Here are this week’s recommended additional products.
Joe Adell – OF Angels – Subscribed to 33% of Yahoo Leagues
Adel, who made headlines a few weeks ago, has been demoted from many leagues after going hitless in five consecutive games since the beginning of May. But things have picked up again in recent days, with the Angels outfielder hitting a home run on Wednesday and racking up three RBIs on Thursday. Also, with Mike Trout out and Aaron Hicks gone, Adell has no playing time concerns.
Of course, we’ve all been waiting for Adele to grow over the past few years, but after reaching the majors in 2020 and struggling mightily, his progress seemed to completely stall. What was encouraging was that he improved his walk rate and strikeout rate in Triple-A last year, despite losing again in 17 games in the major leagues. He has clearly improved this season, with his contact rate increasing from 67% to 76% and his strikeout rate decreasing from 35% to 23%. His exit velocity numbers are good as well, and his .265/.330/.506 line is good enough as it is, but Statcast actually lists his xBA at .313 and xSLG at .564. It becomes.
After briefly serving as the No. 2 batter, Adel resumed batting in the bottom half of the batting order for the first time since going hitless. Still, it’s good that Ron Washington is willing to promote him. Adell has stolen bases frequently, if not efficiently, this year, with seven hits in 12 at bats. He makes more mistakes on the basepaths and defense than anyone would like, and the Angels have little choice but to deal with it. Although his batting average may not improve in the end, Adell is currently a top-50 outfielder.
David Robertson – RP Rangers – Subscribed to 38% of Yahoo Leagues
One month after his 39th birthday, Robertson is pitching better than ever in his impressive career, with a 2.85 ERA in 825 1/3 innings over 16 seasons. So far this year, he has three times as many strikeouts (27) as hits allowed (9). His 34% strikeout rate is his highest since 2017. The numbers also support that. His cutter averaged a career-high 93.6 mph, and he hit some very impressive 95 mph sinkers despite using very little pitches. He definitely looks like one of the best relievers in baseball right now, which is part of why it’s surprising he stayed away from Texas.
Sadly, when the Rangers needed to replace Jose Leclerc, they selected Kirby Yates as their closer over Robertson, and the results were impressive. Yates recorded his first save of the year on Wednesday, but the Rangers won anyway, and the run Yates allowed in that time was the only run he allowed in 16 innings to start the season. Robertson, on the other hand, doesn’t have to be treated as carefully as Yates despite his age, posting a 0.87 ERA in 20 2/3 innings. He has at least four outs in seven innings. Rangers would like their current setup to remain, but Yates poses a significant injury risk and could cause problems at some point with control issues. Robertson is pitching so well that he’s worth signing up even though he’s recording sporadic saves, and there’s still a chance he’ll be asked to take over the full-time job one day.
Ivan Herrera – C Cardinals – Subscribed to 5% of Yahoo Leagues
Herrera was already getting significant playing time, often playing DH alongside Willson Contreras for the Cardinals, but he’s currently looking for an additional role due to the veteran’s broken forearm, and is at least a top-15 fantasy catcher. I need to be active. Contreras is ejected.
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While that may seem like a reach, Herrera has been extremely unlucky thus far boasting a .232/.276/.377 line. Most of his exit velocity numbers this season are in the top 20% of major leaguers, he’s putting the ball in the air more than in the past, and his strikeout rate is slightly better than league average. Statcast thinks he should hit .259 with a .458 slugging percentage. This also didn’t suddenly appear out of nowhere. Herrera hit .297/.451/.500 in Triple-A last year as a 23-year-old. He also hit 11 bases during that time, but he has yet to attempt a stolen base in 48 games as a major leaguer.
It’s the Cardinals’ offense that will hold Herrera back, but even with Contreras gone, it doesn’t seem like the lineup will be this bad forever. Additionally, if Herrera’s numbers improve a bit, he could have a chance to move up the rankings. He has a great OBP history and runs very well, so he might be the team’s best option as a No. 2 hitter to replace Contreras.
quick hit
– Adbert Alzolay is unlikely to re-emerge as the Cubs’ closer in the short term, with the team defaulting to Hector Neris since Alzolay’s defection, but Neris’ 12/13 K/ in 14 seasons. As for the BB ratio, I don’t really like it. inning. Mark Leiter Jr. (11% of registered members) looks like a better closing option from here and is worth stashing.
– The Royals may consider giving speedster Dairon Blanco more playing time as other outfield options are sputtering. There’s good reason to be skeptical about Blanco’s offensive abilities, but we’re talking about a player who stole 35 bases in 99 games as a major leaguer. If he plays regularly, he will be extremely valuable. He has a steal rate of 10 out of 11, but he currently ranks in just 1% of the Yahoo League.
