In a game against the Marlins last Sept. 9, with Pablo Lopez on the mound, then-Braves outfielder Adam Duvall went off, hitting three home runs and driving in nine.
In a game against the Braves just this Tuesday, again with Pablo Lopez on the mound, now-Marlins outfielder Adam Duvall went off again, hitting two home runs and driving in seven.
The role reversal goes beyond just that. For the three-homer game last September, I had just picked up Duvall in a high-profile 15-team industry league -- one I eventually went on to win -- making it a moment of revelry. But just prior to this two-homer game, I dropped Duvall in another such league, leaving me with nothing but regret.
The contrast serves as the perfect encapsulation of the Adam Duvall experience, one that can also be summed up with his numbers from last season:
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Kind of a one-note player, isn't he? It's always been that way. When he's going through a stretch where he's hitting a bunch of homers, you'll wonder how you ever went without him, but when he's not ... well, let's just say it would take a special sort of Fantasy player to keep him in the lineup.
And therein lies the catch-22: You only want him in the lineup when he's on a home run binge, but you're liable to miss that home run binge if you don't have him in the lineup.
So do you just go hands-off with him and trust the homers to be there in the end? Easier said than done. Last year was the first year since 2017 that he became Fantasy-relevant, and he might not have ranked among the league leaders in homers if the season hadn't ended when it did, with him homering 11 times in his final 24 games. He's a career .232 hitter with a .293 on-base percentage, so it's easy to see why the Marlins themselves might lose patience if he enters a long enough dry spell.
In other words, there are no guarantees with him. Maybe later in the year, when your category aims are more specific, you could target him as a home run specialist, but you won't be sticking with him through all the ups and downs in any league shallower than 15 teams and five outfielders.
Akil Baddoo's roster percentage continues to creep rather than skyrocket, giving me one last chance to tout him here. The 22-year-old homered for the second straight game Tuesday, another shot to the opposite field, and has already made himself a fixture in the Tigers lineup, at least against right-handers. Combine these numbers with his five-homer, four-steal performance this spring, and it's harder to dismiss as a fluke. I did hype Tyler Naquin a couple days ago, but Baddoo is the one who needs to be rostered more.
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The 37-year-old has gotten off to a miserable start, and his numbers the past couple years might lead you to believe there's nothing to see here. But Joey Votto has now homered in two straight. He recommitted himself to driving the ball down the stretch last season, saying he had been too focused on contact, and homered eight times in his final 29 games. Despite his poor numbers so far, the quality of contact has been there, with Statcast's expected stats pegging him for a .318 batting average and .564 slugging percentage
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It was indeed right-hander Lou Trivino and not left-hander Jake Diekman who recorded the Athletics' first save with Trevor Rosenthal sidelined, pitching a scoreless ninth inning Tuesday. Perhaps most notable, though, is that he faced two left-handed batters in the inning. It seemed like a tailor-made situation for Diekman, who hadn't pitched in the game but had worked three of the previous four. Maybe it's still a timeshare, but things are trending more Trivino's way.
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Danny Duffy has had a tendency to fake us out over the past couple years and may be doing it again, but what's different about this start is he averaged 94.7 mph on his fastball, up 2 mph from last year. He was much more of a sure thing the last time he averaged close to that over a full season, delivering a 3.51 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 9.4 K/9 during a breakout 2016, so while I wouldn't call him must-add right now, it is a situation to monitor.
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Chris Towers wrote about Jed Lowrie in the previous edition of Waiver Wire, and with him homering in another multi-hit game Tuesday, the case to add him is even stronger. The 36-year-old couldn't move past his knee troubles with the Mets but was a quality contributor in his last stint with the Athletics, hitting .267 with 23 homers and an .801 OPS in 2018. He's especially useful in points leagues given his plus plate discipline.
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You may remember Kendall Graveman as a ground ball-generating starter for the Athletics a few years back, but he's a power reliever for the Mariners now, armed with a fastball that reaches 98 mph. And he may be a closer given the way things have gone for Rafael Montero this year. Montero has three blown saves already, failing to close out the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday, and Graveman wound up getting the save in extras. He would be next in line if the Mariners decide to make a change.
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