Four Players I’m Watchlisting

Mike talked earlier this week about being patient, essentially arguing that the best moves you can make this early in the season are no moves.  In other words, the season is so young and the sample size so small that you shouldn’t overreact.  While that is probably true, it doesn’t hurt to prepare yourself to pounce on a potential free agent waiver pick up if you see a skill or talent that looks convincing.  Sometimes you need to jump early to find the best bargain of the season, so here are four players that I’m watching closely over the next week or two.

Aledmys Diaz (SS, STL)

The Cardinals signed Diaz out of Cuba in 2014 with little fanfare, and his slow start in the minors did nothing but hurt him as he was actually DFA’d not long after.  Jeff profiled Diaz’s turnaround here, but right now he’s hitting my watchlist because he’s hitting out of the gate in 2016 to the tune of a .533 ISO (3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR).   Perhaps more importantly, Diaz is getting some playing time while Jhonny Peralta nurses a bum thumb, starting four games so far at SS as of this writing.

Are we dealing with small samples here? You bet (.583 BABIP).  Do we have really any idea what Diaz is capable of? No, not really.  But sometimes it pays to plan ahead and to take an early risk, so that’s really all we’re talking about here: keep an eye on Diaz.  The bar for SS is pretty low, so it doesn’t take much to make a guy like Diaz useful in deep leagues if he continues to hit and play MI.  He’s making solid contact and has only struck out twice in 15 AB’s, so he at least has some idea of the strike zone.  If Diaz can somehow settle in as a top 15ish SS, you’ll want to be the ready to add him quickly after only a few more AB samples.

Miguel Castro (RP, COL)

Castro landed in COL as part of the Tulo-to-TOR trade last season, and Dan recently profiled him as having “one of the best fastball/changeup combinations in the game”.  He also happens to be one of the youngest players in the majors at just over 21 years old.  While it’s likely Castro’s lack of command and early relegation to the COL bullpen has kept him off most radars thus far, he won’t stay off the grid for long if he continues to blow away hitters in the way he’s done so far through the first few games this season.  Castro’s 96 mph fastball is getting plenty of swinging strikes, but it appears he’s got a new toy in a solid slider (to go along with the change) that is racking up the K’s (15.75 K/9; 46.7 K%).  Again, we’re dealing with just 4 IP so far, so this could be meaningless in another week (and even if it is meaningful he’s unlikely to supplant McGee at closer any time soon), but Castro has the youth and pedigree to justify at least a quick look in leagues that count Holds, and the home ballpark to make him all but ignored by the rest of your leaguemates.

Neftali Feliz (RP, PIT)

Remember Neftali? He burst onto the scene in 2009 for the Rangers and carved up hitters out of the bullpen (31 IP) to rack up a K/9 over 11 and a 2.18 SIERA.  His claim to fame was a blazing fastball that actually maxed out at 103.4 mph in 2010, but he never could quite put it all together after a stellar debut (SIERA of 4.30 from 2011 – 2015).  Feliz bounced around in various roles for TEX over the next five seasons only to find himself with a one year Ray Searage contract this season in PIT.  Jeff detailed the optimism here, and so far so good: 10.8 K/9 with a 6 K/BB over (just) 5 IP.  Better yet, Feliz has tallied three Holds YTD, so he appears to be settling into a nice backend role with Tony Watson setting up Melancon in the Pirates bullpen.  Unlike Castro (above), Feliz looks like he could sneak into even more relevant late inning situations as the season progresses, so he could be a sneaky add in leagues like Ottoneu FGPTS that reward Saves and Holds.

Preston Tucker (OF, HOU)

By wRC+ (100), Preston Tucker was an average major league hitter last season.  While Tucker hit only .243 (.297 OBP), he made up most of his value by hitting 13 HR in 98 games, amassing a .193 ISO (just 0.031 vs. LHP, however).

Through six games YTD, Tucker is rocking a 274 wRC+, so clearly he is breaking out.  Just kidding – that really means absolutely nothing in a six game sample.  What might mean something is that Tucker has swung at pitches outside the zone at a far lower rate (18.8% vs. 31.1% in 2015) and is also making better contact (85.7% vs. 80.2% in 2015).  Again, this might mean nothing, as it likely has just as much to do with six games as it does with the fact that he hasn’t faced a lefty yet this season.  But Tucker has power (ZiPS projected 19 HR in 125 games this year), and has the large side of the platoon, so the point here is just to remind you not to overlook him.  The return of Evan Gattis clouds his playing time a bit going forward, but Tucker might be a quiet source of good power in daily leagues where you can manage the matchups regularly.