Each week we’ll look at a handful of different players who fantasy managers in deeper leagues should consider picking up. Many of these players will have the most value in larger leagues where waiver wire options aren’t as plentiful. Still, they could also occasionally be useful additions in other, more standard-sized leagues depending on your options at their position. This week it’s Ryan Noda, Braxton Garrett, Randal Grichuk and Jeimer Candelario who are worth your time as potential additions in deep leagues.
All roster percentages mentioned in this column are via Yahoo fantasy leagues as of Friday afternoon.
Ryan Noda – 3%
Noda was featured in this column last month. It was a surprise then that he was rostered in just four percent of Yahoo leagues. It’s even more of a surprise now that he’s rostered in even fewer Yahoo leagues at this point in time.
The first baseman, who is also eligible in the outfield in Yahoo leagues, is batting .231 with a .393 on-base percentage in 183 plate appearances this season, adding six home runs and a pair of stolen bases.
He’s by no means a perfect waiver wire option – most waiver wire options never are – due largely to the fact that he’s striking out 33.3% of the time, has just a .231 batting average, and has mustered only 19 RBI this season due in large part to the Oakland A’s low-scoring lineup.
But, once you get past all that there is plenty to like here, particularly in leagues where on-base percentage is part of the scoring.
Noda has turned in a .361 xwOBA so far to go along with a .471 xwOBAcon. He also ranks in the 82nd percentile or better in xwOBA, hard-hit rate, average exit velocity, max exit velocity, barrel rate, chase rate, and walk rate. So while the strikeouts are less than ideal, Noda is doing plenty of damage when he does make contact.
The walk rate in particular makes Noda a decidedly above-average fantasy option in leagues where on-base percentage is part of the scoring. In fact, he’s one of just five players in the league with a walk rate and a barrel rate that are both north of 15%. There’s a slight chance you may have heard of some of the other players.
The A’s first baseman who also brings added versatility for fantasy managers by way of being eligible in the outfield in Yahoo leagues, could also see his fantasy fortunes change considerably if Oakland trades him at the deadline this summer. Of course, that is all entirely speculative, but if the 12-46 A’s do end up moving players, the 27-year-old certainly makes sense as a trade candidate, despite this being his rookie season.
As of the beginning of play on Friday, Noda paces all A’s players, batters, and pitchers both, in fWAR with a 1.4 metric. He’s sporting a 143 wRC+ on the season and could be a quality lineup option for a contending team. And while there are certainly plenty of reasons why real-life baseball teams should make a move for Noda, there might be even more reasons for fantasy managers to add him in terms of what he brings to the table with his penchant for hard contact, walks, and versatility.
Braxton Garrett – 15%
On the surface, Garrett’s numbers are good, but not great for the season. He’s sporting a serviceable 4.22 ERA and a 4.00 FIP in 53.1 innings for the Miami Marlins, striking out 54 batters to go along with 12 walks in the process. However, he’s been decidedly better as of late.
Seemingly locked into a rotation spot moving forward with both Trevor Rogers and Johnny Cueto on the injured list, Garrett doesn’t look like he’ll be giving it up any time soon, especially if he keeps pitching like he has been lately.
The former first-round pick gave up 14 hits and 11 earned runs in 4.1 innings against Atlanta on May 3, also surrendering four home runs, and two walks while striking out just three batters. It was very much a start to forget for the left-hander, since then it’s been a much different story.
From May 4 onwards, Garrett has a 3.25 FIP in his last 27 innings, which have come over the course of five starts.
Here are three starting pitchers since May 4. There are a few differences in innings, as well as the total number of starts due to schedules and rotation orders, but here are the starters.
Pitcher A is Kevin Gausman, who leads all qualified starting pitchers in fWAR since May 4. Pitcher B would be Logan Webb, who has the lowest FIP among the same group of pitchers in the same stretch.
Pitcher C is Braxton Garrett.
Garrett’s 6.1 inning start on May 20, which coincidentally was against Webb, was his longest start of the season and the third longest of his young, Major League career, so the left-hander isn’t exactly a threat to pitch deep into games at the moment, but he’s been pitching just about as well as anyone over the last month or so.
In addition to the strong CSW rate and FIP numbers, Garrett has struck out at least six batters in four of his last five starts, with 32 total in his last 27 innings.
He’s going to be a priority add in almost all fantasy leagues, not just deeper leagues, if he keeps this kind of form up.
Randal Grichuk – 15%
We’re still dealing with a reasonably small sample size with Grichuk so far, who has 105 plate appearances for Colorado this season.
However, the outfielder is making some of the best contact of his career, with a .347 xwOBA. Some of that probably has to do with cutting down on ground balls. Grichuk’s ground ball rate was 50.4% last year but has dropped to 39.5% so far in 2023. Elsewhere, he’s increased his line drive rate considerably. Again, it’s a smaller sample size, but the outfielder’s 35.5% line drive rate would represent a career-best if the season ended today.
And line drives certainly play well in Coors Field, where the outfielder is batting .408 in 55 plate appearances and where he hit .307 in 281 plate appearances last season.
It also doesn’t hurt that Grichuk is striking out just 18.1% of the time. If the season ended today it’d be the first time in his career he’s logged a strikeout rate of less than 20%.
Elsewhere, the former Blue Jay owns a .392 xwOBAcon and a 47.4% hard-hit rate so far. The xwOBAcon would be high highest in a full season since 2019 and the hard-hit rate would be his highest ever in a full season in the last nine years.
And while Grichuk’s barrel rate is still curiously low once again in his second season in Colorado, a batter making some of the best contact of their career while cutting down on ground balls and strikeouts is certainly someone to consider in deeper fantasy leagues. Especially when that batter gets to play their home games at Coors Field.
Jeimer Candelario – 12%
Jeimer Candelario isn’t quite replicating the form he showed in his breakout season in 2019 for the Detroit Tigers when he hit .271 with a .351 on-base percentage in 626 plate appearances and led the league in doubles, but he’s having a decidedly solid bounce-back year after struggling during the 2022 campaign.
Overall, the infielder is batting .256 with a .336 on-base percentage this season for the Washington Nationals, adding seven home runs and a stolen base in 229 plate appearances.
As with Noda, his RBI, as well as run-scoring opportunities, are suffering a bit due to the relatively weaker-hitting lineup around him. Entering play Friday, only eight teams had scored fewer runs than the Nationals. Still, the flip side to that coin is that the vast majority of Candelario’s plate appearances have come hitting in the top half of the order.
Even with fewer RBI so far, those added plate appearances certainly don’t hurt from a fantasy perspective, especially
And while Candelario’s underlying metrics could be a bit better, the fact that he’s getting additional plate appearances should help paper over that to a degree from a fantasy upside standpoint.
Furthermore, also like Noda, if the rebuilding Nationals end up trading Candelario this summer, he could (in theory) move to a team with more RBI opportunities, though of course that’s all entirely speculative.
Either way, he makes for a solid short-term addition in the face of a third base or corner infield injury on your fantasy roster.
Graphic adapted by Aaron Polcare (@bearydoesgfx on Twitter)