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
Who are the hottest bats for the playoffs?
Here is a list of some of the hottest hitters with notable stats in the last 15 days. Players with a chance to be available on waivers are italicized.
- Lawrence Butler (23-for-56, seven homers)
- Jackson Chourio (13-for-47, four homers)
- Mookie Betts (17-for-47, 15 RBI)
- Manny Machado (17-for-53, 16 RBI)
- Corbin Carroll (15-for-53, five stolen bases)
- Luis Arraez (23-for-53, zero strikeouts)
- Yordan Alvarez (18-for-50, seven homers)
- Dansby Swanson (16-for-49, 15 RBI)
- Victor Robles (14-for-33, five stolen bases)
Who are the hottest pitchers for the playoffs?
It’s the same deal as the other list, just with pitchers this time. I added pitcher ERA from the last 30 days, their innings pitched and their K/9 ratio. I again italicized the players with a higher chance of being on waivers.
- Bowden Francis (1.29 ERA, 35.0 IP, 9.8 K/9)
- Sean Manaea (3.41 ERA, 34.0 IP, 10.0 K/9)
- Framber Valdez (1.11 ERA, 32.1 IP, 11.2 K/9)
- Chris Sale (1.15 ERA, 39.0 IP, 11.1 K/9)
- Jose Berrios (1.60 ERA, 33.2 IP, 7.6 K/9)
- Zack Wheeler (1.74 ERA, 31.0 IP, 9.9 K/9)
- Tarik Skubal (2.35 ERA, 30.2 IP, 11.0 K/9)
- Yusei Kikuchi (3.00 ERA, 30,0 IP, 10.2 K/9)
- David Peterson (1.60 ERA, 33.2 IP, 7.9 K/9)
- Hunter Brown (1.16 ERA, 31.0 IP, 9.0 K/9)
- Nestor Cortes (1.86 ERA, 29.0 IP, 7.1 K/9)
Start Nick Martinez or JP Sears this week?
Nick Martinez started Monday 9/9 and threw seven innings of shutout ball against the Braves. His next start is supposed to be Saturday in Minnesota. To look even more into 30-day stats, which are crucial for the playoffs, Martinez has a 4.31 ERA and 6.7 K/9 in his last six appearances. That isn’t very good, but the righty may find better luck against the Twins, who are batting just .224 against righties in the last 15 games.
JP Sears, on the other hand, started Tuesday against the Astros (he threw six scoreless innings) and this weekend against the White Sox. Start anyone against the White Sox. They’re historically bad. Sears also has a 4.31 ERA over the last 30 days, not including Tuesday’s outing, and a 7.2 K/9.
Neither Martinez nor Sears are that good for fantasy purposes. But I would feel comfortable starting Sears vs. the White Sox.
Drop Christian Walker, Nolan Arenado or Kerry Carpenter for Brendan Donovan, Mickey Moniak or Austin Wells?
It’s the playoffs. All bets are off. Player name value doesn’t matter at this point. Here are these players’ slash lines from the last 15 days.
- Christian Walker: .200/.294/.267
- Nolan Arenado: .200/.241/.300
- Kerry Carpenter: .306/.405/.556
- Brendan Donovan: .318/.362/.500
- Mickey Moniak: .282/.317/.692
- Austin Wells: .250/.348/.600
On one hand, you do not want to be like a dog chasing its tail for the playoffs. You never want to drop a player who is underperforming to pick up another player who is underperforming, only for players to start performing like they are supposed to once you make the waiver claim.
However, I see no issue with dropping Nolan Arenado for Brendan Donovan or Mickey Moniak. I would keep Kerry Carpenter and Christian Walker. I’d avoid Austin Wells.
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