At this point in the season, your Fantasy Baseball Exemption The wire option would probably be pretty tough.
Rookie pitchers continue to be pulled at an alarming rate, and hitters are bounced back and forth to the minor leagues after each failed at-bat.
Of course, you could try to strengthen your team with available role players, but you’re better off exploring the fantasy trade market.
You don’t need to chase superstars, as their price tag will always be too high, but there are plenty of struggling players to consider as potential low-cost buys.
For those who find spreadsheets and other data tables complicated and unwieldy, there’s an easy way to track whether struggling players are simply having bad luck or have the ability to turn things around.
This metric is called “batting average on hit balls in play (BABIP)” and measures a player’s batting average only on balls hit into the playing field.
It excludes results that are not affected by the opponent’s defense, so home runs are not included, but strikeouts and foul outs are also not included.
Typically what you’re looking for is a player’s BABIP around .300.
The league average in 2024 is actually around .280, but because we love winning, we like players with better numbers than league average.
The key to your research is to look at a player’s current BABIP value and his career record to date.
Often times, you will see players struggling with a .185 BABIP, but with a career .310.
Understanding that MLB statistics often regress to the mean can help hope that the player bounces back in a positive way.
And the opposite is true for a player with a current BABIP of .385 but a career BABIP of .285.
Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki is batting .200 over the past two weeks since coming off the disabled list, and he’s batting .182 over his past 12 games.
His fantasy managers are not happy, which means now is the perfect time to make an offer.
He’s no Juan Soto, but he’s also not Jesse Winker.
Suzuki has a career BABIP of .331 and should be on a roll.
Astros third baseman Alex Bregman is also a strong candidate to buy low, with a current BABIP of .219, along with Josh Naylor and Anthony Santander.
Sure, you could pursue a player like Corbin Carroll or Francisco Lindor and hope their manager is totally unhappy, but again, don’t work to make your dreams come true.
Some currently struggling hitters are poised to turn things around simply by improving the quality of their worst performing hitters.
Howard Bender is Fantasy AlarmFollow him on .X translator Featuring the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show,” airing weekdays from 6-8 PM on the SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Channel. Find all the information at FantasyAlarm.com. Fantasy Baseball News and Advice.
