The Wire Troll: The Messy Mets Bullpen
Reed Garrett looks like the Met reliever to own right now. (D. Benjamin Miller)
Welcome back to another week of Fantasy baseball. June is here and it’s time for you to make a move up in the standings. Milk the wire, peeps!
This week, Jorge Lopez wore out his welcome on the Mets (see below for the Fantasy ramifications); Pete Crow-Alexander earned himself another look in the bigs; and Bobby Witt Jr. continues to build his AL MVP case with multiple hits in five of the last six games.
So while you wonder if the Yankees can continue to hold off the Orioles and justify their +200 odds on FanDuel to win the American League Championship, let’s get to this week’s…
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Picks
Reed Garrett, RP, New York Mets (ESPN: 12.8 per cent; CBS: 41 per cent): The Mets bullpen is a shit show right now. Closer Edwin Diaz was scuffling (four blown saves in five tries) before landing on the IL, where he joined fellow injured Met relievers Drew Smith, Brooks Raley and Shintaro Fujinami. And as alluded to above, Lopez — who had been pitching surprisingly well until lately — was DFAed after his freak out resulted in his glove winding up in the stands. That leaves Garrett (who earned the save Thursday, but was then tagged on Friday), Jake Diekman and Adam Ottavino fighting for whatever save chances emerge. Garrett was rolling, but had a very rough week, while the latter two have both struggled lately, as part of this very ugly mix. As mentioned, Garrett was having a strong season until recently, racking up an impressive five relief wins in April, before going winless while his ERA soared this month. Still, after showing he can shut the door as a minor leaguer (see video below), he seems to have finally established himself as a full-time big leaguer and has moved into a high leverage role, even if it seems like it’s been forced by attrition. Garrett is wild with his heater, but his slider is a tremendous weapon.
Quick Hits
- Detroit has been struggling with a black hole at shortstop for some time, with many fans calling for Javier Baez‘s head on a spike. Unfortunately, there are no obvious answers close to the majors, but the team may finally have a viable long-term solution down at Class-A in the form of prospect Kevin McGonigle. Taken 37th overall last season, he enjoyed a strong debut between Rookie ball and Class-A, but has taken it to a new level this year, scoring nearly a run per game while batting .340 and slugging .505. McGonigle should get bumped up to High-A soon, and needs to be on your dynasty league radar.
- It was almost exactly a year ago to the day that Gary Sanchez‘s return to the bigs ended rather quickly. He’s managed to stick around all season as Milwaukee’s backup this year thanks to great work against lefties (971 OPS), but he delivered off a righty Thursday, spanking a go-ahead two-run dinger. Sanchez has five RBI in the last two games to cap a strong May, and while he hasn’t quite been able to duplicate his 2023 power, he’s getting on base more often and should surpass his counting cat numbers if he maintains his PT over the rest of the season.
- With the MLB draft just a few weeks away, prospect hunters need to start tracking Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana. No Australian born player has ever been taken in the first round and this kid has a chance to go No. 1 overall. Bazzana has it all — power to all parts of the park, speed, contact skills and the athletic chops to play second base — so he needs to be added to your dynasty league team pronto.
- Christopher Morel got off to a blazing start for the Cubs this year, but it’s been mostly been downhill since mid-April. However, on Thursday he snapped a lengthy slump with a single and a two-out solo homer, his first hits in five days and only the second time he’s gotten a hit since May 19 — yikes! Morel followed that up with another hit and a walk on Friday. Despite some atrocious contact issues this month, he’s actually been slightly better than he was in April and, while his power is nice (he could flirt with 30 homers), his overall numbers have regressed greatly since last year’s breakout.
RotoTune of the Day
American new wave band Talking Heads got their start in New York City in 1975, remaining active until 1991 and then reforming briefly in 2002. In 1977, they released their first album, Talking Heads: 77, and had an immediate hit with their second single “Psycho Killer,” which reached No. 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains perhaps the band’s most enduring classic.
