Stream Police: The case for Chadwick Tromp
We’ve had a lot of Craig Kimbrel talk and Rowan Wick talk in these spaces. Maybe you were proactive in the Chicago bullpen, maybe you weren’t. Wick has two straight saves and seems to be taking over.
Onto the next episode. How about a player who is 99-percent available in Yahoo?
Chadwick Tromp is the forgotten man in the San Francisco catcher pool. Buster Posey is the possible Hall of Fame name here — he opted to sit out this year, understandably, but he’s still the face of the Giants. And Joey Bart is the hot prospect in the organization, the second overall pick from the 2018 draft. Last we heard on Bart, no callup is imminent. The 23-year-old is working with the team’s alternate training site.
What’s left over? That Tromp fellow. He clocked his first MLB homer in the Sunday loss to Texas, then knocked another one Monday at Coors, ripping a blast into the center-field shrubbery.
Tromp, at 25, is too old to be considered a prospect. There isn’t a pedigree shine. But he did slash .280/.397/.568 at two minor-league stops last year, with nine homers in 42 games. The Reds nonetheless let him go, and the Giants added Tromp for organizational depth.
Ability is always nice, but availability is what wins fantasy baseball leagues in 2020. Tromp has a path to playing time at the moment, and he’s visiting at Coors Field. And don’t forget how friendly the San Francisco park has been playing, likely because they’ve closed some air-circulating archways. I’m putting Tromp into my DFS and streamer pool for the rest of the week, and we’ll see if anything interesting happens. He’s still just one percent rostered in Yahoo leagues.
Angels call on top prospect
If you’d rather talk about touted prospects headed to the majors, Jo Adell would like a word.
The Angels will have Adell for their Tuesday game at Seattle, and you’d assume they wouldn’t summon Adell without the intent to play him. Adell ranked No. 2, No. 3, and No. 6 on the three primary prospect boards this spring, and he was the 10th overall pick in the 2017 draft class. Injuries held him to a half-season in the minors last year, but he still slashed .289/.359/.475 over three stops, with 10 homers and seven steals. Category juice is nectar of the gods. Adell is still free to add in 56 percent of Yahoo leagues.
Sulser emergers in Baltimore
If you didn’t win the race to Wick, perhaps Cole Sulser can help your save column. The Orioles have been more competitive than expected, and Sulser recorded two saves in the weekend series against Tampa Bay. The Orioles previously looked like a committee-driven bullpen, but when something clicks in the closer chair, managers tend to stick with what’s working. The 30-year-old journeyman is rostered in a modest 14 percent of Yahoo leagues.
Romo still doing his thing
The Twins are one bullpen likely to remain a committee all year, and that’s why Sergio Romo remains in our fantasy plans. Romo’s year-end run in Minnesota was sublime last year — 22.2 IP, 8 ER, 4 BB, 27 K. The 3.18 ERA plays in any format, and a 0.93 WHIP jumps off the screen.
This year, Romo has a couple of saves, four clean innings (just one baserunner, no walks, five strikeouts). Long life the frisbee slider. Taylor Rogers is probably the primary closing option here, but on some days, Romo’s going to be the better fit for the matchups ahead. Relief pitchers on winning teams, that’s almost always a winning frame in deeper mixed leagues. Romo awaits your call in 73 percent of Yahoo leagues.
