Happy post-Father’s Day, Razzball world! I say that knowing full well that the key demographic for our delightful corner of the internet are middle-aged men fending off sleep deprivation while trying to keep their kids on the right path in life. What’s the right path? Why, the path that understands that Star Trek is better than Star Wars, of course! I should stay on brand. Are we teaching our kids that closers don’t matter, and never to draft a top catcher? As long as we unite along those unchangeable truths of the universe, we’ll be fine. Now let’s help your fantasy team a little bit!
That’s What I Like
Trevor Story, SS, Red Sox: Stop me if you’ve heard this before — former All Star loses his touch, gets forgotten by everybody, and then goes on a hot streak. Is this a return to form? Or just noise? Remember how Martin Perez has about 1 month of Cy Young stats every year and then is a 6.00 ERA pitcher the rest of the year? Let’s figure out what kind of story Trevor is writing. First and foremost: there’s a lot of fantasy fatigue over Story, given that he hasn’t been relevant since leaving Coors Field. Sure, there are injuries, but even on a per game basis, he’s been nearly 20% worse than the average schmoe from 2021 onwards. Seems like we’ve lived a lifetime since then, eh? ENYWHEY. Trevor Story is on a hot streak over the past week — batting .387 with a .677 slugging rate while lowering his K rate below 10%. Never mind the fact that he batted .158 in May with a 35% K rate. We’re here for upside! This is a risky pick for your team, but we’re talking about a guy that has stellar skills but has just run into a prolonged slow period. Could we be looking at a fresh start for Story? The Statcast numbers don’t look great, and he’s not hitting enough line drives…but…164 wRC+ over the past week is nothing to scoff at. Story’s become available in about 15% of leagues, which is A) terrifying because why was everybody rostering him in the first place, and B) disappointing because you’re probably adding him as UTIL / bench depth until we figure out if his streak is legit or not.
Carlos Narvaez, C, Red Sox: Should we just make an east coast post for today? You always need a catcher. Unless you and your league mates went and made a dream league where there are zero catchers. But no! Instead of doing zero catcher leagues, us fantasy baseballers keep doing sadistic things like making two catcher leagues and 24 teams and quality start categories. ENYWHEY. I’ll be totally honest that I don’t follow east coast ball all that much and I had the Sox game on in the background and saw this catcher named Narvaez batting cleanup and I was like, “Have the Sox fallen so far that Omar Narvaez is their run creator?” Turns out it’s Omar’s cousin Carlos playing in Beantown. Today I learned! Carlos has a stellar eye at the plate and great on-base skills coupled with acceptable contact rates (for a catcher). He hadn’t quite blown away the minor league competition with his bat, which probably explains why he’s getting his first meaningful service time accumulation at the age of 26. And he’s making the most of it, with a .286 average on the year, pairing with a .465 slugging rate and six homers. Believe it or not, he’s even been known to steal a bit, swiping 12 bags across the minors in 2023 and 9 bags in 2024. If you’re in an OBP league, Carlos Narvaez is a must-stash (and he has a bit of one!). In standard leagues, Narvaez is the kind of guy that you’ll want to either watch list or add as your primary catcher. His upside seems a bit limited, but at worst, he’s not hurting you in any category. He’s available in about 25% of leagues.
Jorge Polanco, 2B, Mariners: While tons of people were holding on to Trevor Story even though he’s been awful for 4 years, a bunch of people have been sleeping on Jorge Polanco. Polanco was slightly below average last year, but has otherwise been above average as a hitter for 75% of his MLB seasons. That’s a pretty good rate! He’s available in about 40% of leagues at the time of writing, despite being on pace for over 25 homers if he stays healthy. Polanco’s weakness since moving to Seattle has been his K rate, but he’s trimmed it to a sweet-looking 12.5% this year, which is nothing to complain about. His proclivity for swinging has killed his walk rate, but you weren’t drafting him for that in the first place. You were drafting him for his above average per game power and potentially non-awful batting average. 2B isn’t exactly rich in players, so give Polanco a chance if you need middle infield help.
I’m the Problem, It’s Me
Anthony Santander, OF, Blue Jays: Outfield was awful this year, and one of the power spotlights has gone out. Santander was always that guy you drafted as OF4/UTIL to add some pop. His average was always a bit dull, but you could count on him to boost your dinger category without looking like Joey Gallo. Until this year. After crushing 44 dongs last year and securing a fair payday from the Blue Jays in the off-season, Santander can’t make contact this year. His K rate has soared to the highest point of his career, and his barrel rate is a meager 4.6%. How about the advanced stats? Expected batting average of .197 and expected slugging of .320. You could quite literally replace Santander with a random catcher and do better this year. ENYWHEY. He’s on the IL right now, but should be tracking to come back soon, and managers will have to figure out whether to activate him or drop him. As noted, you could get better production out of almost anybody, so I’m in the camp of dropping him when he’s ready to return.
