10 Burning Questions: Rece Hinds, MacKenzie Gore, Bobby Miller (2024 Fantasy Baseball)

We’ve reached the All-Star break! Enjoy the festivities over the next few days, whether you are attending live or watching from the comfort of your couch. You should also enjoy the short break from fantasy baseball. We all love this game, but it can also be exhausting.

The second half of the MLB season overlaps with the start of fantasy football. That ramps up the fantasy time for everyone involved in both sports.

Before we get there, let’s start with 10 Burning Questions for fantasy baseball. This week’s article involves some bullpen updates, an amazing debut, the Dodgers’ rotation, and more.

MLB 10 Burning Questions

What is happening with the Philadelphia bullpen?

The Phillies were the first team in baseball to reach 60 wins. With that many wins, you would think they would have a settled closer situation, but it’s been a split situation all season between Jose Alvarado and Jeff Hoffman.

Hoffman has been the better pitcher all season. He has a 1.12 ERA compared to Alvarado’s 3.92. He also has a better FIP at 2.05 compared to Alvarado’s 3.42. The usage pattern, though, still shows that the Phillies are going to keep mixing and matching the ninth-inning duties.

Since June 30th, the Phillies have had five saves. Hoffman has four and Alvarado has one. Both need to be rostered in fantasy leagues in which saves are a statistic.

What has changed with MacKenzie Gore?

At the end of May, it seemed the long-awaited breakout of MacKenzie Gore was coming to fruition. He had a 2.91 ERA, which was fully supported by his 2.85 FIP. He was striking out more batters than ever and limiting walks. That has stopped recently, and his ratios have risen as a result.

Gore’s season-long ERA now sits at 4.01 with a 1.43 WHIP. Since the start of June, his ERA is 5.63. His biggest issue has been an increase in the number of batters he is walking. For the season, Gore is walking 3.38 batters per nine innings. Since June started, he is walking 4.5 batters per nine innings.

Gore’s strand rate has fallen to 62% during that same span, so too many of those runners are scoring. It should be noted that his FIP since the beginning of June is still 3.42, so he is getting unlucky. Don’t be too concerned about Gore.

How do the Cubs replace Cody Bellinger?

Bellinger was hit by a pitch on his left hand last week. The errant pitch from Cionel Perez fractured Bellinger’s middle finger, forcing the team to place him on the injured list. While he has not performed to last season’s standards yet, it is still a tough blow for the Cubs.

Bellinger was primarily playing center field and sprinkling in some first base. Officially, the team recalled Alexander Canario to replace Bellinger. It has been Pete Crow-Armstrong, however, who has played center field everyday since Bellinger went on the injured list.

Crow-Armstrong has struggled at the plate in his rookie season due to too many strikeouts. Yet, he has provided 17 stolen bases, so he could be a source of speed in a five-outfielder league.

Is Bobby Miller droppable?

Miller was optioned to the minor leagues last week. There are two ways to look at the demotion. If you base it on what we saw from him last season, it’s a big surprise. However, if you choose to look at his last four starts, it was time for him to be demoted.

Miller’s last start with the Dodgers included 10 earned runs in four innings against the Phillies. That disastrous outing brought his ERA to nearly 10 in his four starts since returning from a shoulder injury. It’s possible that still is bothering him.

Miller’s season-long K-BB% now sits at an abysmal 6.8%. If he had enough innings to qualify, that would be better than only Tyler Anderson. Considering we don’t know how long the stay in the minor leagues will be, you can move on from Miller if an interesting option emerges on the waiver wire.

What does Rece Hinds offer for fantasy teams?

Hinds has been with the Reds for a week. With five home runs and two stolen bases, he has displayed the power and speed combination that fantasy managers covet. He is also batting 423. It all sounds wonderful, but temper your expectations going forward.

