We are officially in the fantasy baseball championship push.
Whether you’re trying to hold onto a top spot, pushing the leader, desperately trying to play catch up, or positioning yourself for playoff matchups, reinforcements and upside are vital this time of year.
Most waiver wires have been picked over though and it’s difficult to find impact players readily available in most leagues at this point in the season.
Fear not, because there are still a handful of available players that have the chance to be difference makers that help push us towards glory.
Here are three players that are under 40% rostered on Yahoo leagues that you should strongly consider adding.
If you want a larger list, Eric Samulski wrote his extended waiver wire piece on Sunday.
Mark Vientos, 3B Mets
(64% Rostered on Yahoo)
Breaking the 40% rule here with Vientos because he’s had such a turbulent and chaotic season that warrants attention since he may have finally gotten back on track.
He broke out in a huge way last year with 27 home runs in 111 games after taking over as the Mets’ full-time third baseman in May. He carried his strong play into the playoffs where he hit five home runs and drove in 14 runs in 13 games. Bottom line, he was one of the most impactful players on a team that reached the Championship Series.
When this year began, he was the starting third baseman and a mainstay in the heart of the order. It took about two months of being a below average hitter and poor defender to finally cede playing time before a hamstring injury in June knocked him out for three weeks.
When he came back, playing time was sporadic and there was a stretch earlier this month where he started just two out of eight games. His name came up in trade rumors too as he looked well behind both Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio in the pecking order.
Things have finally turned around though. Vientos has started in eight straight games and has a 1.429 OPS over that span with five home runs and 13 RBI. Even stretching back to his last 30 games, he has a .304 average, .893 OPS, and 17 extra-base hits.
There’s plenty of statistical signal that his turnaround could be real too. Take this home run he hit last Tuesday against the Nationals.
At the time, it was his hardest hit pulled fly ball of the season at 106.0 mph. Since then, he’s hit two harder and all four of his hardest hit pulled fly balls have come in the past week.
In turn, he’s also had three of his four fastest swings on pulled fly balls in the past week. His overall bat speed is trending up too.
Month
| Bat Speed
|
Mar/Apr
| 70.3 mph
|
May
| 70.9 mph
|
June
| 72.6 mph
|
July
| 71.4 mph
|
August
| 71.8 mph
|
That spike in June only came with 31 total swings because of the time he missed with his hamstring strain. So, seeing him sustain two months now right up near the 71.8 mph he averaged last season is great news.
Being back to playing every day, producing, and better accessing the raw power that made him seem like a rising star last season is enough to take a flier down the stretch if you need help at third base or corner infield.
Parker Messick, SP Guardians
(15% rostered on Yahoo)
Messick was called up by the Guardians last week and had an excellent debut where he allowed one run and scattered seven hits over 6 2/3 innings against the Diamondbacks with six strikeouts.
While that’s a great start, Messick has received very little attention for it.
He’s not a heralded prospect and did not receive much top-100 consideration on most major lists. Physically, he doesn’t particularly stand out either as a shorter, stockier, left-handed pitcher. His repertoire is a bit mundane too with a fastball that sits around 93 mph and a slew of secondary options off it.
Yet, one of those secondaries is a changeup that could set him apart. It forced four of the eight swings-and-misses he induced overall and got this nod of approval from veteran Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
As a lefty, that changeup can take Messick a long way. It’s a plus pitch movement wise with more drop and arm-side run than the league average and graded out as his only standout pitch by Stuff+ with a 107. No other pitch was over 100.
That’s supported by a 45.6 whiff rate in the minors this season and future 70-grade on the 20-to-80 scouting scale via FanGraphs. By all accounts and measures, this changeup is legit.
Apart from that, a wide repertoire with a four-seam fastball, sinker, curveball, and slider gives him plenty of options against hitters from each side of the plate. He also has great overall command and average velocity compared to other lefties. With an out-pitch to tie that all together, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him find success.
Lastly, we must pay close attention to upcoming schedules for pitchers this time of year.
If Messick stays on schedule and pitches every five games after his start tonight against the Rays, he’ll have the Red Sox and Rays on the road followed by Royals, Tigers, Twins, and Rangers to close out the season. That’s a fairly soft landing for a pitcher that needs more attention.
Ian Seymour, SP Rays
(4% Rostered on Yahoo)
Another lefty pitcher in what’s sneakily become the year of the lefty, Seymour was outstanding on Monday in his first start as a big leaguer. He shut the Guardians out over five innings with eight strikeouts and only allowed two base runners.
The Guardians simply could not square him up. They had just three hard-hit balls, saw only two three-ball counts, and hit one line drive among their eight total balls in play. There was almost no moment where Seymour left himself susceptible to damage.
Yet, similar to Messick, Seymour does not have standout stuff. He doesn’t even have a dominant pitch, like Messick’s changeup.
Rather, he’s incredibly solid across the board with an acceptable fastball, cutter, sweeper, changeup, and command. FanGraphs rated each right around or slightly better than average.
With so many tools, Seymour did a great job of mixing up his locations in that start against the Guardians and changing their eye levels with fastballs and cutters high offset by changeups low.
Those are cool points of pitch-ability that can help someone like Seymour carve out his spot in the league.
Funny enough, he was overlooked all season even with a 2.62 ERA and 29.2% strikeout rate through 86 innings at Triple-A.
Partially, that’s because the Rays had the most stable and consistent starting rotation through the first half, only needing six different starters to get through their first 100 or so games.
Also, because Joe Boyle was the first alternate and is the anti-Seymour with his 100 mph fastball, wipeout slider, and horrific command despite having similarly excellent results at Triple-A. Now, Boyle is back down there and Seymour is with the Rays with what looks like a stable rotation spot.
Lastly, his upcoming schedule is fantastic. He’s facing the Nationals this Sunday followed by the Guardians again, White Sox and Blue Jays through the middle of September. That’s good enough with his profile to grab him if you need pitching help.
