Plumbing the Depths – Deep League Waiver Wire

In this week’s edition of Deep League Waiver Wire, we’re doin’ a little plumbin’. Got to plumb! Plumb the depths, the depths of hell 18 team leagues and deeper. If you’re in a 14, 15, or 16 team league, you might be wise to pass on these players or just add them to your watch list but for those in leagues with 18+ teams or extremely large benches, I hope these guys are available. If not, let me know and the next time I’ll plumb further.

 

Michael Lorenzen (0% Yahoo, 0.4% ESPN, 2% CBS)– it’s no secret the Reds’ bullpen has been nothing short of calamitous this season. Cincinnati relievers rank last in WAR with almost three and a half wins fewer than the 29th ranked team. Their 1.92 HR/9 is nearly 80% higher than the league average and their K-BB% a league-worst 6.9%. As one might expect, they’ve blown a ton of saves. 16 in fact, making them the only squad to have blown more saves than they’ve converted. There’s little more frustrating than watching a bad bullpen struggle so consistently that a blown save becomes an inevitability. As such, it’s been a rough year for Reds fans as well for owners of Tony Cingrani, Ross Ohlendorf, and J.J. Hoover. And Blake Wood. And J.C. Ramirez. And Caleb Cotham.

Last week the Reds sought to salve their late inning cold sore by parlaying new found rotational depth into bullpen reinforcements. The more notable development was Cincinnati’s decision to convert Raisel Iglesias to a relief role and it’s an entirely plausible assumption that (shoulder-willing) Iglesias emerges as Cincy’s ninth inning savior. If forced to guess, I’d put my money on him. But with hesitation.

In three minor league rehab appearances, Iglesias pitched 2 innings twice. In his MLB return, he also threw 2 innings. And Bryan Price’s comments about his usage suggest Iglesias might be more of a multi-inning weapon than a traditional 9^th inning guy:

“It’s something [Iglesias has] done in international play and he’s done extremely well,” Price said. “With a starter’s background for us, multiple innings is an option. It really opens up the door to just about anything once he gets re-acclimated to the bullpen — anywhere from the middle of the game to sharing some responsibility late in the game or very back end.”

So this is all a very roundabout way to suggest that Michael Lorenzen, the Reds’ conditional round pick in the 2013 draft, a former consensus top-100 prospect, and recent convert to the bullpen might be the sneaky saves play here. At the time of this writing, Lorenzen has only pitched 5.2 innings in relief in his MLB career but in those appearances, he’s struck out 7 of the 23 batters he’s faced while walking none. Prior to his activation last week, he posted a 53.9% K-BB% and negative FIP in 4 MiLB rehab innings.

As a reliever, Lorenzen’s fastball averages 97 mph and in the one inning he’s thrown this season, it sat at 98. Armed with a starter’s repertoire, Lorenzen also throws a slider, curve, and change although the change didn’t make it out of his bag on Friday. His arsenal never translated to strikeouts when he started games, however armed with few more ticks on the radar gun and having only to face batters once per game, he might find strikeouts a little easier to come by in relief. And to this point, he has.

As for downside, Lorenzen faced issues with the home run last season but prior to that, exhibited little signs of gopheritis throughout his minor league career. In leagues where I own Iglesias, I’m very carefully watching Price’s use of the two relievers. At this point, it still sounds as if the Reds see Iglesias’ long-term future as a starter. I’m not so sure they view Lorenzen through quite the same lens and as such, it makes sense to see how he handles the ninth. He certainly can’t be any worse than what they’re trotting out now.

 

Dillon Overton (3% Yahoo, 2.3% ESPN, 4% CBS) – it doesn’t seem that long ago that the A’s boasted one of the deeper rotations in baseball. Despite a dearth of household names, Oakland nevertheless entered the season with enough arms to trot out a starting staff 7 or 8 quality hurlers deep, if necessary. But soon Felix Doubront, Chris Bassitt, Rich Hill, Sonny Gray, and Sean Manaea all hit the disabled list, the first two lost for the season. Weapons in waiting, Henderson Alvarez and Jesse Hahn, battled injury setbacks and ineffectiveness, opening the door for Overton, a soft-tossing lefty and co-star of the 90s hit sitcom, Living Single.

The A’s second round pick in 2013, Overton underwent TJ surgery shortly after signing. Since returning, he’s yet to recover his pre-surgery velocity and now sits 86-91 down from a peak fastball velocity of 95. But despite the velo loss, Overton features a bag of respectable secondary offerings that when located keeps hitters off balance. He’s the same command-and-control, pitch-to-contact type we’ve seen the A’s throw out there with success so often in the past.

Over 83 PCL innings, Overton’s FIP sits at a very manageable 3.18. He’s displayed an ability to limit walks and keep the ball in the yard while pitching in a very hitter friendly environment so he deserves our attention if only until he proves otherwise. It’s difficult to surmise whether his stuff will play over the course of the season or even if he’ll remain in the rotation for that matter once Hill and Manaea return. But in extremely deep leagues, we don’t always have the luxury to wait for sample sizes or stabilization points.