MTS Fantasy Baseball
Fantasy Baseball with MLB The Show (July 22, 2022)
A former baseball agent’s recommendation to help your fantasy baseball teams net positive gains.
Welcome to my new fantasy baseball guide where I will attempt to boil down all of the industry analyses into a quick-hitting format. Oh, and I am a former MLBPA-recognized player-agent!
Here are this week’s two waiver-wire recommendations, with player ratings and traits provided by Sony’s flagship baseball game, MLB The Show.
Top Hitter Add
Yandy Díaz, Tampa Bay Rays: .294 average/.354 xwOBA/3 HR/40 runs MTS Traits: 78 Overall Rating: 20/20 vision & Hitting Machine
I like to use xwOBA as a barometer of the quality at-bats a player has. Quality at-bats are gold for my team, in a league that values on-base percentage. I want my players that treat each AB like it’s the playoffs. And Díaz has that focus.
Yandy is ranked #38 in all of MLB in xwOBA, and has been quietly roping doubles (18) in the first half of the season. Diaz is widely available in leagues because of his lack of homerun power, but his contact skills are, dare I say elite (94% zone-contact rate) and the batting average and runs scored are bankable.
Díaz is a remarkably consistent bench bat to compliment your 1B or 3B, who are likely hitting under .250, selling out for power. Díaz will balance your hitting out, and he is sneaky type of add that can quickly help teams win.
Top Pitching Add
Reynaldo López, Chicago White Sox: 2.79 era/1.02 whip/4 wins, 4 holds, 44 strikeouts & 8 walks. MTS Show Traits: 72 Overall Rating
Middle to late inning relievers have been absolutely dominant in MLB this season. Their innings limits cap the propensity for them to get blown up and destroy your weekly ratios. López is a former top pitching prospect for the White Sox, now quietly dominating in their bullpen.
If you can, I recommend building two to three middle relivers into your pitching rotation. López, who compares with José Berríos, is 97 percent available in Yahoo leagues.
López is relying on his slider more than the past (a league trend that is working well), and his 8 walks are very promising considering his history with control issues. His Statcast metrics are on point, supporting his success on the diamond in ’22.
