Hitters Available Under 40%/Cuttable at 60%+ #5

One issue I’ve had with pick up articles in the past is that so few ever recommend anyone to cut so which is arguably tougher than recommending who to pick. Sure, a player in question should probably be on a roster, but should it be your roster? I have a group of interesting free agents but also a player at each of those positions who you can consider cutting as well.

This article is designed mostly for 10- and 12-team leagues as a lot of these guys aren’t available in 15+ teamers and the recommended cuts are likely worth giving a bit more time to in deeper formats as well. I’m using ESPN’s roster rate for guidance.

Previous Volumes

Available Under 40% | Cuttable at 60%+

• C Yan Gomes – 4% | Gary Sánchez – 89% (the cut recommendations at this position are for 1-C formats)

Gomes is still in a timeshare with Kurt Suzuki, but he’s doing enough in his time to merit consideration. Over his last 50 plate appearances he’s hitting .362/.400/.617 with 2 HR, 7 RBI, and 8 R. He slots as a top 10 catcher over the last month (9th) and 15-day (6th) periods.

Sanchez was in this spot a week ago and has done nothing to change the outlook, hitting .100/.217/.250 in his last seven games. How is he still toting this high of a roster rate?

• 1B Brandon Belt – 22% | Carlos Santana – 89%

I’m recommending Belt in back-to-back weeks because he’s only gone up four points in roster rate despite continuing to rake with a .429/.556/.786 line including four extra-base hits (3 2B, 1 3B) and a 1:1 K:BB ratio (4 apiece).

Santana hasn’t been able to hold his AVG from 2019 (.281) as he’s hitting a career-low .205 in 162 PA after giving back all the exit velo, Barrel Rate, and hard-hit gains. He’s leading baseball in walks (33) so he’s still delivering value in OBP (.370), but a potential cut in standard setups.

• 2B Kolten Wong – 31% | Mike Moustakas – 83%

Wong has eight games next week with a pair of doubleheaders on the docket for St. Louis so this is definitely a volume play. Wong also seems to be heating up a bit with seven hits in his last three games along with 4 RBI and 5 R in 14 PA.

Moose is laboring through an ugly season and in a normal 6-month season I’d hold out a bit longer, but we don’t have that kind of time. He’s hitting .214/.333/.314 with just 2 HR, 10 RBI, and 5 R in 84 PA.

• 3B Jeimer Candelario – 17% | Eduardo Escobar – 76%

Candy’s surge has been instrumental in the Tigers inexplicably staying in the hunt at .500 as we enter the home stretch. He’s hitting .298/.350/.509 with 13 extra-base hits (4 HR), 17 RBI, and 18 R in 123 PA. He’s been particularly hot the last two weeks with a 1.017 OPS and 3 HR in 57 PA.

Escobar has had a massive falloff from 2019, though his underlying stats don’t match a near-halving of his wRC+ (from 109 to 58). His Barrel and Hard-Hit rates are in line with last year while his strikeout and walk rates are actually both a bit better. All that said, we’re running out of time for things to come back in order so I’m open to cutting him in shallower formats.

• SS Jon Berti – 29% | Jorge Polanco – 88%

Isan Díaz is slated to return after opting back recently, but he’s not back yet so Berti is the man at 2B in the interim. Once Diaz does return, Berti will be a super-utility and play all over the place. He’s doing what many expected Adalberto Mondesi to do. Berti has 8 SBs, 18 R, and even a couple homers.

Generally, I’d want to hold onto any part of the Twins lineup after their 2019 performance, but they’ve fallen off and Polanco’s uninspiring numbers are part of why. The Twins are 20th in wRC+ on the season and Polanco is hitting just .268/.309/.366 with 3 HR and 1 SB in 154 PA.

• OF Tyler Naquin – 5% | Joc Pederson – 72%

Naquin’s season didn’t get started until August 11th and even then, he sputtered a bit in his first seven games with just a .492 OPS, but since then he’s hitting .349/.356/.744 with 4 HR in 45 PA. He’s in a platoon so he sits against lefties, but there are only three on the schedule in their next 10 games.

Pederson is also a platoon bat, but he’s not doing nearly enough against righties to maintain a 72% roster rate in shallow leagues. He’s hitting .189/.298/.389 with 5 HR, 11 RBI, and 17 R in 105 PA. He probably shouldn’t even have a roster rate this high in 15+ team leagues, so it’s definitely far too high for 10- and 12-team setups.