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
Brice Turang, Maikel Garcia, Jonathan India or Jackson Holliday?
All four are good options.
My least favorite is Jonathan India. He has a track record of mediocrity and injuries.
Maikel Garcia is batting just .235 and walking only 6.5% of the time. He only has six homers this year. His value is found in a lack of strikeouts and 27 stolen bases. Garcia strikes out 15% of the time, among the lowest in baseball. When he gets on base he has a high chance to steal. Garcia is not the best option available.
Brice Turang is coming off of a cold July. He batted just .169 with four steals and zero home runs. Turang has only sent the ball into the stands six times this season and 12 times in his two-year career. Players with limited power must hit for contact to provide value and steal bases. Turang has 33 stolen bases this year and remains a valuable infielder. Pick him if you want a steady contributor.
Jackson Holliday is the upside pick. The 20-year-old is the number one prospect in baseball and he’s finally acting like it. Holliday is slashing .400/.478/.900 with three home runs in six games since his return. Rookies always seem to raise the hopes of fantasy managers before going on a depressing slump. Something like that could happen again. But why not take a risk on baseball’s top prospect? There’s a chance Holliday could carry teams through the playoffs. I’m not sure that chance exists for India, Garcia or Turang.
Trade away Jazz Chisholm, Pablo Lopez and Luis Gil for Paul Skenes and Brenton Doyle?
This one is tough.
Trading away Jazz Chisholm for Brenton Doyle is a downgrade. But not a huge one. Chisholm is slashing .252/.326/.428 this year with 17 homers and 24 steals compared to Doyle’s .266/.327/.471 line, with 19 homers and 21 steals. Chisholm’s recent value has skyrocketed since he was traded to the Yankees and has since recorded a 1.064 OPS. Chisholm will look closer to Doyle after he comes back to earth.
Now the trade comes down to deciding if Pablo Lopez and Luis Gil are worth Paul Skenes. The rookie sensation has been the best pitcher in the league since his debut. He is coming off his worst start, where he allowed two runs in 5.1 innings on five hits and three walks with only four strikeouts against Arizona on August 4. Plenty of pitchers would love a “worst” start like Skenes.
Luis Gil is another exciting rookie pitcher. He is not as exciting as Skenes, but he has impressed with a 3.20 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 10.5 K/9. Gil has recovered from a three-game scare where he allowed 16 runs over 9.2 innings. It would hurt to part with Gil. Perhaps some solace can be found knowing he threw just four innings last year — total. Fatigue will be a factor as the Yankees hurler goes down the stretch.
Pablo Lopez does not have similar workload concerns. He is a modern-day workhorse. The 28-year-old tossed over 180 innings in 2022 and 2023. Lopez has 124 innings this season and is on pace to exceed the 180-inning mark. Fantasy managers had high expectations for the Twins ace. These hopes are yet to be met. Lopez followed up his 2023 All-Star campaign with a 4.65 ERA and 1.137 WHIP in 2024. Lopez may be disappointing, but he has been much better lately and his low WHIP and 3.43 xERA indicate he is due for some positive regression.
Skenes is the best pitcher in this trade. Lopez, Doyle and Gil are quite the haul to give up. I think this is only a good trade if your team has deep pitching depth or if you can convince the Skenes owner to ask for someone besides Lopez.
Pick two in an NL-Only dynasty league: Isaac Paredes, Tommy Pham, Ty France, Erick Fedde, Jack Flaherty, Carlos Estevez
Target Jack Flaherty and Erick Fedde in a vacuum. They are the best players listed.
Flaherty and Fedde were top-50 pitchers this year before they played for better teams. They should be even better now.
I see Tommy Pham as the best hitter here. Ty France was DFA’d for a reason. Isaac Paredes is a nice hitter but he benefited from Tropicana field. Many of his homers were hit into shallow left field. Tropicana Field has a 315-foot left field border compared to the 355-foot border of his new home stadium (Wrigley Field). Paredes will continue to be a good player but his power will most likely decline.
None of the offensive help is as enticing as Flaherty and Fedde. Carlos Estevez also loses extreme value since he is no longer a steady closer. Try to get the two starters.
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