Welcome to Waiver Wire Watch, our weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire guide. We’ll be doing things a little differently this season, with James Schiano publishing the initial waiver-wire article on Friday afternoon. Then Eric Samulski updates it every Sunday to make sure you get the most up-to-date information.
We’re doing things a little bit differently this time of year though. Rather than give a long list of players with deep analysis, there will only be a few dense player profiles for those we think currently need a bit more light shed on them. Otherwise, there will be long lists of players who can help your teams in a specific category or for this particular week.
The premise of the article is pretty straightforward. We’ll give you some recommended adds each week based on recent production or role changes. When we list a player, we’ll list the category where we think he’ll be helpful or the quick reason he’s listed. We hope this helps you determine whether the player fits your team’s needs. Not every “trending” player will be a good addition to your specific roster.
To qualify for this list, a player needs to be UNDER 40% rostered in Yahoo! formats. We understand you may say, “These players aren’t available in my league,” and we can’t help you there. These players are available in over 60% of leagues and some in 98% of leagues, so they’re available in many places, and that can hopefully satisfy readers who play in all league types.
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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Hitters
Jakob Marsee – OF, MIA (49% rostered)
(BATTING AVERAGE, OBP, COUNTING STATS PLAY)
Don’t let a dreadful start to the season distract you from how productive Marsee has been lately. Across nearly 200 plate appearances since the All-Star break, he’s slashing .287/.394/.482 with six home runs, 31 runs scored, and four stolen bases. Those four steals are a tad disappointing considering how often he ran last year and how often he’s gotten on base, but he’s a great source of hits and walks right now.
Victor Mesa Jr. – OF, TBR (26% rostered)
(POWER, SPEED, PLAYING TIME)
Mesa Jr. was activated off the injured list on September 1st after missing about two weeks with a hamstring strain and has gone right back to mashing. In 12 games since, he’s hitting .383 with three homers, 12 runs scored, eight RBI, and three stolen bases. He’s also sat three times, once against a right-handed pitcher (after playing consecutive days just off the IL) and twice against lefties. He’s also started against three lefties since, so he’s in a less stringent platoon than he was back in July and August. He’s been productive across the board whenever he’s played and could be reasonably relied upon in shallower leagues this week now with closer to a full-time role.
Josue De Paula – OF, LAD (12% rostered)
(HUGE PROSPECT PROMOTION, REAL POWER)
De Paula has held his own in one week of big league action with an .789 OPS across a measly 25 plate appearance sample entering play on Friday. That’s come in six starts – one of which against a left-handed pitcher – and he hit lead-off on Tuesday against a righty. He also sat in another game against a left-handed pitcher. In that small sample, we can see that he has plus bat speed to match his elite power pedigree. Also, he’s rarely chasing pitches out of the strike zone and making contact with the ones in it. He’s attempted two stolen bases too, but been caught once. This is all very encouraging after the 21-year-old left-handed slugger jumped straight from Double-A to the big leagues and may have the best offensive profile of any prospect in the minors. In 124 games this year with Tulsa, he hit 27 home runs and stole 31 bases with a .303/.401/.547 slash line. He also rarely struck out, took his walks, and can pull the ball in the air better than most other young players. Again, De Paula is as complete a hitter that we’ve seen called up to the majors recently.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand – 1B/3B, BAL (10% rostered)
(POWER, POST HYPE BREAKOUT?)
Encarnacion-Strand has enjoyed a late season renaissance since joining the Orioles. In 51 games, he has 10 home runs, 12 doubles, and an .846 OPS. That’s come with excellent power metrics like a 15.3% barrel rate and 73.6 mph bat speed. His hit tool and overall swing decisions remain concerning, but he’s a very legitimate power threat right now while he’s consistently putting his bat on the ball.
