With top-tier starting pitchers on mend, fantasy baseball owners load up on wavier wire
Between ineffectiveness and injury bugs, most fantasy baseball owners will be chasing saves the rest of the 2016 if they don’t drill the replacements in advance. The Royals’ Wade Davis was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday with a forearm strain. Some believe Kelvin Herrera – team leader in holds of (21) -will inherit the role in the short-term, but why can’t Joakim Soria get a little of that action? He saved 42-of-50 games over the past two seasons.
Another developing story is the sexual assault allegations against Pirates’ Jung-Ho Kang. He could be placed on leave until the investigation is completed.
The majority of last week’s top fantasy waiver wire targets were a byproduct of Clayton Kershaw to the disabled list. Over his past four starts, Bud Norris – now of the Dodgers – has been a legit fantasy option. He’s boasting an 11.19 K/9 rate with 1.93 ERA and 2.67 WHIP in 23 innings pitched.
Lonnie Chisenhall will run hot and cold the rest of the fantasy baseball season. However, during the Tribe’s 14-game winning streak, the 27-year-old project posted a .392 / .415 / .667 triple slash with three homers, 10 RBI and six runs scored. Despite these strong numbers, the 14 percent of owners who added him should know that his other shoe will drop at some point. His current BABIP is 43 points above his career norm of .301. For those who were looking for lightning in a bottle, Chisenhall’s flash may be trailing behind him.
