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
Teams have just 1-2 games left on the schedule, which means whether a player is going to be in the lineup is the single most important thing to focus on. With such a short time horizon, I’m also less focused on finding undervalued players that ought to be rostered in more leagues, and more focused on who has good matchups to close out the season. Since matchups are shared by everyone on the team, I’m changing the format here a bit to highlight which players are available in a sizable number of leagues that you might want to target for the last week of the season.
Four teams only have one game remaining: the Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees, and Cubs. They’re all off today, which means you can get double the at-bats by cutting your marginal players on those squads for someone who’s playing. One game of Pete Crow-Armstrong is better than two games of whoever’s available on the wire, but I’d be moving on from Michael Busch or Roman Anthony for lesser players with more opportunities. Thirteen teams are scheduled to face one righty and one lefty in their remaining two games: Toronto, Cleveland, Kansas City*, Minnesota, Houston, both LA teams, Seattle, the Mets, the Nationals, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Colorado. For every player I rostered from one of these teams, I’d be double-checking to make sure they’re not likely to lose a game due to platoons, or that they don’t have extreme splits.
*Kansas City may end up facing two righties, with Parker Messick theoretically scheduled to start the final game of the season for the Guardians. He could easily have his turn skipped in preparation for the playoffs if the AL Central race is settled.
White Sox Righties:
The White Sox are scheduled to get Jose Quintana and Kyle Freeland in their last two games of the season. Randal Grichuk is rostered in 1% of Yahoo leagues and has a 1.016 OPS vs. lefties this season. He’s a great free power play for the last two games of the season. Brenton Doyle is rostered in 28% of Yahoo leagues; he’s been bad this season, but has a 91 wRC+ vs. lefties. More importantly, Hunter Goodman has allowed 72 steals this year, tied for fourth-most in baseball. If you need some Hail Mary steals, Doyle is a good option. Braden Montgomery is rostered in 6% of Yahoo leagues. His line is pretty unspectacular, but he has a 119 wRC+ vs. lefties, with an 18 wRC+ vs. righties weighing down the overall line.
Athletics and Astros hitters:
Their last two games are at the second-best place to hit in the majors. None of the planned starters are having particularly impressive seasons, with Ronel Blanco and Brady Basso particularly appetizing matchups to target. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer is rostered in 2% of Yahoo leagues. He just came off the IL and has started 1 of 2 games against righties, so this is one I’d wait until closer to game time to confirm. He’s eligible at three infield positions, which makes him easy to fit in your lineup if he’s playing. Henry Bolte is still only rostered in 42% of Yahoo leagues. He’s hitting .316/.388/.458 at home, with 6 homers and 13 steals in 60 games. Yainer Diaz is only rostered in 44% of Yahoo leagues. He’s raking in the second half, hitting .314/.345/.503. Lucas Spence has started three straight games in center field for the Astros after getting called back up to the majors. He torched Athletics pitching in the first game of the series. He’s otherwise struggled in the majors, but has double-digit steals and homers in each of his last two minor league campaigns. He’s probably going to be a drag on your average, but he could add some power and speed and is available literally everywhere.
Marlins hitters:
The Marlins are scheduled to get two games against the Braves. The Braves have already clinched the division and their playoff seed. With nothing to play for, the Braves are scheduled to send Brent Suter and JR Ritchie to the mound. Griffin Conine is only rostered in 8% of Yahoo leagues despite a 131 wRC+ and 18 homers in 92 games. Heriberto Hernández is only rostered in 20% of Yahoo leagues despite 24 homers and 13 steals.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Streaming starters dominate the most-added lists on both Yahoo and ESPN today. As always, start with Nick’s daily SP Streamers article when evaluating your options. Kade Anderson is the most-added player on ESPN, while his opposing starter today, Ryan Johnson, is fourth. Anderson and Johnson are pitching in Seattle, which is a significant mark in their favor. Anderson was excellent his last time out in Colorado, with an encouraging increase in strikeouts. Johnson was the victim of a ton of batted balls falling for hits against Minnesota, but still had 6 strikeouts without a walk. Neither offense in this game is good, with the two teams ranking 28th and 29th in runs scored. I’d be happy starting either of these guys.
Davis Martin hosts the Rockies in Chicago. The Rockies have the worst wRC+ in baseball and are tied for 23rd in runs scored on the road. Martin had a rough middle of the season after a dominant first two months, with an especially poor August. He’s gotten excellent results down the stretch in September, but that’s a 99% strand rate and a .230 BABIP covering up for a 4.93 xFIP. He’s striking out just 12.3% of hitters since the beginning of August. This is a good opportunity for a win, but I wouldn’t count on much else.
Griffin Jax visits the Phillies with the Rays having clinched the best record in the AL. The Phillies are just one game ahead of the Diamondbacks, with the Diamondbacks holding the tiebreaker. All that is to say, with Jax having pitched exactly 5 innings in each of his previous starts, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rays only had him throw a couple of innings. Otherwise, I’d be quite happy to roll with this one. Jax has been very good all season, and the Phillies offense has never really rebounded with a 93 wRC+ in the second half.
Trey Yesavage made his return from the IL against the Orioles last week and hosts the Reds today. He only pitched two innings against the Orioles, which makes this a no-go unless the alternative is hoping a middle reliever gets a chance. He’s not stretched out and doesn’t appear to be following an opener, so your chances of a win are about zero, and you won’t get much strikeout volume either.
There are two new entries to the most-added list on Yahoo, with Jack Perkins and Hayden Wesneski each getting starts. They’re facing each other in Sacramento, which is a huge red flag. The A’s are 6th in runs scored at home, and 29th in runs scored on the road. That’s a bigger split than even the Rockies. Perkins hasn’t been good all season, although he is a reasonable bet for some strikeouts. Wesneski has been riding a .255 BABIP to a 3.50 ERA despite a 4.39 xFIP. He’s less likely to get you strikeouts, but more likely to get you a win. I’m not a fan of either of these guys outside of very specific situations where you need either strikeouts or a win, and your ratios aren’t in play.
Graphic by Carlos Leano
