A good number of bullpens endured fantasy-relevant changes during the weekend, including on the staffs of Cleveland and the Miami Marlins. However, it's a pitcher who didn't necessarily capture his team's clear closer role who warrants the most intrigue on the fantasy baseball waiver wire.
Every Monday and Wednesday, check back here for my series of actionable blurbs on players, which most commonly will include recommended pickups in ESPN standard and up-to-15-teams-mixed fantasy leagues. At times, we'll also provide trade advice, players to cut, and other moves you can make to boost your squad.
Here are Monday's three players to add in all fantasy leagues, each of whom is available in at least 70% of ESPN leagues:
1. Corey Knebel, RP, Los Angeles Dodgers: The bookend games of the Dodgers' weekend series against the Washington Nationals couldn't possibly have rolled any more clouds into their closer picture. Knebel, a 2017 top-three fantasy closer, nailed down Friday's 1-0 victory -- a game in which one would have thought Kenley Jansen to be available after the team was off on Thursday. Ultimately, Jansen (on three days' rest) closed Sunday's 3-0 victory, with Knebel pitching the seventh inning, working behind both Jansen and Blake Treinen (who worked the eighth).
After Friday's game, manager Dave Roberts indicated that Jansen was only held back for workload concerns, as the right-hander had thrown a combined 40 pitches on April 6-7. So why add Knebel, if this is still Jansen's job? Simple: It was a signal that Roberts probably has a firm number in mind for Jansen's innings and, on a team that was widely projected to win 100-plus games, there should be enough save opportunities for a few to fall to other pitchers.
Jansen's performance has also occasionally come into question in recent years, largely due to some declining velocity, though he did average a much-improved 93.7 mph with the eight pitches he threw on Sunday. Knebel, meanwhile, has been excellent thus far for the Dodgers, striking out 6-of-14 batters he has faced with an elevated 96.5 mph fastball and a knuckle-curve that looks as nasty as it did for him in 2017-18.
The upshot is that you want the high-strikeout, elite-stuff relievers pitching the back frames for teams that win as often as the Dodgers do, especially in a year where bullpen roles have become so fluid. Knebel is must-roster material, not only for the save chances on nights when Jansen is off (or as a Jansen insurance policy), but also because he can provide a bit of help in ERA, WHIP and K's.
2. Jazz Chisholm Jr., 2B, Miami Marlins: He might be a bit raw as a prospect, but Chisholm has quite a tantalizing combination of speed and pop. Thus far, he looks locked in as the Marlins' everyday second baseman. He rode a .268/.333/.488, three-homer, four-steal spring -- with much of the goodness coming in its final stages -- to winning that camp battle ahead of Isan Diaz. On Sunday, Chisholm hit a 100.4 mph Jacob deGrom fastball 402 feet for his first home run of the regular season.
Chisholm does swing and miss frequently. In fact, he has a 29.5% strikeout rate thus far in the majors after fanning 32.1% of the time in Double-A ball in 2019. Still, it's a promising sign that he's been chasing fewer pitches outside the strike zone thus far in 2021 (just 18%, compared to 24% in his brief taste of the bigs in 2020). He averaged 29 home runs and 25 stolen bases (per 162 games played) during his minor-league career so, despite the high likelihood of streakiness, he has the capacity to be a category-filler if he can continue these hints of growth.
3. Robbie Ray, SP, Toronto Blue Jays: Injured-list stints have a strange impact upon roster percentages in ESPN leagues, as the most-dropped list is often populated by players on the IL, due to the limited number of those extra spots in our game. Ray, however, isn't a pitcher who should still be available in roughly 75% of leagues, especially not after the encouraging spring training he had.
In four starts, he had a 1.98 ERA, 18 strikeouts and only five walks over 52 total batters faced. Digging beneath the stats, it seemed that his offseason focus on conditioning paid dividends and supported the outcome. He averaged an improved 95.9 mph with his fastball, with every one of them thrown in a Statcast-equipped facility. He also got a 28% swinging-strike rate with his slider, showing much better location with both pitches.
Walks have historically been the problem for Ray, but the improved control he showed in March bodes well for a return to his better years -- if not 2017, then maybe like 2019. He certainly shouldn't have been let go in as many leagues as he was, not when his injury was always regarded a more short-term problem, caused by his bruising his elbow by falling on some stairs. Ray will probably need to maintain at least two improved skills (either his better control, his heightened velocity or his steadier slider performance) in order to rebound to the level of a top-40 fantasy starter. As such, he's well worth a wait-and-see stash.
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