A three-homer game can go a long way toward raising a player's fantasy baseball profile. If that player also has catching eligibility, that helps, too.
Ben RiceThe 12th-round pick of the 2021 draft out of Dartmouth and the New York Yankees’ replacement for Anthony Rizzo accomplished the feat Saturday against the Boston Red Sox. More importantly, he did it in his third game since being promoted to the leadoff spot, replacing Anthony Volpe, who had hit .183/.203/.244 in his previous 25 games atop the Yankees’ batting order.
The trade made a lot of sense, considering Rice’s .397 minor league on-base percentage, 13.5% walk rate and 76.6% contact rate compare favorably to Volpe’s major league numbers of .292, 7.8% and 72.2%. Rice possesses a keen batting eye, competitive with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, and as long as he hits ahead of those two — even if it’s only against right-handed pitching — he remains fantasy-relevant as a catcher-eligible player. Rice, by the way, remains available in nearly 75% of ESPN leagues.
The Yankees could, in the next 22 days leading up to the trade deadline, look to upgrade their lineup by acquiring a first baseman (anyone remember Pete Alonso or Cody Bellinger?), and that would affect Rice's role in the final two months of the season. However, especially in ESPN's standard leagues, the statistics today subject, and Rice is offering significant proposals.
How are they still available?
Jose Miranda, 3B, Minnesota Twins (32.0% on ESPN leagues roster): In case you haven’t noticed — and judging by his roster percentage you haven’t — Miranda has managed to hit some baseballs and is threatening to climb into fantasy relevance. The player formerly best known as Lin-Manuel’s cousin Jose over the weekend tied the major league record with hits in 12 consecutive at-bats, becoming just the fourth player to do so overall and the first since Walt Dropo in 1952. Normally, that would be “nothing more needs to be said” blurb, but keep in mind that Miranda’s profile makes him one of the best batting average specialists with a high floor in the points league, as among the 174 players with at least as many as his 263 plate appearances, he has the 10th-best strikeout percentage (13.3%) and 40th-best line drive percentage (26.2%).
Shane Baz, starting pitcher, Tampa Bay Rays (17.2%): I get it, he was a tough pitcher to keep around during the three-plus months he spent recovering from Tommy John surgery in July 2022. Even I struggled to keep him in the two leagues I rostered him in, especially after his minor league rehab stint expired on May 23, forcing the Rays to activate him while keeping him at Triple-A Durham and tying the hands of many fantasy managers as to roster maneuverability. However, the Aaron Civale trade last Wednesday signaled that the Rays were opening up rotation opportunities for Baz, and soon Jeffrey Springs, and Baz was outstanding in his return for the Rays on Friday. Baz had a quality start in which his fastball averaged a solid 96.2 mph, with the only drawbacks being that his slider and curveball didn’t reach the strikeout rate levels he displayed in 2021-22. It was a big step forward for a pitcher who has top-25 potential when healthy.
A deeper league is added
Brooks Lee, SS, Minnesota Twins (12.5% available): Royce Lewis’ injury history has his fantasy managers in stitches, and they’ve now had to deal with the fact that he’s been on the Twins’ active roster for just 102 of 388 games since his major league debut on May 6, 2022 (laugh it up, Byron Buxton). This The injury, at least, resulted in the promotion of one of the team's top prospects, the contact-oriented Lee. He will serve as the team's third baseman in the interim, and in this columnist's opinion, his batting eye surpasses that of the aforementioned Rice, meaning there is potential for a quick acceleration to a prominent spot in the lineup — note that Willi Castro is currently handling leadoff duties. Lee needs to be added in every league that exceeds the 12-team mixed depth.
Michael Mercado, RP, Philadelphia Phillies (2.6%): Forgive his awful start Sunday, as that was against the Atlanta Braves, who remain loaded with a loaded lineup despite the injury absences of Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II. Mercado, the Phillies’ temporary replacement for injured Taijuan Walker and Spencer Turnbull, was acquired via trade in November from the Tampa Bay Rays, who were facing a 40-man roster crunch at the time. Though he has a history of issues with both control and allowing home runs, Mercado dazzled while with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, posting a 1.98 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in his 10 starts there, reestablishing his prospect status after his career seemed somewhat derailed by 2019 Tommy John surgery. He’s a nice speculative arm for NL-only managers.
