Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Joe Ryan gets the call; Amed Rosario, Connor Joe find their footing
Meanwhile, Luis Patino and Bailey Ober are rounding into form.
By
Scott White
•
1 min read
Joe Ryan hasn't been a regular on top-100 lists over the past couple years, and yet his big-league debut Wednesday is being met with some enthusiasm just for the numbers he's put up in the minors.
This year, it's a 3.41 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 12.5 K/9 in 14 appearances at Double-A. In 2019, it was a 1.96 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 13.3 K/9 in 22 appearances between high Class A and Double-A.
Normally, when you see such a discrepancy between a prospect's production and his standing, it's because there's something wonky about his profile, and such is the case with Ryan. The 25-year-old basically lives and dies with his fastball, with his other offerings existing just to keep hitters honest. It's an elite pitch, racking up whiffs with its high spin rate, but that's of course against minor-leaguers. Whether the same approach will translate to the majors -- and in particular, to a starting role -- remains to be seen.
I like to keep an open mind with such prospects because I've seen enough of them pan out. Freddy Peralta was thought to have only a fastball when he first arrived, too, and while it's taken a few years (and the development of a slider) for him to become what he is today, there were high points along the way. Likewise, few held the Astros' Cristian Javier in high standing even though he was near untouchable in the minors, and it's fair to say he's been a success so far.
It doesn't mean you need to rush out and grab Ryan everywhere he's available (which is just about everywhere). A wait-and-see approach is generally advisable outside of deeper leagues. But if you have a roster spot to play with, it doesn't hurt to get the jump on everyone just in case he overwhelms the Cubs Wednesday.
Let's see who else you might consider adding ...
- Blake Snell is on fire! Is Amed Rosario now a must-add hitter? What's our excitement level for Joe Ryan? We analyze that and more on the Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 podcast. You can follow us to get the latest episodes on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Possible waiver wire pickups
Triston McKenzie was on quite a run in the month of August before being shut down with shoulder fatigue, but you'll be happy to learn a turn through the rotation is all it will cost him, his return being set for Thursday. He went from having 8.3 BB/9 in his first 11 appearances, earning him a trip to the minors, to 1.5 BB/9 in the eight appearances since his return, so it's not hard to understand why he's turned his season around. As he showed last year as well, his two breaking balls make him difficult to square up when he's hitting his spots. His .178 batting average against would rank tops among qualifiers.
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Amed Rosario capped his best month of the season with his best day of the season, going 5 for 5 with two home runs (one of them an inside-the-parker) at the Royals on Tuesday. You see his numbers since the All-Star break, and they're excellent. But to hit nearly .350 over the span of a month-and-a-half, you'd expect him to have more than just four out-of-the-park home runs and four stolen bases, wouldn't you? He obviously can't remain this hot for this long, and when he slows down, the lack of counting stats will be the same problem it's been throughout his career. Nothing wrong with riding the hot hand, but don't get too attached.
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Monday's outing becomes all the more impressive when you consider Luis Patino registered 19 swinging strikes, including 17 on his fastball alone. He's mostly fastball/slider at this stage of his career and doesn't always perform up to his potential as a result, but the 21-year-old is beginning to find his footing with a 3.41 ERA over his past six starts. The upside is considerable, and you see the progress the Rays have made with fellow rookie Shane McClanahan over the course of this season. Patino's high fly-ball rate does leave him vulnerable to the long ball, though.
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Connor Joe has been a revelation atop the Rockies lineup -- particularly at home, where he's batting .343 with a 1.072 OPS -- and yet because his emergence happened while Raimel Tapia was sidelined by a sprained toe, we've been reluctant to buy in, fearful that Joe would lose his job as soon as Tapia returned. But Tapia is back now, and the Rockies are still batting Joe leadoff, willing to take the defensive hit that comes with shifting Tapia to center field. Joe is a late bloomer at age 29 but has reached base at better than a .400 clip in each of the past three minor-league seasons.
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Bailey Ober is sort of like Joe Ryan in that his tremendous minor-league success -- which included a 0.69 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 11.4 K/9 between high Class A and Double-A two years ago -- never translated to much prospect hype. The hang-up for him is that his fastball barely touched 90 mph, playing up because of the extension on his 6-foot-9 frame. Well, now he's averaging more like 92 on the fastball and is enjoying some big-league success as a result. He has allowed a combined four earned runs over his past four starts, two of them being quality starts, and now has a 3.98 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 9.3 K/9 overall.
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The Red Sox were hoping to take a break from closer Matt Barnes after his uncharacteristic struggles in August, but the idea was to rehabilitate him during that time. Now that he's tested positive for COVID-19, he won't even be available for two weeks. By then, how much time will he really have to regain manager Alex Cora's trust? Adam Ottavino could solidify the role in the meantime, having already secured two saves over the weekend. He has some control issues but also an established track record of run prevention.
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