We did it! We made it to the All-Star Break and remained competitive enough to still be interested in fantasy baseball, and consuming content thereof. Congrats! That means we are also approaching the trade deadline, both the real life baseball one and our fake one. It’s time to take stock of where we need to bolster our rosters and what categories we need to take major leaps in.
I’ve touched on these concepts before, but please keep in mind that these players are going to be entirely contextual. I can’t possibly know what your teams need, so if you are not well fortified in OPS but needing to chase some steals, please don’t go chasing Dylan Moore and his .176 BA and 30% K rate just to boost your stolen base numbers. He’ll do more harm than good. What I am saying, though, is if you can afford to give a little in a particular category you’ll get the most bang for your trading buck by going after guys who are not necessarily good at most things but very good or elite at the thing you need. Hence- they are category specialists! But let’s take it even one step further… everyone knows that if you want a power specialist, you could go after Joey Gallo. Speed? Whit Merrifield. OBP? Adam Frazier.
The problem is these are all known category specialists, and they will also be on rosters, meaning others are aware of their value and you likely won’t get them for below market value the way you might be able to off the waiver wire. So who are the guys that are both useful specialists and unknown the general public/available for the taking? That’s where we find our edge, friends. Let’s start in the Pacific Northwest with…
Paul Sewald
There is one caveat here in that what Sewald excels at isn’t always necessarily a category in standard 5X5 leagues. That doesn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t still be useful, but just a reminder to be category conscious with these types of assets. He won’t get you saves, both because he’s either second or third in the pecking order for saves in Seattle and because Seattle is bad and doesn’t have many save opportunities. Sewald on the other hand is good! Extremely good!
When it comes to K/9 in 2021, here is the list of relievers who have a higher K/9 than Sewald:
- Aroldis Chapman
- Josh Hader
- James Karinchak
End of list.
So yes, he has the 4th highest K/9 of anyone in baseball, you probably had to Google him, he doesn’t give up home runs (literally not a single one this season), and he even got a save the other night (I know I said not to expect this, but it did happen) and he’s free? He also has a sparking ERA of only 1.40, a .94 WHIP and 2.47 xFIP.
So what’s not to like? Well he doesn’t pitch… much. He’s only appeared in 25 games this season which is well of his career high pace of his career high 57 appearances. He is also 31, so may not be much reason for the Mariners to push the envelope with his usage, especially with this being his first year he is eligible for arbitration. That said- the success he has had can’t be completely ignored, and if it looks like we’ll see some more volume the rest of the way, he could be a great source of both traditional ratios and K/9 if your league happens to have that as a category.
Brandon Crawford
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that there’s no category for defensive wizardry, and there’s definitely no category for long flowing, Jon Snow-like hair. While you’re almost certainly correct on both counts, that doesn’t mean Crawford doesn’t have value. Third most home runs in all of baseball amongst eligible sortstops? Crawford. Second in ISO amongst the same group? Crawford. Second in RBI, second in SLG, fourth in OBP? All Crawford. If it has to do with hitting the ball with authority and achieving extremely good results, Crawford is doing it. Yet the perception of him is that he is a glove first guy that occasionally comes up with a big hit to swing a game or series.
Truthfully, Crawford may have been too good overall for him to truly be a candidate for this section, but that may work in your favor as well. Opposing competitors have been reading articles all week telling them to sell high on certain players who have been punching above their weight, Crawford almost certainly among them. Either through regression or rest, they will say, Crawford will not do the rest of the season what he has done thus far. I distinctly disagree- the Giants have sent his “platoon partner” Mauricio Dubon down to Triple-A because Dubon hasn’t really hit, and Crawford is no stranger to playing in plenty of games, especially when the stakes are high, so with the Giants being far more competitive than anyone thought (best record in baseball!) it’s not far fetched to expect Crawford to finish strong.
Nico Hoerner
So strikeouts and power are nice, and probably sexier, but what if all you need is a guy who gets some hits? With the Cubs beginning the second half of the season eight games back of Milwaukee and already signaling that they will be sellers having moved Joc Pederson, there ought to be ample opportunity for a youngster like Hoerner to make the most of the rest of the season. He’s been off to a blazing start, albeit in limited plate appearances, hitting .330 through his first 27 games, buoyed by a .381 BABIP and only a 13% K rate.
While Hoerner will likely never hit for much power, nor steal a ton of bases, there is still a market for players whose best tool is getting hits, as batting average or its derivatives are still at least one category in almost every fantasy league, and his deficiencies in other categories should make him available at an affordable price in most scenarios. So while Hoerner is not going to become a world beating dynamo for the rest of 2021, he could very well help solidify a category or help you make a push without compromising the better players on your own roster.
