Welcome back to the Fantasy Baseball Weekly Mailbag. The mailbag is an opportunity to ask a FantasyPros analyst anything about the ongoing season to make the best and most informed decisions possible. Questions from fantasy managers this week can be seen below.
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Fantasy Baseball Mailbag
Keep or trade James Wood in redraft?
Trading away an exciting rookie can feel like parting with your firstborn. Yet, sometimes it’s the right move.
James Wood looks phenomenal. Fantasy managers get caught up on observations like this and sometimes believe a rookie to be the second coming of Barry Bonds. Although Wood is a great player, trade him away if you can get a better one.
Hype trains usually overstate a player’s ability.
Rookies are hot and cold and it might be better to get a proven commodity. Seek out trades with Wood, but have no problem keeping him.
What should we do about Kevin Gausman?
It’s a horrible situation.
Kevin Gausman is too good to cut and too much of an underperformer to trade.
People have asked about him all year and my answer hasn’t changed. Ride it out. The All-Star Break is coming. Who knows? Maybe Gausman rests and comes back ready to dominate in the second half.
Even though Gausman has been miserable, he provides some value by making starts. That’s very valuable considering how many starters are getting injured. My advice is to hold on to him and sit him when he plays tough teams. Use this approach unless he proves his consistency.
Gausman is showing flashes and maybe he can return to some semblance of who he was.
Drop Alex Bregman for Brooks Lee?
No.
Brooks Lee is off to an incredible start after his MLB debut. He’s batting .458 with a homer and eight RBI.
Alex Bregman is a proven star. Plus, he usually plays his best baseball later into the season.
Make sure to grab Lee, just not for Bregman. Don’t do that.
Drop Paul Goldschmidt or Randy Arozarena for Wyatt Langford?
Rush to pick up Wyatt Langford.
He was pretty bad during the start of the season and it makes sense why, he’s only 22 and the MLB adjustment is hard. Langford seems to have adjusted and is batting .333 in the last month with 25 RBI and six steals.
Paul Goldschmidt or Randy Arozarena have not been doing quite as well. Arozarena is starting to turn things around, batting .276 (.202 on the year) with 10 RBI and five steals in the last month.
Goldschmidt is striking out at a career-high 27.9% rate and walking at a career-low 7.8% rate. He’s batting .231 in the last month and .229 on the season. However, Goldschmidt is still hitting the ball hard. His issues look to be more with plate discipline than completely due to age.
I feel more confident in Goldschmidt’s bounce back than Arozarena, who is not hitting the ball as hard and is having a worse year overall. I’d drop Arozarena for Langford immediately. It’s a direct upgrade.
What are your thoughts on the innings count of Tyler Glasnow, Tarik Skubal and Max Fried for the second half?
Tyler Glasnow (120 innings in 2023/109 innings in 2024): Very worried. I have low confidence in him having a second half as good as his first. He threw a career-high 120 innings in 2023 and brought that fatigue into 2024 with such an extensive injury history. He just went on the injured list (IL) with back pain, which luckily is not that serious. I would heavily consider trading away Glasnow sometime after he comes back.
Tarik Skubal (80.1 innings in 2023/110 innings in 2024): Somewhat worried — 3/10 level of concern. Fatigue will likely arrive, but I see him pitching for the fantasy playoffs (knock on wood).
Max Fried (77.2 innings in 2023/102 innings in 2024): He has thrown 160+ innings three times and is used to a heavy workload. He only lowered his count in 2023 due to a hamstring injury and later a forearm strain. I think Fried should be okay if he stays healthy.
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