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Major League Baseball’s regular season is here, and with it comes the daily influx of baseball news that fantasy managers missed in the winter months. Lineup news, actual games happening, constant waiver wire moves, pitching assignments, and bullpen usage.
This column aims to cover any and all fantasy baseball news, big or small, and how it pertains to your fantasy team. Spring training or the regular season, it's covered here.
Has a player who's usually been hitting in the middle of a lineup suddenly batting eighth or ninth for an extended period? The fantasy implications will be covered here. The same goes for injuries and injured placements and whether or not you should consider picking up a player who was recently called up. Basically, any kernel of fantasy news and its relevance to fantasy managers could be covered here. Today, the news of the day is the fantasy impact of Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks being activated from the 15-day injured list and Cubs infielder Nick Madrigal being optioned to the National League Central club’s Triple-A affiliate.
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Fantasy Baseball Impact Of Kyle Hendricks Being Activated From The Injured List
Hendricks was activated off the 15-day injured list prior to Thursday’s game, per a tweet from the Cubs’ official Twitter account.
Thursday marked the veteran’s first start in the Majors this season. All told Hendricks surrendered six hits, five runs, three earned runs, and two walks in 4.1 innings of work against the New York Mets. He didn’t give up a home run and struck out five batters on 86 pitches. The right-hander also finished with a 22% CSW rate.
It certainly wasn’t an ideal first outing, but it was Hendricks's first start of the season in the Majors after all. Locked into a rotation spot moving forward in Chicago due to Hayden Wesneski recently being optioned to Triple-A, Hendricks could be a solid streaming option in the right matchups moving forward for fantasy managers in deeper leagues.
In 16 starts spanning 84.1 innings during the 2022 season, the 33-year-old pitched to a 4.80 ERA and a 4.82 FIP while adding 66 strikeouts compared to just 24 walks allowed. Hendricks logged four pitcher wins last season but has been able to find some fantasy success, at least where the pitcher win category is concerned, despite lower strikeout numbers and higher run-prevention stats.
In 32 starts and 181 innings during the 2021 campaign, Hendricks rattled off 14 pitcher wins despite some similarly high run-prevention stats.
- Kyle Hendricks in 2021: 181 IP, 4.77 ERA, 4.89 FIP, 14 pitcher wins
- Kyle Hendricks in 2022: 84.1 IP, 4.80 ERA, 4.82 FIP, four pitcher wins
Of course, banking on pitcher wins with starters who have ERAs approaching 5.00 isn’t the best strategy in the world, but he could be a solid streaming option in the right matchups in leagues with 14, 16 or or more teams. It is worth noting that after Hendricks’ next scheduled start against the Tampa Bay Rays, four of the Cubs’ following six series are against teams ranked in the bottom half of the league in scoring in the San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, and Pittsburgh Pirates (twice).
Fantasy Baseball Impact Of Nick Madrigal Being Optioned To Triple-A
And now we get to the other part of the transaction that saw Hendricks return to the Major League roster.
Per the aforementioned tweet from the club’s official Twitter account Thursday, infielder Nick Madrigal was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Hendricks on Chicago's active roster.
Madrigal, who’s seen time at both third base and second base this season, hasn’t been quite nearly as productive in his two seasons with the Cubs the last few years as he was in his first two seasons in the Majors across town with the White Sox.
Madrigal hit .317 with a .358 on-base percentage, a 111 wRC+, two home runs, and three stolen bases in 324 combined plate appearances across the 2020 and 2021 seasons for the White Sox.
In 326 total plate appearances since the start of the 2022 campaign with the Cubs, the infielder is batting .248 with a .299 on-base percentage, a 68 wRC+, and five stolen bases.
That production includes a .247 average and a .286 on-base percentage and a pair of stolen bases in 98 plate appearances this year.
And while he wasn’t the full-time starter at third for the Cubs this season – the position where he’s logged the most appearances and starts this year – the 26-year-old is the only player on Chicago’s roster to play more than 15 innings at third base other than Patrick Wisdom so far this season. For reference, Madrigal has played 152 innings at third base this season.
The former fourth-overall pick heading to the minors could certainly open up additional playing time for Wisdom, who has enjoyed a solid season for the Cubs and fantasy managers alike so far, hitting .220 with a .313 on-base percentage, a .350 xwOBA, 12 home runs, and two stolen bases.
However, the biggest benefactor, both in terms of real-life baseball and fantasy baseball, might be Christopher Morel.
Morel hasn’t played third base in the Majors this season, but appeared in 18 games at the position in 2022 and made nine starts at the hot corner at Triple-A prior to being recalled. He's played all three outfield spots and second base so far, but with Madrigal at Triple-A, he could theoretically see a few more starts there, although that's purely speculative.
And while Morel is potentially a player to trade away if he’s already on your fantasy team – and you can acquire an above-average fantasy contributor in return – there’s no denying the instant impact the 23-year-old has made.
In 56 plate appearances in the Majors this year, Morel is batting .358 with a .393 on-base percentage, nine home runs, and a stolen base.
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