Leo Bernal – C, STL (3% rostered)
(PROSPECT PROMOTION, HOT STREAK)
The Cardinals promoted Bernal on September 1st when the rosters expanded and he’s started all 15 games since going 18-for-61 with three home runs, three doubles, and 15 RBI. He’s started 13 games at catcher, four at designated hitter, and one at first base over that span, so it’s clear the Cardinals are doing everything they can to get his bat in the lineup everyday. A switch-hitter with real power from each side of the plate, Bernal had 16 home runs, nine stolen bases, and a 115 wRC+ through 101 games at Triple-A this season as a 22-year-old with a strong underlying profile to match. He’s a great play in deep mixed or two-catcher leagues at the moment.
Emmanual Rodríguez – OF, MIN (2% rostered)
(PROSPECT CALL-UP, POSSIBLE POWER UPSIDE)
Rodríguez put together a solid first week in the big leagues going 5-for-23 with a home run, double, and triple. That’s come with a very high average bat speed at 77.1 mph – the same as Kyle Schwarber – but has struck out in one third of his plate appearances so far. He’s started all six games too and jumped up as high as fifth in the Twins’ order on Thursday. Rodríguez slashed .262/.414/.500 with 11 homers, 33 RBI, 36 runs scored, and seven steals across 220 Triple-A plate appearances this year, and, much like Walker Jenkins, could have been called up sooner had it not been for injuries. He rarely chases pitches out of the zone and makes plenty of hard contact, which is a combination we like. Considering he’s likely going to play a bunch and has real power, he could offer a spark this week.
Now, for big lists of players who can help you in specific categories plus, some who have good streaming schedules for the upcoming week.
Stolen Bases
Anthony Volpe – SS/2B, NYY
A.J. Ewing – OF, NYM
Max Clark – OF, DET
Brett Bateman – OF, TOR
Royce Lewis – 1B/2B/3B, MIN
Tommy Edman – 2B/3B/OF, LAD
Home runs
Bryce Eldridge – 1B, SFG
Jake Burger – 1B, TEX
Mickey Gasper – 1B/C, BOS
Carter Jensen – C, KCR
Griffin Conine – 1B/OF, MIA
Coby Mayo – 1B/3B, BAL
Counting Stats (Runs and RBI)
Alec Bohm – 1B/3B, PHI
Konnor Griffin – SS/OF, PIT
Travis Bazzana – 2B, CLE
Javier Sanoja – 2B/3B/SS/OF, MIA
Dustin Harris – OF, SDP
Dylan Beavers – OF, BAL
Nolan Arenado – 3B, ARI
Tim Tawa – 1B/2B/3B/OF, ARI
Connor Norby – 1B/2B/3B, COL
Walker Jenkins – OF, MIN
Streamers
Henry Bolte – OF, ATH
Zack Gelof – 2B/3B/OF, ATH
Lawrence Butler – OF, ATH
Cole Carrigg – SS/OF, COL
TJ Rumfield – 1B, COL
Kyle Karros – 3B, COL
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pitchers
Emmet Sheehan – SP, LAD (53% rostered)
Blake Snell was removed from his start on Wednesday after one inning with left groin tightness. So, the recently optioned Sheehan might get another chance in the Dodgers’ rotation next week. Shuttled up and down a couple times recently, Sheehan returned to the big leagues for two starts after spending most of August in Triple-A and struck out 15 batters over two starts spanning 11 2/3 innings with just one earned run. He showed a renewed confidence in his fastball and that pitch was missing bats. Again, this is more speculative as Snell’s removal from his start appeared to be at least partially precautionary, but Sheehan could start at home against the Padres next week.
Justin Wrobleski – SP/RP LAD (41% rostered)
A pitcher’s upcoming schedule can be more important than their skill this time of year and Wrobleski is scheduled to face the Rafael Devers-less Giants twice to close the season. Bailey Ober and Zebby Matthews are also streaming options against the Giants. Overall, these are not a trio of pitchers we’d be running to recommend besides for this particular matchup.
