Injuries always happen at the most inopportune times, and it’s mainly because the injury bug is hungry and you just don’t care about your fantasy team at all.
The illness has already affected several top players, including season-ending Christian Yelich (back surgery) and Luis Rengifo (wrist) this month.
Mike Trout was hurt in May and any hope of him returning officially disappeared last week.
Byron Buxton was shockingly (ironically) placed on the 10-day disabled list this week, and Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was batting .316 with seven home runs, five stolen bases and a 1.062 OPS in his first 14 games with the Yankees, suffered a torn UCL in his non-pitching arm (though it appears he will avoid surgery for now).
Whether the slump is short-term or long-term, fantasy managers need productive players to fill the holes, especially at this time of year.
That’s where Arizona’s Jake McCarthy comes in.
It was on Sept. 3, 2022 that Roto Rage first wrote that McCarthy was a difference-maker.
At the time, he was a rookie who was rostered in only 15 percent of ESPN leagues despite batting .315 with three home runs, 22 RBIs, 21 runs, 10 stolen bases and an OPS of .849 in his first 37 games after the All-Star break.
(For reference: He finished the second half of the season batting .300 with five home runs, 34 RBIs, 35 runs scored, 21 stolen bases and a .786 OPS, numbers that should be hard to ignore for anyone chasing fantasy glory.)
Fast forward to this week, and McCarthy was the most heavily recruited player in ESPN leagues, but his availability rate remained at roughly 75% despite hitting .403 with three home runs, 19 RBI, 12 runs scored, four stolen bases and a 1.088 OPS in his first 21 games since the All-Star break.
(He’s batting .467 with three home runs, 15 RBIs, five runs scored and one stolen base for a 1.367 OPS over his past seven games and entered Friday on a five-game hitting streak.)
As of Friday, McCarthy was fourth in the major leagues in batting average in the second half of the season.
He also ranked 8th in on-base percentage (.439), 9th in OPS, 17th in WAR (1.4), 18th in RBIs, and 32nd in strikeout rate (14.5), all of which were good performances.
Will McCarthy hit .403 for the rest of the season? Of course not (and you don’t need to know his BABIP or xBA to figure that out).
But McCarthy has been putting up solid numbers for some time now.
McCarthy batted .337 with four home runs, 27 RBIs, 30 runs scored, 12 stolen bases, a .407 on-base percentage and a .913 OPS in 55 games played between June 1 and Wednesday. In 63 games, he batted .330 with five home runs, 14 stolen bases and an .894 OPS, improving from a .274 batting average on May 19 to a .311 batting average through Friday.
Not only has McCarthy already played in a career-high 103 games, but he’s also no longer in a platoon situation as a left-handed hitting outfielder.
And he won’t be on the bench when Arizona faces left-handed pitchers because he has historically performed well against them, batting .379 with nine RBI, 11 runs scored, seven stolen bases and a .926 OPS in 95 at-bats against lefties.
(He also performed well against right-handed pitchers, batting .282 with six home runs, 31 RBIs, 35 runs scored, 10 stolen bases and an OPS of .804 in 235 at-bats.)
What’s even better is the fact that he’s been the No. 2 hitter for a team that entered Friday’s game in as good a form as McCarthy has been hitting recently, winning 20 of its first 25 games since the break (including 14 of the 16 games prior to that).
McCarthy’s batting velocity never broke any records, and he this Though he’s not in great form, he has elite speed and a solid hitting ability, making him a late-season talent that should not be ignored.
Let’s take a look at other outfielders who could be targets:
Giants’ Tyler Fitzgerald is batting .276 with one home run, six RBIs, 12 runs scored, seven stolen bases and a .724 OPS in his first 34 games this season.
In 27 games since July 7, the 26-year-old had at least one hit in 23 games and was batting .346 with 13 home runs, 21 RBI, 25 runs scored and seven stolen bases for a 1.193 OPS.
His production will decline, as evidenced by his .369 BABIP and .267 xBA since July 9, but as long as his hitting is causing this much damage, this player should be rostered in over 52.5% of ESPN leagues.
Kerry Carpenter went 16-for-48 (.333 batting average) with five home runs, 14 RBIs, 12 runs scored and a 1.211 OPS in 16 games before being placed on the disabled list with a back injury in May.
He returned from the disabled list on Tuesday and made an immediate splash, hitting three home runs and driving in five RBIs in his first two games back.
Carpenter (13.7% roster rate) played in 118 games last season, batting .278 with 20 home runs, 64 RBIs and an OPS of .811, which led to him being selected as a top-50 outfielder in the draft.
