Welcome back to another week of Fantasy baseball. With August in its death throes, we’re down to the final few weeks of the season, so you better make your final stand now.
This week, Seattle has axed manager Scott Servais in the wake of a fantastic collapse; Ernie Clement is flashing some sweet power; and Texas finally snapped a week-long offensive funk.
So while you wonder whether the Royals’ World Series odds (currently +3200 on FanDuel) will improve if they keep racking up wins at this rate, let’s get to this week’s…
Edwin Uceta, RP, Tampa Bay Rays (ESPN: 3.3 per cent; CBS: 12 per cent): Pete Fairbanks (lat) has landed on the IL, opening the door for saves in Tampa Bay. Enter Uceta, a relative unknown Fantasy commodity, but one who is enjoying a breakout campaign. Since getting touched up in his final July outing, Uceta has been lights out with nine shutout appearances in which he’s given up four hits and one walk, while whiffing 15 and earning three holds, a win, and the first save chance since Fairbanks got hurt. Yes, Manuel Rodriguez got the next save, but Uceta has been so dominant that he’s worth adding whether he’s bagging saves or not. Uceta has gone undefeated through 20 games and 31 1/3 innings, recording a brilliant 0.86 ERA (which is not as common as you think) and flashing off-the-charts command. In fact, based on his botOvr rank of 60, he’s never looked better. Armed with a hard changeup as his best offering, Uceta has proved he’s capable of escaping serious jams (see video below) while establishing himself as a 2025 closer in waiting.
Samuel Basallo, C/1B, Baltimore Orioles (ESPN: 0.7 per cent; CBS: 17 per cent): With many dynasty league owners now looking to 2025, we’re going prospect heavy in this edition of the Troll. If you’re in this situation, consider Basallo, No. 90 on our Top 100 Prospects list this spring. He’s still spending most of his fielding time behind the plate, but has seen more action at first base than ever before, a development that should help improve his chances of getting to the bigs quicker. There’s no question Basallo’s bat will play as at Double-A this year he’s racked up plenty of runs, flashed nice pop and continued to show a willingness to run (although his base stealing prowess could be better).
Chandler Simpson, OF, Tampa Bay Rays (ESPN: NA; CBS: 2 per cent): Still on the prospect front, Simpson has established himself as a future MLB stolen base king with a ridiculous 86 thefts between High-A and Double-A, nicely supplemented by a studly .356 BA and .409 OBP. Wisely, he’s trended more into a groundball hitter this season to help take advantage of his elite speed. Dynasty league owners need to add Simpson pronto.
Leo Jimenez, SS/2B, Toronto Blue Jays (ESPN: 0.1 per cent; CBS: 1 per cent): Jimenez is probably just a deep AL-only league option, but we like what we’re seeing now that he’s getting to play with Bo Bichette (calf) and Orelvis Martinez (suspension) both out. Jimenez took an 0-fer on Thursday, but recently slugged three homers in six games, giving him a robost 863 OPS for August, albeit in limited PT. The rookie hasn’t been tremendously productive, but is definitely trending up in that regard. Playing mostly at short, he’s done a good job starting double plays, so clearly has the glove to stick there if given the opportunity to play more often.
Adrian Del Castillo, C, Arizona Diamondbacks (ESPN: 5 per cent; CBS: 30 per cent): Seeking a streaming option at catcher down the stretch? Del Castillo fits the bill as he’s really rolling since being recalled, hitting safely in four straight (including a pair of multi-hit efforts) with two homers, three RBI, three runs and a walk. He’s been getting on base at a prodigious clip and while the usual small sample size caveat applies, judging by how productive he was at Triple-A, this doesn’t seem to be a massive fluke.
Kyle Hendricks, SP, Chicago Cubs (ESPN: 1.8 per cent; CBS: 7 per cent): Last season, Hendricks earned consideration for our Wire Troll All-Star team, but this year has been a shitshow as the losses have piled up and he’s never looked worse. However, things are trending the right way now, and since he got rocked in his penultimate July start, he’s looked progressively better with each outing — at least until Friday’s somewhat rough game. Okay, so it’s only been three starts, but his 3.45 ERA in August makes us bullish that he can finish strong and continue whittling down his career worst ERA and first ever season of negative value (-1.0 RA9-WAR).
Canadian new wavers Images in Vogue formed in 1980 and remained active until 1991, took a massive break before getting back together in 2018 and are still at it today. Their first hit, “Lust for Love,” came from their eponymous debut EP. Here’s the Orchestral version.
The post The Wire Troll: Edwin Uceta Earning Saves for the Rays first appeared on RotoRob.