Welcome to the Waiver Wire Picks, our daily fantasy baseball article that looks at the best players you should be adding to your rosters. We’ll look at the players that are likely to be available in most leagues, as well as some deep league waiver wire options. We’ll also look at the most-added players in fantasy baseball across the major sites and tell you which players to add and which to leave on the wire.
Top Priority Players to Add
Kade Anderson (SEA) – SP (Yahoo – 54%)
Seattle is finally bringing the top pitching prospect in baseball up to the majors. Anderson has been practically perfect in Double-A this season. He’s struck out 135 hitters in 93.1 innings while yielding only 13 walks. Anderson has a wide arsenal, throwing 4 quality pitches with good command. Not to beat a dead horse – if you’re reading this, you’ve probably seen this recommendation elsewhere as well – but you should run to the waiver wire if you’re in the 46% of leagues where Anderson is available.
Kodai Senga (NYM) – SP, RP (Yahoo – 28%)
Senga has transitioned to the bullpen following a rough first half of the season as a starter. In his first 8 appearances, in which the only scoreless appearance came in a 1-inning relief appearance, Senga had an 8.66 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP. Since shifting full-time to shorter outings at the start of August, Senga has thrown 6 innings in 6 appearances, giving up 1 run and earning 4 saves. His control is still poor, but the switch has allowed him to mostly abandon his slider and cutter, decreasing their usage from a combined 34.1% of his pitches earlier in the season to 7.3% recently. His fastball is up a tick in short outings, his Stuff+ has moved up 4 points, and his Location+ is more average than awful in the pen. If you need saves down the stretch, Senga looks like a better bet than the average waiver reliever. Rick Graham now has him inside the top 30 closers in his most recent RP ranks.
Zac Veen (COL) – OF (Yahoo – 13%)
Veen is likely to occupy the large side of a platoon with Jordan Beck in his second taste of the majors. Veen and the Rockies are on the road next week, although the first half of the week is in DC at the very hitter-friendly Nationals Stadium (and against the very hitter-friendly Nationals staff). You’ll sit him in the second half of the week in NFBC-style leagues with twice-weekly changes for hitters, but in daily leagues he can be very useful. Veen had a .327/.402/.648 line with 24 homers and 18 steals in Triple-A this season. Even though his home park was at elevation in the PCL, that’s still 42% better than league average. Veen has a similar shape to his strengths and weaknesses as Joshua Báez, just toned down in every direction. He’s a good consolation prize if you missed out on (or didn’t want to take) the Cardinals’ rookie rollercoaster.
Brayan Bello (BOS) – SP, RP (Yahoo – 10%)
I’m not sure I understand what’s going on here, but Bello has been dominant as a follower while getting torched as a starter all season. In his 8 starts, Bello has thrown 35.2 innings with 22 strikeouts and 21 walks. Unsurprisingly, that’s led to a 10.35 ERA and a 2.21 WHIP. In 11 appearances as a follower, though, Bello has thrown 52.2 innings with 45 strikeouts and 7 walks. He has a 0.85 ERA and 0.85 WHIP out of the bullpen and is even averaging longer appearances when avoiding the first inning. If I were trying to protect a lead in ratios down the stretch without punting counting categories, Bello is exactly the type of bulk relief arm I’d be looking for.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
It’s all starters atop the most-added lists, and with very little overlap today. For a full ranking of every streaming starter, your best reference is Nick’s streaming starters article. Anderson is the only one to make both lists, and yeah, go add him if you can. Ryan Weathers is second among the ESPN most-added starters. Weathers has a matchup against Toronto today. The Blue Jays offense is last in the majors in wRC+ vs lefties, making this a favorable matchup for the Yankees’ starter. Weathers has had some rough patches this season, but he’s rolling currently, giving up just 3 runs in his last 5 starts spanning 31.2 innings.
