MLB FAAB Factor: Send in the Specialists

This FAAB article is in addition to the AL and NL FAAB articles that run Sunday. Bids are based on a $100 FAAB budget. Throughout the season, this column will have two goals:

1. Identify FAAB targets for fantasy managers in leagues with Thursday FAAB.

2. Offer a preview of FAAB targets ahead of Sunday's columns.

As I was putting the list of names for this week's article together, I noticed a theme among many of the hitters: one-category specialists. That's no accident, as those players can be in high demand this time of year in multiple different formats. If you're in a traditional roto league, you'll know whether you have a specific need in homers, steals or batting average. If you don't need what these players offer, ignore them entirely, but if you do, you might need to go beyond the bids suggested here.

If you're in a head-to-head categories league and you've made the playoffs, you can scout your opponent's team to find out where they're strong and where they're weak. It's probably not worth trying to address a big gap with one week's worth of waiver pickups, but for categories that look like they'll be close, consider adding a specialist there to boost your chances. Also, keep an eye out for opportunities to do something unusual regarding your number of starters or relievers, but that's beyond the scope of a waivers article.

Starting Pitcher

Andre Pallante, Cardinals (15%)

Pallante has all the ingredients needed to fly under the radar. He was never an elite prospect, doesn't post big strikeout numbers and has never spent the full season in the rotation. He's no lock to end this year in the rotation, either, but he's pitched well enough that he'll have a chance to remain once Steven Matz (back) and Lance Lynn (knee) get healthy. Since entering the rotation in late May, Pallante has made 15 starts, posting a 3.50 ERA. His 17.4 percent strikeout rate on the season is quite unremarkable, and his 9.0 percent walk rate is slightly elevated, but the whole package works when combined with his elite 62.5 percent groundball rate, the highest mark among pitchers who have thrown at least 60 innings this season. If Pallante were merely a good groundball guy, he wouldn't deserve a pickup, but an elite performance in that category makes his solid ERA easier to trust going forward. FAAB: $1

Rhett Lowder, Reds (0%)

Lowder, the seventh pick of the 2023 draft, is set to make his major-league debut Friday against the Brewers. In other circumstances, seeing a prospect like this make his debut would send people scrambling to throw their remaining FAAB budget at him, but expect a more muted response in this case. First, Lowder finds himself in one of the league's most hitter-friendly parks, and second, he's merely being called up as the 27th man for a doubleheader, so there's every chance he gets sent back down. On the other hand, a good performance could make Lowder a permanent part of the rotation down the stretch given the injuries to Hunter Greene (elbow), Nick Lodolo (finger) and Andrew Abbott (shoulder). Lowder owns a 3.64 ERA backed by a 25.3 percent strikeout rate and 5.4 percent walk rate in 22 minor-league starts this season, so he has the talent to be at least an interesting streaming option if he's able to stick around. FAAB: $2

Davis Martin, White Sox (3%)

Pitchers can change quickly, and if you haven't been paying much attention to the 31-101 White Sox as they play out the string, you might have missed this particular change. Martin is a 27-year-old who struggled to a 4.83 ERA as a swingman in 2022 and then missed all of last season and the first half of this year while recovering from Tommy John surgery. In his first two games back in the big leagues, he gave up five runs in 6.1 innings with an 8:6 K:BB. Then he decided to fool around with a changeup in a bullpen session and was cleared to use it in games after only about 10 reps, according to Lance Brozdowski. (That's the sort of thing teams can afford to do when they reach 100 losses before the end of August.) He's used the pitch 25.2 percent of the time over his last four starts, and it's made him an entirely different pitcher, as he owns a 1.71 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over that stretch. A 20.7 percent strikeout rate is still a modest number, but when paired with a strong 56.7 percent groundball rate and a league-average 8.0 percent walk rate, it'll play. He's in a terrible situation for wins and hasn't suddenly remade himself as a frontline starter, but he's a different Davis Martin than the pitcher we got to know up to this point (or perhaps more accurately, didn't get to know at all). FAAB: $4

Brant Hurter, Tigers (7%)
Ty Madden, Tigers (4%)

We probably won't see Jackson Jobe, the top pitching prospect on our top 400, until next season, but the Tigers have done a good job getting looks at their young starting pitchers in the second half of this season. Keider Montero's 5.15 ERA in his 12 appearances (11 starts) makes him an unappealing choice, but fellow rookies Hurter and Madden deserve deep-league consideration. Hurter has been up since the start of August and has made five appearances, four as the "bulk guy" behind an opener and one as a proper starter. The lefty's 23.3 percent strikeout rate is nothing special, but his 3.3 percent walk rate and 57.8 percent groundball rate are both excellent marks, giving reason to believe he could make it as a back-end starter who manages contact. Madden received his first ever call-up Monday and gave up two runs (one earned) in five innings against the White Sox. He owns a poor 6.98 ERA in 22 minor-league starts this year but picked things up in August, with a 37:5 K:BB in 24 innings (four starts). He missed plenty of bats in the minors but struck out just two in his big-league debut. FAAB: $1 for both.

Relief Pitcher

Camilo Doval, Giants (55%)

Cheating a bit with the rostership percentage here, but it's been a quiet week on the closer front after we saw plenty of turnout in recent weeks. (Check out last week's article for a handful of other relievers who could still be available in your league.) Doval was optioned in a surprising move in early August, partially in response to a rough patch but partially as an attempted attitude adjustment. The move seemed to have worked, as the Giants brought him back just over two weeks later. In the meantime, Ryan Walker has established himself as the Giants' closer, and his 1.95 ERA and 0.88 WHIP on the season may make him hard to dislodge. Still, if Doval regains his manager's trust over his next few appearances, don't be surprised if they give him his old job back and use Walker in high-leverage spots earlier in games. FAAB: $1

Catcher

Miguel Amaya, Cubs (15%)

Amaya was once at a moderately interesting catching prospect, but from his big-league debut on May 4 of last year through July 6 of this season, he hit just .198/.285/.300 with seven homers in 346 plate appearances. He then altered his stance in an effort to improve his timing, and the change has had a dramatic effect. In 105 trips to the plate, he's homered five times while slashing .358/.402/.589. A .372 BABIP has something to do with that high batting average, but he's also striking out an elite 11.4 percent of the time, less than half of the acceptable-enough 23.7 percent mark he'd recorded up to that point. Amaya also owns an 8.1 percent barrel rate since the timing adjustment, up from the 5.8 percent mark he owned to that point in his career. FAAB: $2

First Baseman

Ryan O'Hearn, Orioles (31%) 

O'Hearn is in the middle of a career year, slashing .268/.343/.438 (good for a 122 wRC+), plays for a great team and is eligible at multiple positions, yet he's available in more than two-thirds of Yahoo leagues. That's probably due less to a slight slump in August (.241/.339/.333) and more due to the fact that he's almost strictly a platoon player, making just two starts against lefties all season. That's a concern in shallower formats, but it's a concern that matters much more during some parts of the season than others, depending on the schedule. With the Orioles projected to face just two lefties across their next four series, this could be a great time to plug O'Hearn into your roster to take advantage of a player who's shown legitimate growth in his age-30 season, cutting his strikeout rate from 22.3 percent to 12.8 percent. FAAB: $2

Second Baseman

Jose Caballero, Rays (41%)

This is a time of year when many fantasy teams find themselves in need of a one-category specialist, either to chase down a category leader in a roto league or to match up against a specific opponent's strength in the playoffs of a head-to-head league. Caballero is one such specialist, and the fact that he has 2B/3B/SS eligibility in most leagues means it shouldn't be hard to fit him in if you're in need of speed. Caballero's overall stat line — .229/.288/.370 with nine homers, 50 runs and 37 RBI — means his total fantasy value this season hasn't been particularly high, but if you need speed, you can hardly do better. His 37 steals tie him for third in the league, and the Rays have continued to let him run wild despite the fact that he's been caught a league-leading 13 times. FAAB: $2

David Hamilton, Red Sox (25%)

As you might have heard one paragraph ago, this is a time of year when many fantasy teams find themselves in need of a one-category specialist. Hamilton is one such specialist, and while he can't match Caballero's triple eligibility, his 2B/SS eligibility means he'll fit on plenty of rosters. Like Caballero, Hamilton is an option almost exclusively for those who need steals, as his .252/.307/.400 line with eight homers, 46 runs and 28 RBI in 97 games means he's rather unhelpful elsewhere. His 33 steals are fifth-most in the entire league, however, and he's gotten to that total in 86 fewer plate appearances than anyone else in the top 10. FAAB: $2

Third Baseman

Santiago Espinal, Reds (3%)

The Reds' home park is one of the best hitters' parks in the league, making any player with everyday at-bats an interesting option in most formats. Espinal is one such player right now, with Wednesday's game against Oakland representing his 10th consecutive start. He has at least one hit in all 10 of those games, and the Reds' injuries continue to pile up, so it's hard to see him stepping out of the lineup anytime soon. Espinal isn't anything special from a fantasy perspective, hitting .266/.307/.395 with eight homers and eight steals in 297 plate appearances, but he puts the ball in play a lot (12.1 percent strikeout rate) and could be eligible at as many as four positions in your league, depending on settings. That makes him a good fit for the end of your roster as long as he keeps playing regularly. FAAB: $3.

Paul DeJong, Royals (10%)

DeJong continues the theme of one-dimensional infielders who are eligible at multiple spots on the diamond, though unlike Caballero and Hamilton, DeJong brings power, not speed. While there are multiple speed options beyond the aforementioned pair who are likely to be available at very low rostership rates, power-only players who are this widely available are rare. DeJong is hitting just .239 with a mere two steals, but if you need power and power alone, his 23 homers and 10.2 percent barrel rate represent more pop than you can reasonably expect to find at this point in the season. A 31.1 percent strikeout rate means DeJong's average is more likely to go down than up, but DeJong should continue to clear the fence and will continue to enjoy being surrounded by a much better lineup in Kansas City than he was in Chicago for the first three months of the year. FAAB: $1.

Jacob Wilson, Athletics (8%)

Wilson, the 66th prospect in our top-400 and the sixth pick in the 2023 draft, earned his first major-league call-up right at the start of the second half, but he suffered a hamstring strain in his debut. He missed the next five weeks but returned Tuesday and should get his chance as Oakland's primary shortstop down the stretch. Wilson's minor-league profile is quite a unique one. In 79 career games split across all levels, he's managed a modest eight homers and six steals, but he's also hit .401 with a remarkable 7.7 percent strikeout rate. Zooming in on just his 26 Triple-A games, he's struck out a minuscule 4.3 percent of the time. Putting so many balls in play means Wilson is a great candidate to help your batting average, but he's unlikely to provide much power or speed.. FAAB: $2

Outfield

Dylan Crews, Nationals (35%)

Crews was the second pick of the 2023 draft behind his LSU teammate Paul Skenes, and while he hasn't quite matched the pace of Skenes' meteoric rise, his arrival Monday is still quite a quick one, coming after just 135 career minor-league games. Crews wasn't dominant in those 135 games but showed good all-around production, hitting .275/.351/.455 (good for a 119 wRC+) with 18 homers and 29 steals while spending the majority of his time in center field. Given Crews' inexperience, a competent all-around performance is probably a fair place to set the expectations for him down the stretch this year, but there's star potential here, and the everyday at-bats available to him give him the opportunity to show it off. FAAB: $5

Ramon Laureano, Atlanta (9%)

When Atlanta inserts a player into a starting role, they tend to play every day. Heading into play on August 12, Laureano had a .622 OPS, but he's since made 16 straight starts, first playing in right field while Jorge Soler battled a hamstring injury, and now playing in left field on an everyday basis, sending Jarred Kelenic to the bench. He's hitting .350 with five homers and two steals over this run of starts, so he's unlikely to retreat to the bench anytime soon. Laureano's .223/.298/.383 slash line since returning from a PED suspension early in the 2022 season leaves a lot to be desired, but he can contribute in all five categories at his best, and Atlanta's preference for everyday roles should boost his counting stats even if his bat returns to being mediocre. FAAB: $3