Fantasy Baseball Mailbag: Jacob deGrom, Gabriel Moreno, Robbie Ray, Playoffs

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

Start Jacob deGrom or Erick Fedde?

I think it’s time to drop Erick Fedde. He has a 4.43 ERA since joining the Cardinals in late July. He only has 33 strikeouts across 42.2 innings and one quality start in his eight appearances as a Cardinal.

Jacob deGrom was limited to only 61 pitches in his first start back from injury. He gave up four hits and struck out four in 3.2 innings. The longtime ace looked sharp. He just lacked the workload to bring it home.

The Rangers starter will most likely be limited to around 75 pitches this time. There’s a solid chance he can go five innings and get the win. I would start deGrom over Fedde.

Start Jacob deGrom or Kevin Gausman?

This question is much harder.

Kevin Gausman slowed down his early season shenanigans after the All-Star break. He has a 3.27 ERA and 1.17 WHIP since the Midsummer Classic. This performance lowered his season stats to a 4.02 ERA and 1.25 WHIP.

Despite limiting runs, Gausman has not been striking out as many batters. He has just 6.7 K/9 during this time. This decrease is even more confusing when considering Gausman’s 11.5 K/9 ratio in 2023. Gausman has been a head-scratcher this season.

Even though deGrom is, well, deGrom, he is still heavily limited. Gausman has pitched into the seventh inning or deeper six times since the start of July.

I prefer Gausman’s matchup against the Rangers to deGrom’s against the Mariners this week. A limited pitch count provides much less room for error.

Drop Shea Langeliers for Gabriel Moreno in the championship?

Gabriel Moreno returned from the injured list (IL) on 9/15 after being hurt with a left adductor strain for nearly five weeks. He has been pretty good when healthy, slashing .261/.343/.384 with five homers across 87 games.

Shea Langeliers has been healthier, but not necessarily better. He is slashing .219/.280/.438. He has 26 home runs but poor contact. He is batting just .182 this month.

If you want to shake up your team for the final game, go for it. However, I don’t see much of a difference between Langeliers and Moreno. Moreno is coming back from such a long injury with no rehab assignment. The Diamondbacks catcher will likely be rusty.

Is Robbie Ray worth stashing?

Robbie Ray has lost most of the season to Tommy John rehab and a hamstring strain. He has shown brilliance (no-hitting the Dodgers across five innings in his debut) and failure (five runs to the Braves in 0.2 innings) during his shortened 2024.

Ray has been hot and cold. Although his 4.70 ERA looks awful, his 12.6 K/9 ratio saves him in leagues where strikeouts are crucial. He is hopeful to make another start this season. Hopeful. I don’t think someone like him is worth worrying over. His performance and playing time are too uncertain.

Jackson Holliday or Xavier Edwards in a points league redraft?

Xavier Edwards has been better than Jackson Holliday this season. Edwards has also been better than Holliday recently.

Holliday is batting .139 with an RBI and two stolen bases in his last 12 games. Edwards is batting .227 with two RBI and five stolen bases in his previous 12 games.

Neither of them has been very good, but Edwards has been better after returning from injury. Start Edwards.