Maybe this isn’t the week to be spending, especially with the annual September 1 prospect call-up landmark right around the corner. However, there are plenty of names and ways to improve your squad for the stretch run with the plethora of options on the waiver wire. A couple of injuries have opened opportunities for otherwise overlooked veterans while some young guns have been called up a little earlier than anticipated. I’m sure all of us in the Pitcher List community are stoked to finally see Jonah Tong in the big leagues. This time of year, not many of us have much FAAB budget left to spend, so it’s important to be frugal and save for the guys who really matter. Let’s dig in.
As a reminder, this column is designed to help guide those in Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) leagues in making the best choices regarding who to target on the waiver wire. Specifically, 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).
Let’s dig in!
Investment Rating System
Six American League teams are slated with a full seven-game week with the Cleveland Guardians, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays each with a full plate this week.
SEVEN GAMES: CLE, CHW, HOU, LAA, MIN, TBR,
Batters
Outfielders
Austin Martin ($$): Martin has been hitting in the bottom half of the Twins lineup, including two starts against right-handed pitchers this week. After a terrible week, Martin rebounded with a couple of good games in a row, including three stolen bases. His speed is likely his most useful asset, while he may also score some runs. Home runs and RBI are few and far between. If you’ve got the need for speed, Martin could be a good add.
Tommy Pham ($): Pham has flashed some power the past few games, helping the Pirates’ offense get going while batting in the heart of the order. Batting fourth for a bad team is still a decent gig for RBI, especially when they’ve won seven of their last nine games. Granted, the Pirates played the Rockies and swept them, which is always good for the stat padding, but Pham still holds value this late in the year if he stays hot.
Colby Thomas ($): Anybody getting regular at-bats in the West Sacramento ballpark should be considered as a roster option. Now the Athletics take the road against the Cardinals and Angels, but with two lefties on the docket, Thomas is worth a streaming add. His power is legit, and so is the strikeout rate – 41.7% is bad. Like, real bad. But for a week or two to generate some power for your team in need of home runs, sure – why not?
Eric Wagaman ($): Mired in an 0-for-10 slump entering the weekend, Wagaman should come extremely cheap on the wire this weekend. However, with a series against the pitching-needy Nationals on the horizon – including a pair of lefties – Wagaman will have a chance to snap out of his funk.
Infielders
Jared Triolo ($$$): Leading off for the Pirates, Triolo has been hitting and running – looking like a legitimate five-category contributor for the past couple of weeks. He’s 13-for-30 over the past two weeks and has hit a pair of home runs and stolen a handful of bases as well. If he hangs on to the spot at the top of the order and keeps his green light on the base paths, he could be a massive pickup off the wire over the last month of the season.
Josh Jung ($$): Jung is 9-for-28 over his last two weeks of action and is getting every day playing time at third base for the Rangers again. He’s just snapped out of a relatively long slump and is hot again – who knows how long it will last – so now is the time to scoop him and ride him while it lasts. Third base has been rough this season, but as long as he’s producing, he’s an auto-start. As soon as you start to see the strikeouts creep back up, it’s time to jump ship again.
Nathaniel Lowe ($$): On the paternity list for now, Lowe will have the patented “Dad Strength” when he gets back. In his first week with the Red Sox, Lowe batted 7-for-16 with a home run and seven RBI. But he wasn’t very good this past week. When he gets back, there’s a possibility he goes back to being the amazing version of Lowe for another week or so at a time. He’s head and shoulder better at baseball than Romy González and is on the strong side of the platoon at first base. He’s a guy who should see more playing time as the final month of the season progresses, especially with Boston in the thick of a playoff hunt.
Davis Schneider ($): Schneider is hammering the ball and might end up getting more playing time with the injury to Ernie Clement. He’s like a poor man’s Nolan Gorman, hits the ball for power and but will strikeout about 30% of the time. He’s second base eligible, which automatically makes him palatable. With three games at Cincinnati, I’m looking for a home run or two out of Schneider this week.
Catchers/UT
Edgar Quero ($$): Batting in the middle of the White Sox order and getting more than 50% of the White Sox DH at-bats, Quero is getting plenty enough volume to justify his rostership. Batting 15-for-41 in his last three weeks of action is just a bonus.
Gabriel Moreno ($): Back from injury, Moreno is the best defensive catcher in Arizona and will continue to play behind the plate as long as he remains healthy. The bat has been excellent recently and is consistently good enough to be a second catcher in two-catcher leagues.
Pitchers
Starting Pitchers
Jonah Tong ($$$$): Tong was one of the few pitching prospects that most of the fantasy baseball community has been drooling over that had yet to make his debut – until this weekend. Tong tossed five innings and allowed four runs, but only one was earned. He struck out six batters and looked so much like Tim Lincecum on the mound that it made me tingle. Tong will be the hottest pitching commodity on the market and will likely go to whoever has the most FAAB left in their pockets at this point in the season.
Kyle Bradish ($$$): The breaking stuff is back like it never left, and the sinker looked pretty good too! As an Orioles fan, it’s amazing to see Bradish looking so good in his season debut, and also incredibly disappointing with the outcome of this season and what could have been. Bradish will face the Padres early in the week, but with the Orioles currently running a six-man rotation,he won’t throw as often as we’d like. However, if the breakers are missing bats like they did in his first start, it won’t matter.
Payton Tolle ($$$): Tolle was excellent in his MLB debut on Friday night, tossing 5.1 innings with eight strikeouts, and could be just what the Red Sox need down the stretch to give them momentum for a playoff push. Granted, it was against a weak Pirates lineup, so take the performance with a grain of salt. However, he’s an arm that will be in my waterfalls in every league.
Relief Pitchers
Abner Uribe ($$$): Trevor Megill went down with an injury, and Uribe stepped in to take over ninth-inning duties for the Brewers. Unlike most situations, where teams either go to a committee after their main guy goes down or just scramble to figure out a piece that fits, Milwaukee handed the role to Uribe and let him run with it. Uribe hasn’t allowed an earned run since July 12 and has looked every bit the part of an elite closer.
Calvin Faucher ($$): He may pitch for the Marlins, but at least Faucher seems to have a locked-in ninth-inning role.
Keegan Akin ($): Might be the closer for an Orioles team that isn’t winning much recently. The role isn’t secure. The team isn’t great. I guess you could roster him, but do you really want to?
Hogan Harris ($): Might be the closer for an Orioles Athletics team that isn’t winning much recently. The role isn’t secure. The team isn’t great. I guess you could roster him, but do you really want to?
Photo by #### | Designed by Aaron Asbury (@aarongifs on Instagram)
