Jarrod Saltalamacchia & Chase Anderson: Deep League Wire

It’s the debut of my deep league waiver wire column! This is where I share two players who are 10% owned or less in CBS leagues. These players generally should not be considered in 12-team mixed leagues and shallower.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia | C DET | CBS 7% Owned

My oh my, catchers are crowding the disabled list! First, it’s Kyle Schwarber, now out for the year (sad face). Then it’s Robinson Chirinos, and now it’s James McCann. What’s an owner to do? Crying in the corner is one option. But perhaps not the best one. Unfortunately, Schwarber’s injury does not actually create a new catcher opportunity, while Chirinos’ does, but it’s a weak fantasy choice. McCann, however, was being backed up by the man with a last name that barely fits the back of his jersey, Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Yes, he’s still around. And now on his sixth team! But the upside here is that you might have your catcher replacement and he won’t automatically be terrible. Sure, his average is going to stink. But most replacement options will be similar. The difference here is the power. He owns a .180 career ISO, 13.4% HR/FB rate, and a homer every 29 plate appearances. Your lucky to get anything positive when your deep league catcher goes down. Although he’ll be hitting toward the bottom of the order, he’ll be part of a strong lineup, which means his runs scored and runs batted in totals should be respectable. McCann is only expected to miss 2-4 weeks, so Salty is clearly just a short-term replacement.

Chase Anderson | SP MIL | 10% Owned

After his 2014 performance, Anderson was an intriguing sleeper heading into 2015. He had struck out over 20% of the batters he faced, thanks to a fantastic changeup that induced swinging strikes over 20% of the time. Unfortunately, he disappointed last year, as his changeup lost effectiveness and his curve ball, which generated a solid 12.9% SwStk%, fell a tick below 10%, and he threw it less frequently. Anderson was then dealt from the Diamondbacks to the Brewers as he tries to regain that changeup mojo.

He has only made one start so far, but it was as good as you could have hoped for. He generated a 22.7% SwStk% on his 22 changeups and struck out five of 18 batters. The only negative is the performance of his curve — he threw 19 of them and failed to record even one swinging strike. It doesn’t lend promise that the pitch is going to rebound to 2014 levels. Of course, one start is the tiniest of samples and far too early to make any sort of evaluations on. But this is a guy who has shown promise in the past and clearly possess an above average pitch that has flashed elite, with another secondary pitch that has appeared average. That doesn’t scream big upside, but certainly good enough to merit consideration in deeper leagues.