Welcome to another edition of Depth Chart Review!
If you’re new to the series, here’s my spiel:
Maybe it’s not the catchiest title, but as it suggests, every Wednesday I’ll be highlighting important depth chart changes and how they might affect your fantasy team(s). This will touch on reported changes in playing time, team roles, batting order, and player personnel.
Got it? Great! Now let’s take a look at what’s happened since last week.
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Gary Sanchez Down For the Count
I guess it was only a matter of time before a big name went down for significant time.
Gary Sanchez is expected to miss four weeks with a strained bicep, a blow to those who spent a high pick on the young catcher. For now, the debates over whether he deserved his lofty ADP will have to be put on hold.
Austin Romine and Kyle Higashioka will split time in his place. Including this season, Romine has a career .219/.256/.324 line in 371 plate appearances. For Higashioka, this is his first taste of the majors, although he showed a little pop with 21 home runs across Double-A and Triple-A last year.
Neither is of interest in mixed leagues, but they’re worth a look for catcher-starved owners in AL-only leagues.
Jeanmar Gomez…He Gone!
Well, Jeanmar Gomez barely lasted one week before losing the Phillies closer job. Seeing how long he lasted, it begs the question of why he was given the job in the first place, but that’s neither here nor there.
Many expected the talented Hector Neris would be next in line, but instead 39-year-old Joaquin Benoit will get the first shot at the gig. As I wrote in this space last week, managers sometimes like experience in the closer role, which could be what’s going on here — Benoit has 51 career saves, including 24 for the Tigers in 2013. Manager Pete Mackanin said he didn’t want to put “unnecessary pressure” on Neris by inserting him in the closer role. The Phillies could also have financial reasons for their decision because earning saves would bump up Neris’ arbitration cost following the 2018 season.
Still, Benoit should be capable enough to hold the job — assuming he isn’t traded at midseason. Last year, he had a 2.81 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 48 innings. That worked out to a 25.5% strikeout rate, but his walk rate was on the high side (11.8%), and his ERA estimators suggest some regression (3.91 SIERA). He’s had an ERA above 3.00 just once in the last seven years, though, so there probably isn’t too much to worry about.
If you didn’t grab Benoit yet, he’s probably no longer available, but he’s worth owning in all leagues. If you’re a Neris owner, hold onto him if you can because he’s almost certainly next in line now, and Benoit will be a likely trade target if he succeeds in the role.
As for Jeanmar Gomez — it was nice knowing you. He should be dropped across the board.
DeShields the Forgotten Man
You know how people hate it in fantasy football when NFL teams go with the dreaded running back by committee? Well, we may have the fantasy baseball equivalent in left field for the Rangers. Jurickson Profar, Delino DeShields and Ryan Rua are all splitting time, leaving little to no fantasy value for any of them.
Sadly, this is my third straight write-up in this series on DeShields. Following a strong Spring Training, he was expected to win the left fielder starting job, and possibly even lead off. Now he’s a guy who can barely sniff the field. He has huge speed upside, but it’s difficult to say if he, or anyone for that matter, emerges from this crowded group. Outside of deep leagues, he can be cast aside until further notice.
What to Make of Chris Devenski?
Generally speaking, all we care about from relief pitchers is whether or not they can get saves. Sure, there are a handful of exceptions like Dellin Betances, but middle relief pitchers tend to have limited value unless you’re speculating on saves.
Which brings us to Chris Devenski, a multi-inning reliever for the Astros. He racked up some strong innings last year, pitching 108 1/3 innings (including five starts) with a 2.16 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 104 strikeouts. This season, Devenski has made two four-inning appearances, giving up just one run with 14 strikeouts. Those are excellent looking numbers, but how useful are they without a starter’s wins or a closer’s saves?
With complete games becoming a distant memory for most starters, there’s something to be said about getting quality innings, no matter where they’re coming from. Most starters don’t pitch much deeper than six innings, so getting these sorts of Betances-esque inning contributions are quite useful for your ERA, WHIP and strikeouts. Betances had a ridiculous 42.1% strikeout rate last year, compared to Devenski’s 25.5%, so it’s not quite the same, but Devenski could make a pretty good replica if he keeps churning out the innings. And if early returns are any indication, maybe that strikeout rate could go up this year.
Devenski probably still isn’t worth a pickup in shallow leagues, but he’s an interesting add in most formats. It’s difficult to say if this sort of volume-inning usage will continue moving forward (his four-inning performances came in extra innings games), but fantasy teams with shaky pitching staffs could do worse than take a shot with Devenski.
The Sam Dyson Nightmare Continues
On Tuesday night, Sam Dyson blew another save, this time a three-run lead to the Angels. He’s now given up 11 runs in three innings. That’s a 33.00 ERA, folks. Grab Matt Bush immediately if he’s still out there.
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Kenyatta Storin is a featured writer with FantasyPros. For more from Kenyatta, check out his archive and follow him @kenyattastorin.