Ronald Acuna Jr., Brent Rooker, Austin Riley (Fantastic Baseball)

Happy Memorial Day. It is a holiday to remember the veterans who lost their lives protecting American freedoms. That is the most important.

It’s also the two-month mark of the baseball season. That means it’s time to analyze your rosters to see who isn’t living up to expectations. Up until this point in the season, anyone not picked in the top 100 is waived if they don’t perform. A few possible drops are included in this week’s 10 burning questions, along with some hot starts and their credibility.

10 burning fantasy baseball questions

Who benefits from Ronald Acuna Jr.’s injury?

It really smells like writing about it. On Sunday afternoon, Ronald Acuna Jr. went down with a non-contact knee injury. At first he was optimistic that it wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately, an MRI revealed he tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the season.

Replacing Acuna’s production is impossible for your fantasy team and the brave. The Braves will most likely make Adam Duvall an everyday starter. He struggled this season as a shortstop with four home runs, 11 RBI and a .207 average. It becomes easy to forget that he had 21 home runs in just 92 games last season alone. As an everyday player, he can be an asset in the power categories.

Have we underestimated the power of Brent Rooker?

Underestimate is the wrong word. Underappreciated is a better word. Brent Rooker was one of 26 hitters last season with 30+ home runs. Of the 26 hitters, he had the lowest average draft position by a substantial margin. With 11 home runs already, Rooker is delivering another useful season in the power categories.

In hindsight, there was never any reason for Rooker to go so late. There was never any question that he would have a full-time role in athletics. His hard hit and barrel rates fully supported his 30 home run season. Those rates repeat themselves this season, but with a better supporting cast around him to increase his runs and RBI.

Why did we pick Thairo Estrada for stolen bases?

The last two seasons have been almost identical for Thairo Estrada. He had 14 home runs each season, with 21 stolen bases in 2022 and 23 in 2023. Throw in his consistently above-average contributions in batting average and you see why he was a popular mid-round selection as a middle infielder.

What has been surprising is his lack of stolen bases thus far. He only attempted two stolen bases and was successful once. His sprint speed shows he hasn’t slowed down. Instead, it appears to be a philosophical team change under new manager Bob Melvin. The Giants have just 19 stolen bases as a team, last in all of baseball.

Can Vaughn Grissom be thrown?

Vaughn Grissom’s career with the Boston Red Sox took extra time to get going as he recovered from a hamstring injury. He has recovered from his injury but has produced mediocre results so far.

Grissom has always been a safe bet for batting average at any level of professional baseball. This is what makes his current .138 batting average so surprising. He made up for his poor batting average with five runs scored and three RBIs in 17 games. Even though midfield is the weakest position, you can switch from Grissom.

What happened to Michael Busch’s breakout?

In the first 20 games with the Chicago Cubs, it looked like they had found a star in Michael Busch. He had six home runs, 15 RBI and hit .309. A prolonged decline followed.

Busch played 30 games after his hot start. In those 30 games, he has just one home run, six RBIs and is batting just .178. While the base numbers support the early season power production, it can come with a near .200 average. Among qualified batters, he has the fourth-worst strikeout rate in all of baseball at over 35 percent.

Where is Austin Riley?

The Austin Riley situation has been one of the most frustrating for fantasy owners in recent seasons. Riley last played in a game on May 12th. In other words, he missed 13 consecutive games. The Braves elected not to place him on the injured list (IL). That means you can’t even in fantasy, so he took a bench spot.

The latest update is that Riley should be in the lineup today against the Nationals. That was the information provided by Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker on Saturday. While it is far from a guarantee that he will play in all of the team’s games this week, the potential return is too great to leave him out of your weekly lineups.

Can Bailey Falter continue his recent success?

Bailey Falter has pitched about 200 major league innings over the past three seasons. Honestly, they didn’t go well. He had a career ERA of 4.76 and a career FIP of 4.75 before this season. It makes May all the more surprising.

Falter has made four starts since the calendar flipped to May, covering 26.1 innings. He has a minuscule 2.73 ERA in that span. However, he has a pedestrian ratio of 10 strikeouts to seven walks. Therefore, his FIP during this time is over five, which means he is lucky. At some point, luck will run out. You don’t want that to happen on your team.

Should I continue Evan Carter?

It’s difficult to be viable for fantasy as a Pluto player. When you’re in the starting lineup, you have to be exceptional. That was not the case with Evan Carter.

Carter usually won’t play against left-handed pitchers. He is 3-for-27 against them this year. The problem is, against right-handed pitchers, he’s hitting just .205 with five home runs and 13 RBI. In leagues where you have to start five outfielders, Carter’s upside in the Rangers offense is too much to pass up just yet. In three-man leagues, though, you need more production than Carter provided.

What happened to CJ Abrams’ breakout season?

CJ Abrams looked like a first-round bat through April with seven home runs, seven stolen bases and a .295 batting average. Unfortunately, his hot start did not carry over into May.

Abrams hit just one home run in May. He has just one stolen base and has been caught stealing twice. His batting average in May is just .211 as he has 19 strikeouts to just one walk. He needs to show better plate discipline if he is going to maintain a beneficial average for fantasy teams. He should return power and speed, but will likely come in with a sub-.240 average.

Is David Fry’s performance believable?

David Fry was an afterthought during fantasy draft season. It made sense why. He looked like a backup utility option for the Cleveland Guardians that was only valuable because he had catcher eligibility. Earlier this season, it turned out to be much more.

If you lower the board appearance threshold to 80, you’ll notice that Fry’s name appears at the top of many leaderboards. Among players with more than 80 plate appearances, he is currently second in batting average (.344), first in on-base percentage (.487) and first in on-base plus slugging (1.087). That means when he played, he was essentially more valuable than sluggers like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. Playing time is no longer an issue as his bat has been too useful to be taken out of the lineup. Eventually, his .410 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) will drop, and his average with it. Enjoy it while you can.

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