The league leader in flyball percentage is Anthony Santander at 55.6%. Hinds first week has him hitting flyballs 63% of the time. The league leader in HR/FB ratio is Gunnar Henderson at a remarkable 31%. Through his first week, Hinds is at 41.7%. Aaron Judge has a league-leading .373 isolated power. Hinds isolated power is more than double Judge’s at .769.

If you believe Hinds is the best power hitter of our generation, then be aggressive with him. It’s far more likely that his first week will go down as the best of his career.

Why did Garret Crochet only pitch two innings?

Crochet has already surpassed his previous career high in innings pitched with 105. To keep him healthy, the White Sox have taken measures to limit his total workload.

Before Friday’s game, we were informed by manager Pedro Grifol that it would be an abbreviated start for Crochet. Typically, when you see a report like that, you expect around 80 pitches. Instead, Crochet threw just 28 over two innings but still struck out four batters.

We also learned Crochet won’t be pitching in the team’s first series after the All-Star break. This could be the start of the White Sox plan to limit Crochet the rest of the way. Of course, that could all change if he is traded to a contending team in the next few weeks.

What is this latest Dustin May setback?

In his five major league seasons, the most innings that Dustin May has been able to pitch is 56. We haven’t seen him pitch yet this season. Unfortunately, we learned this weekend that he won’t pitch in 2024.

The majority of May’s injuries have been directly related to pitching. He’s had both Tommy John surgery and flexor tendon surgery. This latest injury has nothing to do with pitching. Instead, it was an injury to his esophagus that required surgery.

The hope is that May recovers by the start of next season and can deliver on the promise he has previously shown. Of course, he can be dropped in any redraft league.

What changes with the Hunter Harvey trade?

The Royals’ bullpen has been an issue all season. On Saturday evening, the team traded for Harvey in order to address the problem. As fantasy managers, we have to determine how it affects both Washington and Kansas City.

Harvey had been setting up for Kyle Finnegan in Washington. Dylan Floro will likely set up Finnegan now, but that doesn’t make Floro fantasy viable. While Harvey has pitched to a 4.20 ERA, his FIP is a much better 3.17. That means he should step into the closing role for the Royals. If he wasn’t owned in your fantasy league before, he must be now.

Is there a pickup from this year’s MLB Draft for fantasy baseball?

On Sunday evening, the 2024 MLB Draft took place. Travis Bazzana, Chase Burns, and Charlie Condon are all intriguing players, but don’t expect anything like what we saw from last year’s class.

Can you believe that we’ve already seen four players from last year’s first round make their major league debuts? Paul Skenes is the most notable, as he will start the All-Star game.

Wyatt Langford has delivered fantasy production since he returned from his injury in late-May. Nolan Schanuel was in the bigs barely a month after being drafted. Hurston Waldrep was the final member to make his debuts, although he is now on the injured list.

That many early performers is atypical. Don’t expect any 2024 draftees to make an impact this season.

What has gotten into Lawrence Butler?

If anyone can rival Hinds for best offensive week, it’s Butler. Over the last week, he hit five home runs and accumulated 13 RBI. His average for the season is still only 211, but it is up 15 points in the past week.

Many players have hot weeks, but there may be something more with Butler. He doesn’t have enough at-bats to qualify for the Statcast leaderboards, but the data paints a compelling picture.

An average exit velocity of nearly 92 mph and close to a 47% hard-hit rate shows that the power should be real. For Butler to capitalize on his power, he has to cut down on a 30% strikeout rate. For now, he’s a watchlist candidate, but there could be something more here.

MLB Jose Alvarado Jeff Hoffman MacKenzie Gore Cody Bellinger Cionel Perez Alexander Canario Pete Crow-Armstrong Bobby Miller Tyler Anderson Rece Hinds Anthony Santander Gunnar Henderson Aaron Judge Dustin May Hunter Harvey Kyle Finnegan Dylan Floro Travis Bazzana Chase Burns Charlie Condon Paul Skenes Wyatt Langford Nolan Schanuel Hurston Waldrep Lawrence Butler