Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Matt Manning figures it out; Lars Nootbaar becoming unlikely X factor
Meanwhile, Andrew Heaney proves he's worth holding onto
By
Scott White
•
1 min read
If you were tempted to drop Andrew Heaney because he hadn't gone five innings even once since returning from his bout with shoulder inflammation -- and I know I was -- well, you might want to rethink it now. He went not just five but six Wednesday, and the final line was a dream come true.
It brings his season-long ERA down to 1.94 to go along with a 1.01 WHIP and 13.4 K/9, no doubt excellent numbers that would make him a Fantasy ace if he had contributed them over a reasonable workload. But if a pitcher never goes the minimum for a win, much less a quality start, his impact potential is only so high no matter how good these ratios are.
And with the Dodgers, who knows? They're one of those organizations that shirk all convention, particularly with regard to pitching. Maybe from Heaney, a dominant four innings is all they would ever ask for.
Maybe not.
"I think we've done a really nice job of progressively building him up and not too fast," manager Dave Roberts said. "He's a big part of what we're trying to do here this year."
Not too fast? Not too fast? He was at a standstill for his first five turns off the IL, hence my pessimism. But if it was all part of some buildup strategy rather than a set-in-stone approach, as Wednesday's outing and Roberts' comments would suggest, well, Heaney might just be something resembling a Fantasy ace after all.
He's already rostered in 81 percent of CBS Sports leagues, which is too high for me to feature him here. But if he happens to be available in yours, know that adding him should be your top priority.
Possible waiver wire pickups
The real headliner Wednesday was Manning, a five-time top-100 prospect who had the misfortune last year of being called up at a time when he had lost his way. He had an 8.07 ERA at Triple-A, for goodness' sake. Needless to say, the transition didn't go well, and his stock plummeted. But now, all of a sudden, the stuff is showing up again. Wednesday's outing marked his fourth straight with double-digit swinging strikes, something he accomplished only twice in his first 21 career starts. Twelve of his 16 Wednesday came on the slider, which has been the key to his turnaround. When he was sidelined by a shoulder injury from April to August, he went to work on it, adding more horizontal movement. He might be worth a pickup now that his potential is showing again.
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Irvin is below the 80 percent rostership threshold that normally governs the players I highlight here, so there's no way I can ignore the start he just had, striking out 11 over seven shutout innings with a swinging-strike total (25) that bettered his career high by nine. Here's the rub: He was facing the Marlins, a team that's darn near inept against left-handed pitchers, ranking dead last in OPS and strikeout rate. He just kept firing in his 91 mph fastball, throwing it a whopping 73 percent of the time, and they were powerless to do anything against it. So, yeah, that aspect was a bit fluky. Still, he has a 3.16 ERA and 1.06 WHIP overall, going at least six innings in 11 straight outings, so he should probably be rostered anyway, if only for his home starts.
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Flaherty has missed almost all of this season after missing half of last season and even struggling to take a regular turn during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, so I can understand why you might just be over him by now. Nonetheless, he has a career 3.38 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 10.4 K/9, and his latest rehab start was pretty great, seeing him strike out seven over four one-run innings. His initial return from this shoulder strain didn't go well, putting him back the IL for another two months, but president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, who attended the rehab start, sounds more optimistic this time around. "You sort of think back to 2019, and what would we look like if we could get that again?" he said. Flaherty's next rehab start might be his last, if you're looking to stash him away.
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I've written about Nootbaar a lot lately, which is a pretty good indicator that he's shaping up to be this year's Frank Schwindel, an obscure player who becomes an unlikely X factor during the most crucial stretch of the season. Schwindel hit .346 with 12 homers and a 1.027 OPS from Aug. 12 on last year. Nootbaar, with another home run Wednesday, has hit .311 (32 for 103) with six homers and a 1.051 OPS from July 9 on. Equally impressive are his 25 walks to 20 strikeouts during that stretch, and it's that patient approach that's earned him the leadoff spot, at least against right-handers. Overall, I think he has more staying power than Schwindel and is contributing in ways that make him just as valuable in points leagues as traditional 5x5 scoring.
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The Guardians clearly have faith in Gonzalez, choosing to DFA Franmil Reyes and option Nolan Jones right about the time he returned from an intercostal strain in early August, and seeing as he's hit .338 (25 for 74) with three homers since then, their faith in him appears to be justified. One area where the 24-year-old hasn't quite performed up to expectations is in the home run column, but he just hit his second in as many games Wednesday, perhaps marking the start of a turnaround. He's in the 91st percentile for max exit velocity and homered 31 times in 121 minor-league games last year, so you know it's in there. His lack of walks may limit his usefulness in points leagues, but in five-outfielder Rotisserie leagues, just pick him up already.
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There are limits to Solano's upside, certainly. He's 34 years old and has never made a significant impact in Fantasy. But we're talking about a guy who's only 5 percent rostered, a rate that understates his utility. Apart from his recent absence for paternity leave, he has started most every game for the past three weeks or so, working his way into the middle of the lineup with a .335 batting average. Normally, we'd call such a mark unsustainable, but with his high line-drive rate and all-fields approach, maybe not. He is a .313 hitter since the start of 2019, after all. It's a fairly hollow batting average, without much power or speed to accompany it, but as long as he's playing, it'll keep him useful at the two crucial positions where he's eligible, second and third base.
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