Big Kid Adds (8/23/22)

While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even a larger entry fee ($2.5K to $15K). They get originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and this year there are nine of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers are going to try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in five or more of these leagues:

Dustin May (9): May looked great in his first start off the IL with 9K, 2 BB, and 0 ER in 5 IP. With a small sampling of his pitches, here are the comps based on the characteristics (e.g. velocity, spin, etc…) of the pitch.

Sinker

Curve/Slider

Four-seamer

Cutter

Some observations

• The curve/slider and the four-seamer project to be elite pitches.
• The sinker and the curve/slider have similar shapes to some of his previous offerings. The four-seamer and cutter have new shapes.

A must-roster in all formats.

Brett Baty (9): I thought the 22-year-old Baty had a chance to take the Mets third base job for years to come, but he’s struggling at the plate. In AA he hit .312/.406/.544 with 19 HR and 2 SB and just had 26 AAA PA (.825 OPS). In the majors, he only has 27 PA while hitting .125/.222/.250 with a .118 BABIP is dragging him down. There is some good and bad in his handful of at-bats.

On the positive, he’s hit the ball hard (113 maxEV, 39% HardHit%) with good plate discipline (7% BB%, 22% K%). On the negative, he’s hitting everything on the ground (72% GB%) while just seeing 42% fastballs.

Boom or bust play.

Shea Langeliers (9): He’s a catcher with upside so he’ll be added in any two-catcher leagues. In AAA, he was hitting .283/.366/.510 with 19 HR and 5 SB. In 24 MLB PA, he has 1 HR and a .928 OPS. The only drawback so far is that he has 11 K in 24 PA (46% K%) as the league is feeding him fastballs only 36% of the time (league average is 49%).

Stone Garrett (9): Garrett has started in four of five games since being promoted while hitting in the heart of the lineup. In AAA, he was hitting .275/.332/.568 with 28 HR and 15 SB. In just 17 MLB PA, he has 1 SB to go with a 1.000 OPS.

The league is staying away from throwing him fastballs (37% seen) but he’s not striking out much (18% K%).

With the outfield player pool full of platoons and suspect talent, Garrett becomes a nice option.

Austin Voth (7): Since joining the Orioles, Voth has a 2.81 ERA, 3.89 xFIP, 1.13 WHIP, and 8.3 K/9. The low ERA and WHIP are from a .265 BABIP but his ERA estimators are in the high-3.00’s, so with the current waiver wire landscape, a decent add.

Compared to previous seasons, his biggest change is throwing the fastball (10% SwStr%) less going from 60% last season to 44% this season. He’s upped the usage of his curve (11% SwStr%) and cutter (13% SwStr%). Also over the last four games, he’s dabbled with a new slider that grades out pretty high.

Even though he has two starts this week, I wasn’t thrilled to use him (vs CWS, at HOU). I do think it was a nice week for an add-and-bench. Roster him on the cheap and see how he does in the two starts. Once they are done, the decision can be made if he’s taken a step forward or needs to head back to the waiver wire.

Kerry Carpenter (7): Carpenter was destroying the minor leagues with a combined .313/.380/.645 and 30 HR in AA and AAA. Even though he’s been on the MLB team for a few weeks, the 24-year-old wasn’t drawing too much attention because he has just three starts over his first six-game stretch. Since then, he’s started five of the next six games and is hitting .222/.313/.481 with 2 HR.

Another full-time outfielder with power who is on the waiver wire.

Luis Garcia (6): With Josh Hader taking a break from closing, Garcia (3.40 ERA, 2.99 xFIP, 1.24 WHIP, 9.6 K/9) got the team’s first Save since the change. It was Garcia’s third Save of the season to go with 18 Holds. Besides Hader and Taylor Rogers, Garcia has been used in more high-leverage situations than the rest of the bullpen.

A short-term Saves play while Hader rights the ship.

Kyle Finnegan (5): It seemed like Carl Edwards Jr. had the closer’s job after two Saves before the FAAB run two weeks ago. Fantasy managers moved on from Finnegan (3.26 ERA, 3.30 xFIP, 9.2 K/9, and 1.13 WHIP) and then he goes out and gets three Saves last week.

Finnegan needs to be added in leagues where anyone who gets near a Save is rostered.

Robbie Grossman (5): Grossman went from starting about a third of the time to now having started in seven straight games while batting ninth. So far with the Braves, he’s hitting .220/.319/.415 with 2 HR and 0 SB.

Again, finding outfielders with full-time jobs is tough.

Sam Haggerty (5): I was all in on Haggerty with my initial Sunday bids, then I backed off when he didn’t start because of a bad shoulder, and then I went back in when he came off the bench to steal a couple of bases. Where a team is in need of steals, they should have Haggerty on their radar.

While he has been hitting (.310/.357/.491 with 4 HR and 10 SB in 127 PA), for a while he was playing about every other day. Then over a stretch of 15 games, he started in 13 of them before a bad shoulder kept him out for two games.

If playing, a must roster in all Roto leagues.

Ryan Yarbrough (5): I see Yarbrough is available and “starting” (he is sometimes the follower), but I can’t pull the trigger on him. It’s time for a semi-deep dive.

In the early part of June, he was demoted to AAA and at the time he had a 5.65 ERA, 6.3 K/9, and 1.53 WHIP. Since returning later in the month, he has posted a 3.47 ERA, 7.7 K/9, and 1.10. The biggest change was from his walk rate dropping from 3.1 BB/9 to 1.5 BB/9 because his Zone% increased from 50% to 54%.

The biggest issue with Yarbrough is that he doesn’t go late into games. Over his last four “starts” he has gone 4.0 IP, 3.1 IP, 4.0 IP, and 4.1 IP while only facing a lineup the third time just once for just one batter. He’s been in 15 games and has just one Win.

On top of the limited chance for a Win, he’s lined up to face the Red Sox this week and the Yankees next week. Hard pass for now.

P.J. Higgins (5): The 29-year-old has catcher qualification but has started in six of the last seven games at first base. Additionally, he’s hitting .246/.313/.459 with 6 HR in 136 PA. With all these leagues being the two-catcher format, Higgins is a must roster.