He may take some time off now and then as he slowly gets back into form, but there’s no reason he shouldn’t be treated like a draft pick.
Other outfielders worth considering include Milwaukee’s Jackson Chaulio (44%), the Nationals’ James Wood (27.8%), Cincinnati’s T.J. Friedl (31.2%) and Colorado’s Brenton Doyle (55.4%). Doyle is batting .364 with one home run, two stolen bases and a .955 OPS over his last six games and is batting .332 with 10 home runs, 12 stolen bases and a .958 OPS over the final 20 games scheduled to be played at Coors Field.
Big hit
Zach Eflin SP, Orioles
He’s 4-0 with a 2.13 ERA, 25-2 strikeout/walk ratio, 1.026 WHIP and a .240 batting average in his first four starts with Baltimore.
Zach Neto SS, Angels
Not only has he batted .348 with four home runs, 14 RBI and a 1.162 ERA through his first 12 games this month, but in 61 games since June 2, he’s batted .291 with 11 home runs, 43 RBI, 34 runs scored, 14 stolen bases and an OPS of .870.
Martin Perez SP, Padres
In his first three starts with San Diego, he struck out 10.3 batters per nine innings with a 1.96 ERA, a .164 batting average and a 15 percent strikeout rate.
Andrew Benintendi, outfielder, White Sox
In his first 11 games this month, he batted .296 with five home runs, 10 RBIs, eight runs scored and a 1.053 OPS.
A big miss
Taj Bradley SP, Rays
Prior to Sunday’s appearance, he had allowed 15 runs in 14 innings (9.64 ERA) while opponents were batting .339. He also allowed four home runs and had an OPS of 1.029.
Lawrence Butler, outfielder, Athletics
In July, he batted .363 with 10 home runs, 27 RBIs and a 1.210 OPS, but in the first 12 games this month, he is batting .167 with one home run, 13 strikeouts and a .520 OPS.
Logan O’Hoppe C, Angels
The West Islip native entered Friday’s game with just two hits (both singles) and 17 strikeouts in 38 at-bats (.053), for a .215 OPS.
Christopher Morrell, 3B/OF, Rays
After hitting a home run in his first two games with Tampa Bay, he batted .075 over his next 11 games with no home runs, RBIs or runs scored, 13 strikeouts and a .288 OPS.
Check your swing
– Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has 71 hits in 181 at-bats (.392 batting average), 18 home runs, 50 RBIs, 41 runs scored and a 1.250 batting average in 84 games, improving his batting average from .278 on June 19 to .323 through Friday. In those 46 games, he led the league in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage, was second in batting average and OPS and had the eighth-lowest strikeout rate. Since May 23, he is batting .406 with 21 home runs and a 1.076 OPS.
– JP Sears (24.9% roster) has won six of his last seven starts and is scheduled to pitch Sunday after posting a 2.91 ERA, 39-8 record with a .212 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 12% strikeout rate.
– Lane Thomas batted .282 with six home runs, 30 RBI, 36 runs scored and 17 stolen bases for a .833 OPS in 55 games for the Nationals from May 27-July 28. In his first 14 games with the Guardians, he was 5-for-48 (.104 batting average) with 0 home runs, 0 RBI, 21 strikeouts and a .350 OPS.
Do you bet on baseball?
White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. entered the weekend without hitting a home run since July 24, and considering the team’s poor performance, it’s safe to assume nothing good has happened since then. In the 16 games since then, Robert went 8-for-65 (.123 batting average) with 30 strikeouts for a .303 OPS. In his first 22 games after the All-Star break, he struck out 43 batters and batted .135.
– In his first seven games with the Royals, Lukas Erceg had two saves (two chances), five holds and a .115 ERA. During that time, he allowed no runs, struck out 9.4 batters per nine innings and had a 15 percent strikeout rate.
Former Tigers pitcher Matthew Boyd (3.2% of the roster) appeared in 115 games from 2018-2023 with 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings, but made his season debut with the Guardians on Tuesday, pitching 5 1/3 innings with six strikeouts (31.6%), no walks and allowing just one Cubs run. Boyd has been disappointing in the past, but manager Lot Lage is intrigued and has his eye on the veteran left-hander.
– David Peterson has allowed more than two runs just once in his last 10 starts and is 5-1 with a 2.65 ERA, .226 batting average and 50 strikeouts. His main failing has been the 29 walks he has issued in that span.
This week’s team name
Hampson’s House
