Handy Man’
Now is good time to put Padres hurler on block
HAVE you ever been part of a botched surprise party when the “good” surprise was accidentally wasted on someone it wasn’t intended for?
Like that time everyone yelled “surprise” at a random party guest instead of at Grandma Esther on her 85th birthday. Or that time Uncle Robert got too drunk too fast and welcomed the guest of honor to their “surprise party” while sitting outside smoking a cigarette.
The beginning of the fantasy baseball season is full of surprises — some good, some bad and many unexpected. (Pablo Lopez’s leagueleading 0.52 ERA? Kevin Gausman’s league-leading 20.7 percent swinging strike rate?)
Be sure you don’t waste the good surprises, especially if it can bring you a piece that offers your team more long-term upside.
San Diego’s Sean Manaea entered the weekend 2-1 with a 1.42 ERA, 19-5 strikeout-walk rate and a 0.79 WHIP. Among qualified pitchers, the 30-year-old lefty ranked eighth in opponent average (.152), 10th in ERA, 24th in strikeouts per nine (9.00) and 28th in walks per nine (2.37). He also ranked 19th in swinging strike rate (13.1 percent) and 16th in strand rate (88.2 percent).
Though Manaea, who owns a career 3.80 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, has long been a Roto Rage favorite, it’s hard to believe the southpaw is now a top-20 fantasy option. This feels like an opportunity to capitalize on a hot start.
Not only does Manaea own an unsustainable .196 BaBIP, he also has a 2.19 xERA, 2.53 FIP and 3.16 xFIP — numbers that point to some early season luck. Opponents are hitting .111 against his sinker, a pitch he throws almost 60 percent of the time, but his velocity is down almost 2 mph on the pitch and opponents have a .115 BaBIP against the pitch.
None of those numbers mean that Manaea is incapable of being a quality rotation option. He is, and will continue to be, a viable fantasy option — just not at the level at which he is pitching right now. Part of that is because of the competition he faced over his first three starts: Arizona, San Francisco and Cincinnati.
Though the Giants’ pitching staff is no joke, their offense barely qualified as mediocre over the first two weeks, hitting .217 entering Friday. The Reds were hitting .177, good for the secondworst mark in the majors, with 129 strikeouts and a league-worst .524 OPS. Any guesses which team has the worst offense in the majors? If you guessed the Diamondbacks, you understand the concept of foreshadowing. They were hitting .176 as a unit with 124 strikeouts.
It is great to see Manaea dominate teams hitting near or below the Mendoza Line, but how will he fare against stronger competition? How will he do against divisional fo ies or the he’ll face Sunday? (If he does well against the Dodgers, maybe it’s a sign to hold ... or an even bigger sign to raise your asking price.) He is also lined up to face the Pirates, Marlins, Cubs, Phillies and Brewers in upcoming starts, and that will be telling, too.
Manaea is a solid SP3 or SP4, but it is worth testing early season trade waters with owners who are panicking over struggling aces such as Zack Wheeler (0-2, 9.39 ERA), Charlie Morton (1-2, 6.32), Jose Berrios (1-0, 6.35), Aaron Nola (1-2, 5.52) or Trevor Rogers (0-2, 12.15), all solid buylow options.
Manaea’s hot start, mixed with being in a pitcher-friendly park on a contending team, may be enticing enough to your competition where you can get a better piece that will help you for the long