Cristopher Sanchez (SP - PHI) - Sanchez had a very solid outing against the Rays on Monday, tossing 6 shutout innings while allowing just 4 singles and a walk with 4 K's. In typical Sanchez fashion, he generated 17 swinging strikes on just 94 pitches but only managed 4 strikeouts. Sanchez is a perfect example of a pitcher that is often overlooked: his strengths are GB% and BB% (5th and 20th among SP respectively), but his K rate is well below average. That masks a pitcher that can indeed fool hitters: his swinging strike rate is rather average, and his chase rate is well above average. If he wanted more K's he likely could get them, but at the expense of length: Sanchez averages almost 6 innings per start, which is sadly rather high. I feel like I'm much higher on Sanchez than consensus, and I expect to remain so heading into 2025. The velocity gains this year, a level that he actually exceeded by over 1 mph on Monday, are another major positive for him. The title of this post may seem crazy at first glance, but take a look at the entire professional careers of the two (even down to their stat lines this year) and tell me you don't see it.
Austin Wells (C - NYY) - Wells doubled and homered on Monday, knocking in 4 runs in the 10-4 win over KC. He's now hitting 295/388/511 with 7 HR and 29 RBI in just 39 games since the All-Star break, finally relegating Jose Trevino to the backup catcher status that he's best suited for. I've been most impressed with the massive improvement in his defense, which may not seem important for fantasy purposes, but plus defense will keep you in the lineup when you're slumping, a consideration that poor glove-men aren't always afforded. Wells has been one of the best offensive catchers in baseball in the second half, and the improvement in his plate discipline this year has been impressive enough that I'd probably rank him in the top 8 at the position in OBP-based formats for 2025. Once again, Yankee Stadium will play up the lefty pull power, so 20-25 HR doesn't seem like a real stretch moving forward. He's cut the K rate a bit this year as well, helping the AVG a bit. All told, I'm leaning toward Wells being a top-12 (read: starter in standard 1-catcher formats) at the position come spring, which is a far cry from where we were 6 months ago.
Reid Detmers (SP - LAA) - Apparently, Reid Detmers is back! After looking lost for most of May-July, Detmers rattled off 3 straight solid outings at AAA to finish off August, so the Angels brought him back up when rosters expanded. He's thrown two starts back in the bigs against the Dodgers and Twins, and the results have been more what folks hoped for coming into 2024: 12 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 18 K. It's been impressive, but the warts are still there. The control has been a bit better of late, but 3.00 per 9 is merely average, and that's the improved level. More worrisome is the quality of contact. He allowed an AVERAGE exit velocity of almost 95 mph on Monday, and he's pretty consistently below average in this area. That, combined with a pedestrian GB rate, leads to a bunch of XBH. The potential is obviously still here, as the K rates are impressive and there does appear to be improvement, but the floor remains fairly low. A 2-start week may loom next week for him, but as juicy as the White Sox start is, the Astros could be an issue. I'd lean toward gambling on him, personally.
Tylor Megill (SP - NYM) - Not many players suck me in as repeatedly as Tylor Megill, who every 5-10 starts just looks unhittable for an evening. Monday was one of those nights, where he allowed a double to Spencer Horwitz and a couple of walks over 6 shutout innings, racking up 9 K's. It was only Megill's 2nd QS of the season, but the potential here remains significant in terms of strikeouts. His velocity, which has been back near peak levels once again this season, was up over 96.5 on his average fastball Monday night, which would be up a full mph from his previous seasonal best. He's merely average in terms of quality of contact allowed and below average in GB rate and BB rate, but the K upside is significant, and the GB rate has been at least average in the past. He's another arm that I'll likely be targeting for the back of my rotation in 2025.
Zach Neto (SS - LAA) - Neto picked up his 30th double of the season on Monday night in the 6-2 win over the Twins. He is a perfect illustration, to me, of just how valuable "average" can be. Neto has average-minus contact, average power, and average-plus speed to go along with roughly average defense at SS. The speed has played up this year, as he's 29/37 in steals and the Angels don't seem to care if you get thrown out much, so he's very likely to give you a 20/30 season with 75 R and 75 RBI. He plays every day, his AVG is near the league median, and he's helping everywhere else. He'll likely be ranked between 12-14 for me at the position next year, making him a clear starter in just about all formats at either SS or MI, and he's just 23. An average player across the board (I will certainly grant that the SB aren't even remotely average, but even if he had 10-12 SB this holds true) that plays every day is very valuable.
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