Few fantasy analysts can take the heat — and deliver it — like Dalton Del Don. He brings his fantastic fantasy baseball footage here every week, to help you keep the fire burning in your leagues.
• Anthony Volpe hit just .209 as a 22-year-old rookie, but he also went 20/20. He’s off to an incredible start to 2024, posting a 198 wRC+ while adding points, home runs and steals. While Volpe’s .426 BABIP will certainly regress, his much-improved plate discipline suggests he will quickly develop into a fantasy star this season. Volpe has the third best K% improvement so far this year, a statistic that quickly stabilizes. He ranks top-10 in Contact% and has a K:BB ratio of 1:5 with three steals in five games since ranking first. Volpe has the green light to run, plays in one of the most HR-friendly parks in baseball, and can rake, so he should be considered a borderline top-five fantasy SS moving forward.
• Julio Rodríguez has yet to homer and is off to a terrible start at the plate (42 wRC+) through the first 10% of the season. It’s hardly ideal for a player who finished in the top five in fantasy drafts, and Rodríguez’s Hard Hit, K, and BB numbers are all easily the worst of his career. However, it’s still a small sample size (which would otherwise go unnoticed in mid-summer), and he played 65% of his games at home – the league’s most extreme pitching park and where Rodríguez saw his OPS drop by 64 points last year. Additionally, Rodríguez hit .204 with a .656 OPS through his first 200 plate appearances last season before hitting .302 with 25 home runs and 29 steals after May 21. He posted a .544 OPS in April during his rookie season, so it’s becoming more and more possible Rodríguez is just a slow starter. His maximum exit velocity remains in the top 2% of the league, and this is a player who just posted a 156 wRC+ after the All-Star break last season as a 22-year-old. Rodríguez should still be treated as a top-five fantasy player.
• Ronald Acuña Jr. has seven steals, but his start at the plate is somewhat concerning. He has just been admitted An sums up this season next suffered a knee injury in the spring which required an MRI (he led the league in barrels last year). Of course, the knee hasn’t stopped him from stealing, and this is a small example of playing in cold weather. Acuña will start hitting soon and will almost certainly remain a top fantasy player, but it is possible it will decline slightly more than expected in 2024 and no longer ends up at the top of the ranks. Last season’s 11.4 K% is increasingly looking like an outlier, as it was 23+% the other six seasons of his career, and pitchers have adjusted pitching to suit him in 2024. Acuña had already done that about trends regarding his swing path, so a jump in K% is important. In fact, Acuña has changed his average swing path angles more than any hitter in baseball this season (aside from Michael A. Taylor), which might help explain his slow start at the plate.
• The A’s quickly abandoned any plans to move Mason Miller into the closer role, and he has become a must-see when he is on the mound. He has averaged an MLB-high 100.6 mph with his fastball while hitting 103.7, resulting in a silly 45.5 K%. Miller is a top five reliever in CSW, has yet to allow a barrel and owns a projected ERA of 1.15 in the top 2% of the league. Health could remain a hurdle, but it’s nice to see Oakland moving him into a closer role right away (he’d still have a save if the rules weren’t so ridiculous). Miller should be considered an elite fantasy reliever.
• There may have been several injuries, but Esteury Ruiz is back in track and field. He hit .326/.423/.581 with three home runs and seven steals over 11 games in Triple-A after posting a 221 wRC+ in Oakland before curiously being sent down. Ruiz isn’t a great defender, but he deserves playing time an outfield that hits a collective .216/.289/.339 without him. Ruiz racked up 67 bases in fewer than 450 at-bats last season and can approach 10 home runs, so he’s a must-add in all fantasy formats; it is available in 50% of Yahoo leagues.
• Speaking of speed, Jonatan Clase is another option available in 80% of Yahoo leagues. The rookie was called up Monday due to injuries, and Clase will have a chance to stay in Seattle’s lineup while Dominic Canzone is out. Clase hit 20 home runs and stole 79 bases in fewer than 130 games in the minors last season, and he had a 144 wRC+ (with five home runs/steals and improved contact rates) in Triple-A this year. Clase has a speed of “80” and is a strong addition for those seeking immediate assistance from stolen bases.
• Edward Cabrera showed better control before suffering a shoulder injury in the spring, and that continued during his return Monday night. Cabrera achieved a K:BB ratio of 10:1 a CSW of 42%where 68% were thrown are four above-average pitches for strikes (59% last season). Cabrera’s 27.2 K% last season would have ranked 10th among starters had he qualified, just ahead of Gerrit Cole and Zack Wheeler, so he could develop into an ace if the improved control were real . Max Meyer didn’t deserve to be sent to the minors, but Cabrera has tremendous potential if health cooperates. He won’t be as widely available in Yahoo leagues for much longer.
• Tommy Pham combined for 38 homers/steals in fewer than 130 games last season, most of which came in an extreme pitcher’s park (Citi Field). He owns a career 116 wRC+ and now gets to play in hitter-friendly Guaranteed Rate Field after reportedly signing with the White Sox so he can be added to deeper fantasy leagues. Chicago recently welcomed Eloy Jiménez back to the lineup, but plenty of at-bats (and playing time) remain available for Pham; the White Sox field an ugly lineup and became the first team to be so shut out six times in their first sixteen games since 1907.
• Teoscar Hernández is on pace to finish the season with 145 RBI and 230 strikeouts (223 is the MLB record). He’s clubbed all five HRs at home and it appears his complaint about not being able to see the baseball in Seattle last season was real, though the K-rate remains scary. Hernández will remain a top fantasy outfielder while benefiting from hitting in LA’s lineup and at Dodger Stadium, which has quietly increased right-hander home runs by 27% in the MLB over the past three seasons.
• Michael Busch homered for the fifth straight game on Monday, tying the Cubs’ franchise record. Although he struggled in Los Angeles, Busch is a first-round pick who produced strong numbers in the minors, including a 150 wRC+ with 27 home runs in 390 ABs in Triple-A last season. His K rating suggests a slump will eventually come, and he has yet to record a hit against a left-handed pitcher this year, but his hot start should help keep him in Chicago’s lineup on a regular basis. The power is real, third base has only gotten thinner and Busch is hitting in the middle of the Cubs’ order, so he looks like a huge win for fantasy managers.
BONUS — TV conversation: The final season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” wasn’t the best, but it wrapped up perfectly and ends up as my favorite comedy of all time… “Shōgun” is legit. I highly recommend it if you’re not watching… “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and “Griselda” are two shows if you’re looking for entertainment, while “Ripley” and “Expats” are superior, slower programs. .. “True Detective : Night Country” did a great job of keeping my interest in such a shaky show… Finally done with “The Dynasty: New England Patriots”, which comically belittled Bill Belichick… I look forward to the return of “The Jinx Part Two” and “Hacks” soon, but the biggest news on television is obviously the return of ‘Melrose Place’.