Ryan Johnson – SP/RP, LAA (22% rostered)
As the Angels have overhauled their organizational pitching structure, many of their arms have made key adjustments over the last month. Johnson is part of that group, mostly trashing his sinker starting on August 11th. Since then, he has a 2.04 ERA across 39 2/3 innings. It’s still not a great profile – he’s a sidearming righty who doesn’t miss many bats and rarely throws a pitch over 90 mph besides that sinker – but he has a strong cutter, sweeper, and splitter. He’s scheduled to close the season with outings against the Twins and Mariners as a risky streaming option with good results lately.
Andrew Alvarez – SP/RP, WSN (22% rostered)
Alvarez is coming off a gem against the Angels last Saturday with a career-high seven scoreless innings, eight strikeouts, and just one hit allowed. He also walked four batters. In that game, the Angels ran out a lineup with nine right-handed hitters against the left-handed Alvarez and he tore through them with his curveball. His best pitch, it forced 10 of his 15 total whiffs and set up his auxiliary fastball and slider to get called strikes because hitters were so keyed in on the hook. His fastball leaves plenty to be desired at 92 mph with a suboptimal shape, but his curve and slider have a uniquely symbiotic relationship. David Laurila wrote about this on FanGraphs a few months back in an interview with Alvarez. Those two pitches have practically the same velocity and spin axis while the curveball has significantly more depth making hitters struggle to decipher between the two. He’s mildly trustworthy on Saturday against the Cardinals and again against the Mets next weekend.
Jonah Tong – SP, NYM (14% rostered)
Tong turned in another solid start on Monday against the Orioles going six strong with six strikeouts, one walk, and one unearned run. He pushed up his fastball usage heavily in this outing compared to his last, jumping up from 31% to 55% as he found a little bit of extra life on it. That could’ve been weather related as there was a brisk headwind in Citi Field that night – which can help pitchers add a bit of induced vertical break on their fastballs – but it was still the out-pitch Tong had envisioned. Off that dominant fastball, he was able to sequence his changeup, cutter, and curveball more effectively than he has otherwise against major league hitters and looked good overall. He has a huge test against the Phillies this Sunday to try and keep the momentum going before facing the Nationals next week to close the season.
Anthony Molina – RP/SP, SFG (5% rostered)
After being ripped for seven runs by the Padres last week, Molina bounced back well with 5 2/3 scoreless innings and six strikeouts on Tuesday against the Cardinals. He had much better command of his fastball in that more recent outing and that’s important for Molina because while that pitch has plus velocity around 96 mph, its shape is mediocre. So, it needs to be commanded in order to be consistently effective. Otherwise, that pitch is flanked by a quality curveball that’s effective against hitters from both sides of the plate, a solid slider, and a changeup that can miss bats against lefties. He’s scheduled to face the Twins at home next week to close his season.
Now, here are some long lists of other pitchers that could help you out this week. Be aware that schedules can often change this time of year and two-start pitchers can sometimes be a dice roll.
Waiver Wire Two-Start Pitchers (We’d Actually Consider Using)
Jared Jones (vs. STL, @DET)
Sean Manaea (@TEX, @WSN)
Anthony Kay (@CHW, vs. COL)
Daniel Lynch IV (vs. CHW, vs. CLE)
Cristian Javier (@SEA, @ATH)
Bailey Ober (@SFG, vs. TEX)
Saves
Mason Montgomery – PIT
Emilio Pagán – CIN
Rico Garcia – BAL
Kodai Senga – NYM
Joel Kuhnel – SFG
Ryan Zeferjahn – CHC
Hogan Harris – ATH
Holds
Bryan Abreu – HOU
Brent Headrick – NYY
Tyler Rogers – TOR
Alex Vesia – LAD
Even Phillips – LAD
Edgardo Henriquez – LAD
Jeff Hoffman – MIN
AJ Minter – MIN
Nate Pearson – KCR
Ryan Watson – LAA
Tyler Saucedo – LAA
Chase Silseth – TEX
Calvin Faucher – MIA
Michael Petersen – MIA
Read the full article here
