Late-Season Sleepers to Watch
As the fantasy baseball season hurtles toward the All-Star break, managers are scouring the waiver wire for short-term assets that can tip the scales in tightly contested leagues. This week’s spotlight falls on two relievers and outfielders whose recent performances have sparked buzz among analysts and roster builders alike.
Jordan Romano, a right-handed reliever for the Colorado Rockies, has turned a modest early-season ERA into a more promising 3.31 fielding-independent pitching (FIP) figure across ten innings. The uptick suggests that the Rockies’ bullpen, long plagued by inconsistency, may finally be finding a reliable arm for high-leverage situations.
The Rockies’ collective pitching metrics underscore the urgency of adding a dependable closer. With a team FIP that ranks near the bottom of the league, Romano’s emergence offers a rare short-term source of saves, especially as the waiver market for closing talent remains barren.
Across the National League West, the San Francisco Giants’ outfielder Victor Bericoto has burst onto the scene with a .298 batting average and a .313 on-base percentage in his first 48 major-league plate appearances. His profile is bolstered by a 14.7% barrel rate, a 52.9% hard-hit rate, and a strikeout rate of 27.1%, painting the picture of a power-laden hitter who can generate runs in a variety of ways.
Bericoto’s schedule only adds to his appeal. The Giants are slated to face the Rockies in four of their final seven games before the break, a matchup that could inflate his counting stats and provide a timely boost for fantasy lineups. Coupled with a .298 expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA), the outfielder’s current trajectory suggests a window of opportunity before any statistical regression sets in.
While the sample size is still limited, the combination of Romano’s relief role in a struggling bullpen and Bericoto’s hot streak against a favorable opponent creates a compelling narrative for fantasy managers seeking immediate impact. Monitoring their usage and performance over the next few weeks could yield the decisive edge needed to navigate the playoff push.