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Fantasy Baseball: 10 Players You Need to Add to Your Watchlist

By Ryota Nishino

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 29: Dominic Smith #22 of the New York Mets celebrates after hitting a walk-off 3-run home run in the bottom of the eleventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field on September 29, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 29: Dominic Smith #22 of the New York Mets celebrates after hitting a walk-off 3-run home run in the bottom of the eleventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field on September 29, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Kris Bubic

Who’s that? A 22 year old prospect for the Kansas City Royals.

I am honestly surprised he is not on more fantasy baseball rosters, as he is only owned in 5.3% of ESPN fantasy leagues.

Kris Bubic is the Royals’ 7th ranked prospect, who got called up during the season along with Brady Singer, the #3 ranked Royals’ prospect. Bubic is a little more underrated than Singer, and that is shown through his 21.1% ownership in fantasy baseball.

He reminds me a little bit of a Tyler Anderson and Matt Boyd combination. His motion is a little funky, deceptive, and hr has pretty good stuff.

The #40th overall pick in 2018 from Stanford relies on his low-mid 90s fastball to set up his great changeup and curveball. He will not overpower hitters but if he can control the strike zone, he will accumulate a lot of strikeouts.

In 2019, he struck out 185 hitters, the most by a Royals’ minor league pitcher since 2000, and had a 2.23 ERA. In his MLB debut, he threw four innings against the White Sox and gave up two earned runs, three hits, a walk, and three strikeouts.

His second start was great: six innings allowing two earned runs while striking out six and allowing four hits against the Chicago Cubs. But he did not receive enough run support to earn him his 1st MLB win.

And most recently, Bubic struggled in his 3rd start against the good hitting Reds, where he threw five innings, but gave up ive earned runs. He gave up seven hits and a walk, but was able to strike out six batters.

Although he is 0-2, Bubic is a young prospect and the Royals have a lot of trust in him apparently. He should be added to your watchlist, and if you are in need of a starting pitcher, he might be a nice pitcher to stash, who should continue to pitch well.

Another side note, his catcher is Salvador Perez. The reason why I mention this is because it could help Bubic’s growth. When you have a reliable veteran star catcher like Perez calling your game, it can make a huge difference in performance.

As a former college catcher, I know the importance of being a reliable backstop for pitchers. This is only going to help Bubic grow this season as a 22 year old. Perez might be the reason why the Royals felt comfortable calling up both Bubic and Singer to pitch this year.

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