Let’s jump right into this week’s picks.
Reid Detmers – SP Angels – included in 37% of Yahoo leagues
High on the short list of the most frustrating players of recent years is Detmers, who opened this season by going 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA and a 30/7 K/BB ratio in his first four starts, all of which were against quality teams. He followed that up with his first loss, going seven innings and giving up four runs against the Orioles. So still not bad. However, over these last four starts, he gave up 22 earned runs in 20 2/3 innings, and was dropped from a number of competitions as a result. However, this Detmers seems to have been improved compared to previous versions.
For starters, Detmers currently has a K:BB ratio of 3.1, compared to 2.8 last season and 2.7 as a rookie in 2021. His 30% CSW ranks 12th among qualified pitchers, while his 13 .9% swinging-strike percentage ranks ninth. He does this while also posting easily the best groundball percentage of his career (41%). While his actual ERA is 5.19, Statcast has him with an xERA of 3.44 and SIERA rates him at 3.56. And he’s had a pretty rough schedule so far, at least until his last start against the Cardinals. From here it should get easier.
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Detmers is still only 24 years old, and as frustrating as he has been, he has averaged average scoring in his first two years in the league as a starter. He’s probably better than that now, and even in a bad situation like Anaheim, he seems like a top-50 fantasy starter to me.
Andrew Vaughn – 1B White Sox – included in 23% of Yahoo leagues
Speaking of players in bad situations, Vaughn won’t find runs and RBIs easy to come by, even while he’s excited for the White Sox. Still, he looks so much better at the plate than he did a few weeks ago, and it paid off in the form of a two-home run game Tuesday. His average exit velocity is 90.9 mph in May, up from 90.6 mph in April, and Statcast thinks his fine .490 slugging percentage in May is too little for what he actually does; it gives him an expected slugging percentage of .589.
At this point, it’s fair to say that Vaughn will never be the player the White Sox envisioned when they selected him third overall in the 2019 draft, though it’s worth wondering if another organization would have had more success with him. If he slumps again this summer, we might find out, as the White Sox will run out of patience at some point. Still, he’s more likely to stick around if his recent play holds up. He’s in a pretty good ballpark for right-handed power, and if he can pull some of his flyballs again, more home runs should come. He may not be useful in mixed leagues in the long run, but he’s at least a reasonable stopgap for now.
Alek Manoah – SP Blue Jays – included in 19% of Yahoo leagues
Expectations were low and rightly so when Manoah made his season debut last week after a bout of shoulder tendonitis and a lengthy rehab assignment, Manoah took on the Nationals and gave up six earned runs in four innings. Interestingly enough, however, he showed significantly better speed during that outing than he did for most of last year. In fact, it was the first time he’s averaged 90 mph with his fastball since his 2023 debut on March 30. When he pitched again on Sunday against the Twins, he was significantly more effective, allowing just three unearned runs in seven innings in a tough loss. . It was the first time in 16 starts since last April that he completed seven innings, and he caused 15 missed swings for the first time since his stellar 2022 campaign.
None of this is to say that Manoah is particularly trustworthy at this point. There were a few times last year where it looked like he was going to turn a corner, only to fall flat again. The speed gain is important, but speed was only part of the problem last year. Manoah still hasn’t fixed what went wrong with his slider last season, and two of the three home runs he’s allowed in his two starts this year have come on that pitch. He’ll need to make a profit there if he wants to do much to help the Blue Jays and fantasy teams. Yet there is more reason for optimism than there was a few weeks ago. He doesn’t need to be picked up in mixed leagues at the moment, but he’s worth keeping an eye on.
Quick hits
– In light of his recent progress in his rehabilitation, it would be a good time to stash Gavin Williams from the 55 percent of Yahoo leagues in which he is available. I considered him a top-40 starting pitcher before he hurt his elbow this spring. He’s probably still a month away even if all goes well from here, but he could be an impact pitcher in the last three months.
– Byron Buxton (knee) is available in about two-thirds of the competitions and should be back next week after a short rehab assignment.
– Junior Caminero was featured here a few weeks ago. The Rays have started to give him some time at second base in Triple-A, which could be a sign that a promotion to the Majors is imminent. He hit .314/.379/.562 with seven home runs in 26 games for Durham.
