The Dog Days of Summer are upon us, as we cross over into the month of June and hit our stride in our fantasy baseball leagues. At this point of the season, hopefully, all of your teams, like almost all of mine, are still in contention and battling for footing on a weekly basis. In one of my 15-team leagues, I’ve gone from fourth to 11th to seventh over the course of the past two weeks, with only 14 points separating the 13th-place team from the fourth-place team. Each week is an opportunity to make up a little ground here and there and try to crawl that much closer to the leaders—or extend your lead even further. Here’s a list of guys that will hopefully help you do just that.
As a reminder, we’re focusing on players who are between 20-25% rostered in most 12-team leagues and/or 25-50% rostered in 15-teamers. Every league is different, so we won’t be labeling player bids with any sort of recommended dollar amount but instead will use a four-tier investment rating system, ranging from a minimal spend to a potential difference-maker (or LEAGUE-WINNER, if you will).
Investment Rating System
A total of eight teams are scheduled for seven games to open the week with the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, and Tampa Bay Rays each slated to play every day. The Cleveland Guardians and Cincinnati Reds play just five games next week with a two-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday, a day off Thursday, and a three-game weekend series.
SEVEN GAMES: BAL, CWS, KC, MIN, NYY, OAK, SEA, TB
FIVE GAMES: CIN, CLE
Batters
Outfielders
Miguel Vargas ($$$): He would be a “$$$$” mention if the Dodgers would stop giving him the shaft and actually put him in the everyday lineup where he belongs. Vargas has five hits in 20 at-bats with four extra-base hits and a stolen base. With regular playing time, Vargas could be a huge difference-maker, both in fantasy and real life. Since he was called up, the Dodgers are 5-1 in games that he starts and 4-7 in games that he is on the bench. Coincidence? I think not.
Heliot Ramos ($$$): Ramos is batting leadoff almost every day for the San Francisco Giants and will likely be a mainstay in their lineup for the rest of the season. How many guys on the waiver wire can you say that about? Not many, that’s for sure. Ramos is batting .320 with a 12.7% barrel rate and 13.3% walk rate, meaning he’s getting on base and scoring runs. The only concern is that he’s doing it with a .448 BABIP, which means he’s definitely due for regression (also echoed by his .259 xAVG). For now, though, Ramos is one of the best waiver outfield options out there.
Jordan Walker ($$): What are the Cardinals waiting for? In the month of June, Brendan Donovan, Dylan Carlson, Michael Siani, and Matt Carpenter have combined to bat 15-for-77 (.194) and yet Jordan Walker is still in AAA Memphis. At some point, he will be back in the MLB and it might be worth a cheap gamble to stash him now.
Harrison Bader ($$): The Mets face at least four, maybe five lefties in their first week stateside after their London tour. Bader is owned in 90% of leagues but should be picked up in the other 10% this week.
Hunter Renfroe ($$): Renfroe was riding an eight-game hitting streak into Sunday’s action and has improved his batting average from .140 in early May all the way to .190 already. I know it doesn’t sound all that great, but he’s seeing the ball much better and is hitting in a potent Royals offense that scores a lot of runs.
Trent Grisham ($): As long as Soto is limited by injury, Grisham will have a starting role in a volatile Yankee offense. His batting average is abysmal, below .100 entering Saturday’s game against the Dodgers, but he could potentially get regular at-bats in Yankee Stadium. Any left-handed bat plays there.
Miguel Andujar ($): Regularly batting in the top third of a surprising Oakland lineup, Andujar started his year with an absurd 13-for-29 (.448) clip from the plate. He’s cooled off since but he’s still worth a flyer in five-outfield leagues.
David Dahl ($): Dollar for a Dahl… er? The former Rockie and Ranger is now back in the major leagues with the Phillies after the Brandon Marsh injury and mashed a home run in his season debut because of course he did. Dahl’s left-handed bat fits well in the lower-third of the Philadelphia lineup and could see a decent share of playing time on a strong side of a platoon, at least until Marsh returns and maybe longer if he keeps hitting.
Infielders
Xavier Edwards ($$$): Now here’s a kid that might just stick around the majors! In 17 games at AAA Jacksonville, Edwards was slashing .365/.411/.481 with three stolen bases. It’s not like Tim Anderson has been very good. Joey Wendle was DFA’d a while ago. Jon Berti is gone. Jazz Chisholm Jr. isn’t moving back to the infield. This might be the guy up the middle for the fish. If he can hit in Miami the way he did in AAA, he should get consistent playing time.
Connor Norby ($$): Another day, another hyped Orioles prospect making his debut. This time it’s Connor Norby, but he’s just as likely as the others before him to be sent back down in a week or two. Yes, it’s fun to have the shiny new toy on your team, but it’s not so much fun to start him in your lineup and watch him sit … or worse, be demoted. Tread cautiously here. The Orioles are just teasing us at this point, showing off all their fun prospects one by one.
Enmanuel Valdez ($$): Valdez carried a five-game hitting streak into the weekend, consistently appearing in the top third of the Red Sox order while Vaughn Grissom is on the mend. Valdez has posted a 31.4% hard contact rate and an xAVG 30 points higher than his batting average. It’s worth a look for managers struggling at middle infield.
