Sunday, September 23, 2007
Waiver Wire: National League
Posted by Derek Carty at 1:29pmPhilip Humber | NYM | SP - Humber has, rather quietly, put up a nice season at Triple A with an 8.08 K/9 and 2.96 BB/9. He dominated hitters in July and August with an 8.94 K/9, but his BB/9 rose to 4.46 over this time. Somewhat encouraging though is his May, during which he put up a 9.19 K/9 and kept his BB/9 at 2.51. He hasn't pitched much this month (just 3 innings) and is a somewhat risky option on Wednesday. He gets the Nats, though, so he might be worth using in some leagues.
Recommendation - Should be owned in deep mixed leagues. Should be considered in 10 and owned in 12 and 14-team NL-only leagues.
Peter Moylan | ATL | RP/CL - Rafael Soriano will likely be sitting out four games next week. When he does, Moylan will probably be the favorite for saves. Worth a pickup during those fours days if you need saves.
Recommendation - Should be owned in all leagues.
Tim Lincecum | SF | SP - Those of you who drafted or picked this guy up got a great year at very little cost. The Giants are shutting him down, though, and he can now be dropped.
Recommendation - Can be safely dropped in all redraft leagues.
Patrick Misch | SF | SP - Will take Lincecum's place. His numbers in Triple A this year were amazing (10.57 K/9, 2.79 BB/9), but in 36 major league innings (most in relief) he wasn't nearly as good (6.25 K/9, 2.50 BB/9). It'll be interesting to see how he does against a Griffey-and-Hamilton-less Reds team. I'd probably take Humber over him.
Recommendation - Should be considered in deep mixed leagues. Should be strongly considered in 12 and owned in 14-team NL-only leagues.
Brett Tomko | SD | SP - As a starter for LA this year, Tomko had a 5.90 K/9 and 4.08 BB/9. If you throw in his two recent dominant starts as a Padre, it improves to 6.21 and 3.55. That's alright, but I don't see Tomko continuing to dominate like he has over his past two starts. I'd leave him alone unless you're really desperate.
Recommendation - Should be avoided in all but the deepest leagues.
Jeff Keppinger | CIN | 3B/SS - Has the skills to post a pretty good batting average. 95% contact rate, 9% walk rate, and a 23% line drive rate are all great. Doesn't have great power, but he should still be helpful with batting average because his contact rate is so high, even when his .352 BABIP comes down. Will also help with runs with that walk rate and because he's been batting second recently.
Recommendation - Should be owned in deep mixed leagues. Should be strongly considered in 10 and owned in 12 and 14-team NL-only leagues.
Carlos Delgado | NYM | 1B - Some are saying that Delgado is losing power as he ages, but his HitTracker chart says differently. Just 6 of his 23 homers have gone less than 400 true feet, and Delgado might be a decent sleeper next year. He could help with homers and RBIs over the next week. Contact rate isn't very good and his line drive rate is dropping, so Delgado shouldn't be expected to rebound with his batting average over the next week. Still, over such a small sample size, anything can happen really.
Recommendation - Should be owned in deep mixed leagues. Should be owned in deep 10, 12, and 14-team NL-only leagues.
Chad Tracy | ARZ | 1B/3B - Done for the year. Mark Reynolds, who we've talked about before, will get the starts at third.
Recommendation - Can be safely dropped in all redraft leagues.
Derek Carty, 23, has also been published by NBC's Rotoworld, Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports, and USA Today. This season, he'll be contributing to FanDuel and will be linking to all of his work at DerekCarty.com. In his three years competing in expert leagues, he has won 2 titles with 4 top three finishes, including a LABR NL title in 2009, making him the youngest person to ever win a major expert league title. Derek is a proud graduate of the MLB Scouting Bureau's Scout Development Program and is a firm believer in the importance of combining stats and scouting. He welcomes questions via e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter.