X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Join the Best Live Fantasy Chat Community!

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Platoon Watch: Players Who Could Earn Starting Roles

Every season we see fringe players carve out roles on their respective teams during the spring, but in some cases, it's only a short-term solution. In other instances, players wait in the weeds during the regular season and pounce on their opportunity to solidify themselves into the everyday lineup.

In this article, we’ll look at five players who could gain a more significant role with their respective club by Opening Day, or in the early part of the season. All these players have ADPs after 500, so they are primarily options for deep leagues or league-specific formats. At a minimum, they should land on your watchlist because their time might not come straight out of camp, but you’ll want to be ahead of your league mates on the waiver wire when it's their time to shine.

Knowing the depth of the player pool is extremely important, especially in the late rounds of your Draft. There comes a certain point during your Draft where ADP can become ignored, and you need to reach for players with more upside or those who can fill specific categories where you lack the most. If your league only drafts 360 players, for example, bumping up the guys you like in the 400-500 ADP range makes sense if you have a good feeling on them. Below are a few players who might fit these criteria:

Featured Promo: For this week only, take 50% off any full-season or yearly Premium Pass on the site! Just enter discount code THANKS when checking out. Thanks for being a reader, and Happy Holidays! Sign Up Now!

 

Franchy Cordero - OF, SD

ADP: 510

The departures of Franmil Reyes, Hunter Renfroe, and Manuel Margot over the last six months has cracked the door open for Cordero to seize playing time in the Padres' outfield. With Wil Myers on the trade block and youngster Trent Grisham yet to prove himself over a full season, the time may be coming sooner than later for the 25-year-old Cordero. Elbow and quad injuries limited him to just 15 games played combined in 2019, so we need a little bit of a reminder of what he brings to the fantasy table.

Through 70 big league contests between the 2017 and '18 seasons, Cordero popped 10 long balls with six steals to a measly .234 BA. That's nothing too exciting, except that his Sprint Speed ranked in the 98th and 94th percentile, respectively, in each of these campaigns. He never played a full season in Triple-A, but in his 115 games spread across four years, he swiped 18 bases in 22 tries, making him a potential 20-stolen base candidate at the Major League level.

Cordero also launched 21 big flies during his Triple-A career, a number that will undoubtedly carry over by looking at his Statcast metrics during his Major League sample. He posted marks well above the league average in barrel percentage (12.6%), exit velocity (91.3 MPH), and hard-hit rate (45.3%), so the power is there for at least a 20-homer bat, even if these figures drop a bit.

Whiffs remain an issue for Cordero after a 29.2% career K-rate in Triple-A led to a worrisome 38.8% mark in the Majors. He managed to hold a .305 BA with El Paso, but it’s hard believing he’ll hit anything over .250 in the bigs with a middling walk rate. Still, a potential 20/20 bat is in the cards if he can find enough plate appearances. His next to no cost is appealing for a stash in deep leagues and NL-only formats, but be prepared to pounce if Myers gets dealt or an injury occurs elsewhere in the outfield.

 

Manuel Margot - OF, TB

ADP: 515 ADP

While we’re on the topic of Padres outfielders, the recently dealt Margot now finds himself in the most hitter-friendly division in baseball after playing in the NL West for his entire career. He joined the Rays organization as additional outfield depth, but anyone directly behind Kevin Kiermaier on the depth chart will always stand on the doorstep of increased playing time.

Advertising

There’s no denying that Kiermaier is one of the best defensive centerfielders in the game, but his willingness to sell out for catches has taken a hefty toll on his body with just one career season of at least 130 games played. Not only does Kiermaier have trouble staying on the field, but his .223/.280/.386 slash line over his previous two seasons is anything but desirable. He’s in the middle of his six-year, $53.5 million deal, so the thrifty Rays will still want to play the soon-to-be 30-year-old despite his lackluster bat. With a legitimate shot at the division title this year, however, they may want to sub him out for more offense.

Margot doesn’t exactly tear the cover off the ball with a career .248/.301/.394 slash line, but the move to the AL East will give him a slight boost with an all-round improvement in Park Factor. His right-handed bat will put him on the weak side of a platoon to begin the season, but after hitting .330 against lefties last year, it could benefit his case to seize more work against right-handers.

Still, at 25 years old, there’s room for growth on his 12-homer, 20-steal campaign from 2019, he’ll just have to bide his time to capitalize on an opportunity to take over the centerfield job. Margot is, at minimum, a cheap source for steals in AL-only leagues, but he could find himself mixed-league viable much like he did through parts of the '19 season.

 

Corbin Burnes - RP, MIL

ADP: 537

Burnes found himself gaining momentum on draft boards entering the 2019 campaign after breaking camp with a rotation spot. He drew quite the buzz for himself in his first start of the season, striking out 12 Cardinals in five innings, but it wasn’t so rosy over his next few appearances. Burnes lost his rotation spot after four starts since he allowed 21 runs, including a whopping 11 homers, before quickly getting demoted back to Triple-A.

Despite returning to the club in a bullpen role for the remainder of the season, Burnes’ ghastly year-end numbers (8.82 ERA, 1.84 WHIP) paint a bleaker image than what his underlying metrics suggest. The right-hander held a respectable 3.37 xFIP and 3.55 SIERA while maintaining an excellent strikeout clip (29.8% K%) thanks to his swing-and-miss ability.

Burnes’ slider, which he threw 31% of the time last season, generated an outstanding 58% Whiff percentage and a .181 BA against. His curve and changeup, that he tossed at a combined 11.9% frequency, also had whiff rates above 42%, but unfortunately, his fastball was too hittable. Although he can hit 99 mph on the gun, hitters tagged his four-seamer for 13 dingers and a .425 BA since he threw it in the zone far too often (56.0% Zone%).

Some early season hype has restored for Burnes since the Brewers have an opening once again at the back end of their rotation. The 25-year-old has spent the offseason refining his wipeout slider, which has paid dividends since his velocity has touched 94 mph on the gun during camp. He maxed this pitch out at 91.7 mph in 2019, so this increase in speed may help his fastball sneak by more batters who mistake it for the breaking ball.

Burnes may struggle with ratios if he earns a spot in the rotation, but his high-strikeout arm is appealing, given the cost where you can utilize him as a streamer at minimum.

 

Mike Ford - 1B, NYY

ADP: 634

Advertising

On the outside looking in, Ford has a shot at finding regular playing time this season, but let’s look into his numbers before we determine how this could transpire. Last season in 79 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the first baseman clubbed 23 taters while slashing a crisp .303/.401/.605 aided by elite plate discipline numbers. Patience at the plate led to a salivating 15.8% K-rate and 13.2% walk rate, numbers that also nearly translated to the Majors after a promotion to the Bronx in July.

In 163 PA for the Yankees, Ford kept his keen eye by walking 10.4% of the time while holding his K-rate to a respectable 17.2% in his big league debut. The lefty swinger also maintained his power stroke by keeping a 33% fly ball rate and 42.6% pull rate, a swing tailor-made for Yankee Stadium.

Despite Ford's favorable home-field advantage, it was curious to see only two of his 12 bombs were hit at home. His left/right splits were also out of the ordinary since he blasted seven homers versus southpaws to a .333 BA compared to a .236 mark off right-handers. It’s reasonable to expect both these numbers to level out towards each other with a larger sample, but it’s encouraging nonetheless that he could handle same-side pitchers in the Majors.

The glaring issue for Ford is a path to playing time, but he found consistent at-bats a year ago when starting first baseman Luke Voit struggled with health throughout the second half last season. Despite being two years older, Voit has the same amount of Minor League options as Ford, so it’s not like he has a stranglehold on the position. Miguel Andujar will also get some reps at first when he's not serving as the designated hitter, but his defensive woes across the diamond will likely make him a liability even if he does find playing time there.

Ford has a decent shot at cracking the Opening Day squad since rosters have expanded to 26 players this season. Perhaps the 27-year-old could work out a platoon scenario with Voit, where an injury could propel him into everyday at-bats as it did a year ago. For now, Ford is only worth considering in AL-only setups, but managers should keep him on the radar since he'll become a serviceable corner infielder with an everyday role.

 

Kevin Cron - 1B, ARI

ADP: 626 ADP

Christian Walker is becoming a popular consolation prize for fantasy managers who miss out on the first few tiers of first baseman in their drafts. The impending emergence of Cron, however, may give Walker some fool’s gold value this season.

Cron turned heads in the Cactus League with three long balls in 29 at-bats for the D-backs, but that’s nothing compared to the 38 he mashed in 82 Triple-A games last year. He also posted excellent plate discipline metrics for a slugger (20.4% K%/16.2% BB%), perhaps forcing the issue for another Major League promotion.

The brother of C.J. Cron had mixed results in his 78 plate appearances in 2019 with the big league club. He walloped six big flies spread across his four stints with the D-backs, although his 35.9% K-rate was ghastly. We could chalk up his propensity to strike out due to a lack of rhythm and flow with his constant options up-and-down between leagues, but it’s also natural for a Major League debut to battle some growing pains.

Whatever the case may be, Cron’s lengthy track history of K-rates in the low 20% range is a more telling sample for what to expect in the future.

With two Minor League options available, Cron is destined for Triple-A to begin the season with Walker returning to the role as the team’s primary first baseman. Walker will be 29 when the season starts, so it’s not like he’s the prospect they’ve groomed as their long-term solution at the position. If he were to go into a slump or have a sluggish start to his year, it could pave the way for an opportunity for Cron to take over. He’s not exactly a "can't miss" prospect at age 27, but the power in his swing could force the club to make a switch at some point during the season.

Advertising

More Fantasy Baseball Analysis




LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

WIN MORE IN 2024

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

ROTOBALLER PLAYER NEWS

RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
Alexis Diaz fantasy baseball closers rankings draft sleepers waiver wire pickups

MLB Closers and Saves: Fantasy Baseball Depth Charts

Saves are an important component for many fantasy baseball leagues. Closers are one of the most volatile positions in fantasy baseball, and one of the highest turnover positions in MLB. Each year, closers drop like flies and many MLB teams make in-season changes due to injuries or poor performance. In addition to closers and saves, relief... Read More


Do These Prospects Matter for Fantasy Baseball?

The 2023 fantasy baseball season has been highlighted by the promotion of nearly two-dozen top prospects to the major leagues to impact fantasy rosters. This week's edition features one player who was called up as the piece was being written. Will these strong performers join the ranks of those who have moved to the majors... Read More


clayton kershaw fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

articles report test

this is a test


Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome back! It's Week 24 of our fantasy baseball Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups series! There are just two precious weeks left, and every start is becoming more and more important as most of the fantasy baseball world is in playoff matchups. If you've made it this far, there's a good chance you don't really... Read More


Aaron Nola - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Starts & Sits for MLB Week 23 - All Starting Pitcher Matchups for Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers! Big week in fantasy leagues as we approach the end of the season and playoffs! As always, we are here with our starting pitcher starts and sits series to help you set those winning lineups for the week ahead! For those who are not familiar, RotoBaller puts out a weekly grid of... Read More


Gunnar Henderson - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Prospects, Draft Sleepers

Points League Hitters: Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome to Week 24 and our fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters. We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform,... Read More


Brayan Bello - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Two-Start Pitcher Streamers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Yo, it's Jon Anderson, continuing to run the show here in terms of late-summer fantasy baseball writing. There are just two weeks left of streaming pitchers, so let's make it count! This weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups column aims to identify starting pitchers expected to make two starts in the upcoming fantasy baseball week,... Read More


Fantasy Baseball Week 24 Injury News and Updates: Tyler Glasnow, Ozzie Albies, Starling Marte, Anthony Rizzo, Zack Wheeler

September is now more than half over. The baseball season is slowly coming to a close. At this point, fantasy players are pushing for their league titles or just playing for pride. Major League Baseball teams continue to do the same and injuries continue to happen, now with the dreaded term "done for the season"... Read More


Joe Musgrove - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/17/22)

Happy Saturday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/17/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Today's MLB slates are split up as is the norm for September baseball. Half the guys I think will play will not, so you have to be as flexible as Gumby to play MLB DFS in September, but that also means that there is a lot of money out there should you dare to dive... Read More


Max Fried - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/15/22)

Happy Friday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


Robbie Ray - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, Draft Sleepers

DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/16/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Fridays are big MLB DFS days and offer a nice respite from the NFL, who command our attention on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays. This slate, like most Friday slates, is a big one as all MLB teams are in action today and 28 of those teams are on tonight's 14-game DFS slate. This was a... Read More


kyle farmer fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

There are only two weeks left of fantasy baseball! It's going to be very sad when the season comes to an end, but the impending end of the season means that these are the most important, and therefore most fun weeks of the year – for those of you still competing, at least. I have... Read More


TODAY’S MOST VIEWED PLAYERS

rotating JS ad test

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
derrick henry fantasy football rankings news NFL DFS lineup picks

test publish 5 mins in future

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


PrizePicks NFL DFS Picks - Monday Night Football

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Updates for Aaron Rodgers

Warning: Undefined array key "amp_post_template_footer" in /var/www/rotoballer.com/wp-content/plugins/php-code-for-posts/Classes/Shortcode.php(91) : eval()'d code on line 6 Warning: foreach() argument must be of type array|object, null given in /var/www/rotoballer.com/wp-content/plugins/php-code-for-posts/Classes/Shortcode.php(91) : eval()'d code on line 6 Featured Promo: Get any full-season NFL Premium Pass for 50% off and win big in 2022. Exclusive access to our Premium articles, 15 lineup... Read More


derrick henry fantasy football rankings news NFL DFS lineup picks

PrizePicks NFL DFS Picks - Monday Night Football

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


Justin Jefferson - Fantasy Football Rankings, DFS Lineup Picks, NFL Injury News

NFL DFS Prop Picks for Monkey Knife Fight - Monday Night Football

Welcome to NFL Monday Night Football, where we have two games scheduled between the Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles and the Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo Bills.  Monday's games mean our friends at Monkey Knife Fight are offering some fantastic props for us to play once again! The good people at Monkey Knife Fight offer some... Read More


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Week 2 Updates for Najee Harris, J.K. Dobbins, D'Andre Swift, Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram

Below you will find our fantasy football injuries report for running backs in Week 2, as of September 17. The injury statuses for various NFL running backs are up in the air for Week 2 including D'Andre Swift, Najee Harris, Alvin Kamara, J.K. Dobbins, and more. The fantasy football season may be just getting underway,... Read More


michael pittman jr. fantasy football rankings NFL DFS lineup picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL WRs: Week 2 Updates for Michael Pittman Jr., Mike Evans, Tee Higgins, Allen Lazard, Julio Jones

Welcome to Week 2 of the fantasy football season and the Saturday edition of our WR injury reports! Below you will find our fantasy football injuries report for wide receivers in Week 2 as of September 16th. The injury statuses for various NFL wide receivers are up in the air for Week 2, including Michael... Read More


justin herbert fantasy football rankings NFL DFS lineup picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports for QBs: Week 2 Updates for Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Jameis Winston, Mac Jones

Below you will find our updated fantasy football injuries report for quarterbacks in the days before Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season as of Friday, September 16. There are a few NFL QBs dealing with injuries, including Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Jameis Winston, and Mac Jones. Being up-to-date on NFL injury news can give... Read More


Trey Lance - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Key Starters and Tough Calls - Lineup Spotlights for Fantasy Football Week 2

Every week, I share some of my favored choices and players to go with when dealing with challenging lineup decisions. These selections are based on my Premium Weekly Lineup Rankings, available as part of the RotoBaller NFL Premium Pass. Enter promo code KING at checkout for a discount and get access to my ranks in all formats, plus... Read More


Saquon Barkley - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, Draft Sleepers

Week 2 NFL Pick Em Selections for No House Advantage

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is underway and that means our friends over at No House Advantage have a TON of great DFS plays we can look to take advantage of. No House Advantage is a unique DFS prop picks site where you do not have to play against the house to... Read More


Wide Receiver Matchups to Target in Week 2: Greg Dortch, Terry McLaurin, Christian Kirk

Week 1 made some things come to light as we got some clarity on some murky situations. Unfortunately, many of our WR targets for DFS last week were victims of this. Robert Woods finished the game with one reception for 13 yards, as the Titans used the rookie receivers much more than him. Brandon Aiyuk... Read More


Carson Wentz - Fantasy Football Rankings, Waiver Wire Pickups, Draft Sleepers

Thunder Dan's NFL Betting Picks for Week 2: Top NFL Player Props Bets

Football season is back! Whether you like to bet game totals, sides, or player props, I have something in here for you, and try to cover a little bit of everything! This year, I started my own free sports betting newsletter, and the good people here at RotoBaller are allowing me to share my picks... Read More


Fantasy Football IDP Injury Reports For NFL Defensive Players: Week 2 Updates for T.J. Watt, Jamal Adams, Jalen Thompson, Ed Oliver

T.J. Watt owners, you know the feeling... I had T.J. Watt in my home league last season. He was constantly checking out of games early with nagging minor injuries, but he must have led every IDP manager who started him to the playoffs. I went back to the well and drafted him early this year.... Read More