Justyn Henry-Malloy ($$): Malloy was tearing up the minors in 2022 and 2023 and was a pretty hyped prospect coming into this season. His appeal has cooled some while hitting just .253 in AAA. However, he’s made it to the show and will feature in the Tigers’ lineup for as long as he can last. With 60-grade raw power on his scouting report, he has a great eye for the zone. A high walk rate will likely be paired with a relatively high strikeout rate with all the swing and miss in his profile. For fantasy players. that likely means a middling bat with modest power and counting stats, but enough to at least move the needle in deeper leagues. He’ll likely pick up outfield eligibility rather quickly.
Taylor Walls ($$): Walls returned to the Rays on Friday after a long stint on the IL. Walls batted .306 with four home runs in April of 2023, but finished the season with a .201 batting average and only eight home runs in 99 games played. If he can find what he had in April of last season, he could be a league-breaker but until he shows that kind of pop again, he’s merely a replacement-level middle infield option.
David Bote ($): Back to the bigs finally, Bote will likely stick in the lineup until Nico Hoerner returns from injury. More a fan favorite than a legit fantasy option, Bote did hit .259 over 40 games last season so it isn’t that bad of a bat.
Andy Ibáñez ($): A bonafide lefty-masher, Ibanez and the Tigers face a whole bunch of lefties this upcoming week and Ibanez will likely be in the starting lineup every time they do.
Gio Urshela ($): He’s the Tigers’ first baseman now that Torkelson has been optioned down. He’ll get more regular playing time than Ibanez and should be a better rest-of-season pick-up, but with all the lefties the Tigers face this coming week, I’d prefer Ibanez to Urshela in the short term.
Catchers/UT
Henry Davis ($$): He was sent down to AAA to get more reps in and he absolutely mashed the ball. Now he’s back in the big leagues with hopes to continue the hot-hitting. We’ll see how he does this time around.
Andrew McCutchen ($$): The Pirates play three games at Coors Field this coming week. That’s enough for me to throw a few dollars down on Uncle Larry as a utility-only option in deep leagues.
Alejandro Kirk ($): With one less mouth to feed in Toronto after Cavan Biggio was DFA’d, Kirk might get a few more chances to produce in the coming weeks.
Pitchers
Starting Pitchers
Cade Povich ($$$): I correctly predicted in last week’s column that Povich would be called up for his MLB debut. Hopefully, you were able to scoop him for cheap in last week’s waiver run. If not, he’ll likely be more expensive now after a solid outing against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Adam Mazur ($$$): It was a solid debut last week for Mazur who rode the Blake Snell Blueprint to a quality start for the Padres, locating his fastball mostly above the zone and his slider and changeup in the lower third. He allowed one earned run in six innings and despite giving up four walks, needed just 77 pitches against the Angels. I like what he has going here so far, and there’s no reason to think he won’t stick in the rotation. He might rank above Povich in most of my waterfalls on Sunday night.
Jake Irvin ($$$): Irvin has done enough to make me want him on my teams this season. He just twirled a beauty against a stumbling Braves offense and his next four starts come against Detroit, Arizona, San Diego, and the New York Mets. Not exactly intimidating. If he’s available on your wire, he should be in your bid waterfall. There’s no reason not to anymore.
Aaron Ashby ($$): I believe in Aaron Ashby. He’s pitched just twice this season with both games against above-average lineups in two notoriously hitter-friendly parks. His next three starts line up against the Blue Jays, Angels, and Padres. There’s a chance that he settles in and gets closer to his 27-29% strikeout rate from 2021-22. The ceiling is there, and it should come super cheap.
Clayton Kershaw ($$): Now is the time to grab Clayton Kershaw before any of your league mates realize that he’s about a month away from a potential return. You’ve got a roster spot that you can use on your bench for a few weeks, right?
Colin Rea ($): Are you process-oriented or results oriented? Process-oriented managers will look at Rea’s metrics and go “NYEH.” Results-oriented managers will look at three earned runs allowed over his last 15.0 innings pitched and at least consider a bid. He’s got a really solid Brewers lineup backing him, and has operated with an opener recently…so the win potential is there. But man it’s hard to get past his meager 8.3% swinging strike rate.
Relief Pitchers
Yimi García ($$$): There’s not much of a chance he’s available in your 15-team league, but he might be. It’s definitely worth a shot to bid for him as he appears to be the closer in Toronto as long as Romano remains out with elbow issues.
Jeff Hoffman ($): Not sure if I really want any pitcher that just traveled to London and back over the course of four days, but at least Hoffman has a chance to save games if José Alvarado is winded.
Kevin Ginkel ($): Just a solid bullpen arm out in Arizona where Paul Sewald is back in the closer role, but should have plenty of opportunity to register holds, strikeouts and improve ratios.
Matt Strahm ($): Boring. Consistent. Ratios. Strahm hasn’t allowed a run since March 29.
“Cade Povich ($$$): I correctly predicted in last week’s column that Povich would be called up for his MLB debut. Hopefully, you were able to scoop him for cheap in last week’s waiver run. If not, he’ll likely be more expensive now after a solid outing against the Toronto Blue Jays.”
The fuck game were you watching?
In what world was Povich’s 6 ER, 5 BB, 2 K performance “solid”?? He is CONSIDERABLY less expensive to scoop up now