Happy Memorial Day, America-dwellers! If you’re like our good-natured Canadian friend Marmos, you may not know that we ‘Mericuhns celebrate veterans by crushing Coors cans during boat parades. Indeed, plural parades. Sometimes there’s even brewskis in those cans, although in this economy, there’s a non-zero chance we’re just digging them out of the trash of Coachella. Yacht rock at its finest!
Have a great and safe holiday, and here’s my gift to you — some help for your fantasy team!
That’s What I Like
Camilo Doval, P, Giants: The once and future king! If you know me, you know I’m a big fan of two things: 1) snacks, 2) beds where I can eat snacks. I’m a fan of more things as well, and somewhere in-between “shrubs” and “leftovers from a good restaurant” is Camilo Doval. Relievers are a weird bird. Somehow, starters are expected to go out there and do a good job for a hundred pitches every fifth day in front of tens of thousands of people. But half a game later, they hand the ball off to a reliever, who throws less than 20 pitches — ideally — and leaves the game with a Win or a Save and a bunch of fandom. Doval crapped the bed earlier in the year and was basically ejected from everybody’s fantasy team. Then the rest of April played out, and now we’re facing the end of May and you know what? Doval hasn’t allowed a run in the past 18 innings. During that time, he’s racked up 2 Wins, 3 Saves, and 7 Holds. How about them apples? (Shoves my iPhone with a picture of an apple against a car window). Ryan Walker is still nominally the closer in San Fran, but he’s really not great this year (5.00 ERA, more walks than strikeouts in May). He’s still sneaking in some saves, but at some point the organization is gonna wise up to the fact that closers can’t give up runs, and Doval used to be [checks notes] the closer. Doval’s available in 15% of leagues, and even if he continues to be a setup man, he’s providing plenty of value on 12-team rosters.
Carson Kelly, C, Cubs: Kelly got a writeup much earlier in the year when he was still the backup to the younger Miguel Amaya. Well, Amaya’s out with a strained oblique, and if you know catchers, they need that muscle. How else are they gonna throw out Rickey Henderson from their knees? Kelly’s had a renaissance in Chicago — and that’s a big word that means “he paints really well.” He’s certainly slowed down a bit from his hot start, batting a mere .245 in the month of May, albeit with 11 Runs and a 10% walk rate. That said, he’s batting .350 over the last week with a .550 slugging and there’s still plenty to like about his improved profile. Again, we’re not talking about the next arrival of Ronald Acuna Jr. — we’re talking about a free catcher off the waiver wire that’s producing runs above league average and is about to get full time at bats. He’s available in about 20% of leagues.
Jake Meyers, OF, Astros: I’m not above recommending a bunch of guys I’ve already told you to add. If you added Meyers a month ago, when I first wrote about him, you would have had an outfielder who gave you more homers and RBI than Manny Machado. What’s better? Meyers had a nearly .370 batting average over that period while being a free addition off the waiver wire. He just broke a 9-game hitting streak, but what’s better is that he had a 10-game hitting streak before that. Call him the streak! Meyers’ career has been marked by poor contact, but we’re seeing his whiff rate plummet and his contact rates soar, so there’s a lot to like. He’s still available in 25% of leagues, and I’d take a free Manny Machado production rate if I were you.
I’m the Problem, It’s Me
Marcus Semien, 2B, Rangers: Marcus Semien’s draft value is in part due to two things: 1) he gets a bajillion at bats for batting at the top of the order and being healthy, and 2) he plays a premium position. Year after year, he cranks 20+ homers and gets 100ish RBIs/Runs, and we love that. But you know what happens when an “at bats guy” goes wrong? It hurts your team 20-30% more than the regular waiver wire Joes. Semien’s never been one for stellar contact, but this year his whiff rate is the highest its been since his rookie season. His line drive rate has lowered every year since 2021, and now we’re talking about a 15% line drive rate guy who’s striking out 20+% of the time. He’s been dropped to the bottom of the lineup, where he’ll get a chance to work on some things and try to work out of his current slump. There’s not a lot to like in his peripherals for the year, so it’d be good to move on from him before his value tanks too much more. It’s basic math — that .160 average is bad, but it’s even worse when he’s got 20-30% more at bat volume than the rest of your team. Anchors away!