Casey Mize had a tough start to life with the Padres, getting shelled in his first start with the team, but he’s been excellent in the subsequent two starts. He’s starting at home against the Twins today. The Twins are an average offense, and Petco favors pitchers. I’d be happy to start Mize in this one.
Michael Soroka is atop the bump for Arizona hosting the Reds. Soroka has been excellent in his 17 starts for the Diamondbacks, with his headline 2.93 ERA not totally undermined by a 3.69 SIERA and 3.61 xFIP. Soroka has a career-low 25.6% CSW, but a career-best 17.9% K-BB rate thanks to him clamping down on the walks. He hasn’t been quite as good in two starts since returning from the IL, but the Reds offense is the worst in baseball by wRC+, with an 87 on the season and just a 47 wRC+ over the past two weeks. This is a great matchup for a stream even if there are some cracks in Soroka’s foundation.
Logan Henderson is only rostered in two-thirds of ESPN leagues, which is a wild thing to say. The Brewers’ starter has a 26.2% K-BB in 63.1 innings, producing a 2.70 ERA and 0.87 WHIP. Those headline numbers are supported by his FIP, xFIP, xERA, and SIERA all sitting between 2.69 and 3.38. Henderson throws more strikes than any other pitcher with 60+ innings this season while still having a swinging strike rate in the 82nd percentile of those pitchers. He’s a stud, which is why he’s 15th on The List this week.
Cody Bradford is starting for the Rangers against the Angels. He’s gotten excellent results in his three starts since returning from a long-term stay on the IL. The strikeouts have totally disappeared, though, with his previous 22%-ish level declining to 15.4% this year. He’s only getting swinging strikes on 7.1% of his pitches in the small sample, so there’s no obvious reason for the strikeout rate to increase until we see some whiffs come back as well. I’m not a fan of this one based on the talent, but the matchup is excellent, so it’s a fine stream if you need the volume.
Jacob Lopez is starting for the A’s at Houston. We’ve satisfied the biggest necessary condition for putting an A’s starter in your lineup, which is that they’re not at home – A’s starters have a 4.25 FIP on the road and a 5.65 FIP in West Sacramento. Lopez appears to have ironed out his early-season issues. Over his last six starts, he’s struck out 38 hitters and walked 12 for a 19.4% K-BB in 32.2 innings. Four of those starts came in Sacramento, where it’s practically impossible to be good. The Astros aren’t a deep lineup; if Lopez can avoid the human wrecking ball known as Yordan Alvarez, this could be another very good start for Lopez.
David Peterson starts for the Cubs in Seattle. The park and matchup are big draws here, but Peterson’s role is at least a little doubtful. This was supposed to be Edward Cabrera’s start, but he’s on the IL with a blister on his middle finger (which is so close to being a line from one of the greatest rock songs ever). Peterson has not been good this season, though, and this is my least favorite of the streams discussed.
Finally, Christian Scott starts for the Mets on the south side of Chicago. He’s been very good, with a 19.1% K-BB rate in 84.2 innings this season. Scott gives up a ton of his contact in the air, generating ground balls on just 32.6% of his batted balls. That’s dangerous against the Munetaka Murakamis and Colson Montgomerys of the world, so I’d view this one as a good option but with a high variance. I’d generally prefer Scott to Mize, for example, but I think there’s a bit more risk (both positive and negative) around Scott.
Speculative Adds
Daniel Palencia (CHC) – RP (Yahoo – 57%)
It’s been a disappointing season for managers who rostered Palencia. In addition to extensive time on the IL, Palencia was healthy from May 5th to June 15th, a six-week span in which the Cubs only had 6 save opportunities. Palencia returned from the IL this week, although he hasn’t reclaimed his closer job immediately. Jacob Webb has been very good for the Cubs this season, but he doesn’t have typical closer stuff, averaging 94 mph on his fastball. Palencia struck out two in a scoreless inning on his return, averaging nearly 99 mph on his fastball. I’d guess he’s closing games again at some point down the stretch.
Graphic by Carlos Leano
