Big Kid Adds (Week 4)

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.

Josh Winder (9): His spot start (6 IP, 7 K, 1 BB, 0 BB) was great, but he’s headed back to the bullpen with Sonny Gray coming off the IL. I’m not sure if he’s worth holding as a long reliever since he has a 4.4 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 10 relief innings. We’ll see how things go.

Kyle Isbel (8): There was a ton of hype about Isbel based on his 15 HR and 22 SB in AAA last year. The deal, for now, is that he’s on the strong side of a platoon with Edward Olivares (.745 OPS, 2 SB). Depending on each league’s rules, Isbel’s fantasy value will vary. In weekly lineups, the projected starters will matter and this week the Royals face three lefties and three righties. He’s probably unstartable. He’s in a pool of a few dozen streamable platoon candidates.

Yadiel Hernandez (7): His demand is twofold. First, the Nationals are in Colorado for the week’s first-half boosting his value. Second, he has been playing (six of the last seven, one verse a lefty) and producing (.340/.368/.509). If Steven Kwan (good AVG, no power or speed) is rostered, so should be Hernandez.

Travis Demeritte (7): The 27-year-old’s results (.283/.365/.630 with 2 HR and 2 SB) have been outstanding so far. He’s always had strikeout issues keeping him from sticking in the majors (career 34% K%), but so far this season it’s down to 27%. He’s been able to turn the improved results into seven straight starts. He’s been feasting off slow pitches with a .929 OPS versus sinkers and a 1.667 OPS versus changeups. For sliders (19% SwStr%), it’s at .571 OPS and all the way down to a .286 OPS off four-seamers (21% SwStr%). He could struggle once the league starts taking him seriously and only feeds him four-seamers and sliders.

Ross Stripling (7): He’s backing off his four-seamer (51% usage to 35%) and going back to the pitch mix that made him successful with the Dodgers. The two big result changes are his walk rate being under 2 BB/9 and his groundball rate over 50%. Now, if he would finally ditch his pathetic curve (zero swings-and-misses on 30 chances), he could take another step forward. I wouldn’t consider him a must-add pitcher but a streaming option.

Ryan Helsley (6): There was a ton of demand for Helsley on Sunday after he record a Save over a well-rested Giovanny Gallegos. I’ll let Mr. Gekko Industries explain why Helsley fetched some top dollars (Note: Excuse his French, he’s not the most refined person).

Okay all, I had too many winning bids to fit on one page, so I tried to summarize.

For your enjoyment, I added 🔥 comments!

Hope you crushed it with your FAAB pickups! 💪 pic.twitter.com/lffIcM3kjU

— Gekko Industries (@GekkoIndustries) May 2, 2022

Basically, anyone grinding for Saves should consider him.

Ian Kennedy (6): With Mark Melancon on the IL, Kennedy is a nice Saves stream until Melancon returns.

Kyle Bradish (6): A decent debut (6 IP, 2 ER, 2 K, and 1 BB) to pair with his respectable AAA numbers (10.2 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, and 50.0% GB%). I’ll go ahead and repost his fastball and slider comps from my weekly waiver wire report.

These are both above-average comps. His start tonight will go a long way to determining if these adds work out or if he’s immediately dropped.

Taylor Walls (6): With Ji-Man Choi on the IL, Yandy Diaz has moved over to first and Walls has started six straight. While his batting average is a drag, he’s performing in a real baseball sense (.234/.379/.383, 1 HR, 4 SB) because of a 17% BB%. He’s probably a must roster in all Roto leagues for the stolen bases.

Brandon Drury (6): I’m a little surprised to be writing about the 29-year-old Drury being added. He has started five straight while hitting four homers with a .250 AVG. With the Mets last year, he had about the same numbers (.275 AVG and 4 HR in 88 PA). He has bumped up his AvgEV from a career 88 mph to 93 mph this season. The extra power has his Barrel% up to 19.5%, good enough for 10th best in the league. Ride the hot hand especially with four games against Pittsburgh this weekend.

Victor Robles (5): Over the past four games, he’s hitting .600/.647/.733. In the 17 games before that, he was at .140/.196/.209. His biggest issue wasn’t the batting line as much as he was splitting center field duties with Lane Thomas (.200/.246/.250). Robles may have separated himself from Thomas by starting four straight. Even if the timeshare returns, the Nationals do have a series in Colorado to help pad everyone’s stats.

Chad Kuhl (5): The 29-year-old righty has been surprisingly decent (6.5 K/9, 1.90 ERA, and 0.85 WHIP) by focusing on his sinker and slider (combined 60% usage to 80%). This week he faces the Diamondbacks on the road, so it’s likely just a streamable start.

Michael Chavis (5): Chavis has been on my radar since he dropped his strikeout rate (34% to 23%) while hitting .286/.311/.518 with 3 HR. Additionally, he’s started eight of the last ten games. Finally, he’s qualified at second base but has eight games at first and four at third. If the playing time keeps up and the strikeouts down, he’s a bench option in all formats.

And a bonus player who was added in four leagues.

Dane Dunning (4): I was down on him based on the signs that might have been hurt. His velocity was dropping and his walks were up over his first three starts, but they’ve turned around over the last two.

He’s improved by leaning into into his slider (51% GB%, 14% SwStr%) more and his sinker (52% SwStr%, 4% SwStr%) less. A strikeout rate over 9 K/9, a 50% GB%, and a manageable walk rate. What’s not to like?