
5. What to make of Reid Detmers?
Reid Detmers is one of those pitchers whose underlying metrics are much better than his surface stats. The Angels lefty has a 2.92 xERA, which is much lower than his 4.63 ERA.
You have to love Detmers’ 28.5% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. That’s the kind of strikeout-to-walk ratio worth pursuing. I’d look to buy because public sentiment toward Detmers is usually negative due to his volatility.
6. What’s up with Noah Cameron?
Noah Cameron has been absolutely on fire lately, allowing a combined three earned runs in his last three starts, spanning 18 innings.
During this stretch, Cameron has racked up 20 strikeouts to only three walks. It certainly appears like he’s figured it out. We saw what Cameron can do while in a rhythm, so pick him up immediately if he’s available on your waiver wire.
7. Has Tatsuya Imai arrived?
Tatsuya Imai is starting to show us why he was hyped during the offseason, allowing just two earned runs over his last two starts, spanning 12 innings.
While he’s only struck out seven with six walks during this stretch, it’s still encouraging to see Imai limit the damage. Pick him up if he’s still available. This may just be a case of a pitcher taking time to figure it out in his first year in the Majors.
8. What’s up with Shota Imanaga?
After an encouraging start to the season, Shota Imanaga has hit a wall in a major way, allowing 20 earned runs in his last three starts, spanning 15.2 innings.
I think we’ll look back on this as just a really bad stretch. I’d look to buy low on Imanaga to take advantage of a panicking leaguemate.
9. Is Aaron Nola back on the fantasy radar?
Aaron Nola has found his groove in his last two starts, allowing a combined four earned runs in 11 innings with zero walks and 13 strikeouts. You have to like the elite command he’s shown during this stretch.
The problem is that both starts were against an ice-cold Padres lineup. Let’s see how Nola does in his next turn before being fully confident that he’s back on track.
10. What to do with Bo Bichette?
Bo Bichette is struggling mightily in his first season with the Mets. This looks like the classic case of a free agent signing struggling in their first year with their new team.
I think Bichette will eventually get going, but it’s hard to overlook the likelihood that this is a lost season for him.
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