Welcome to the Waiver Wire Picks, our daily fantasy baseball article that looks at the best players in baseball that 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, and we’ll also look at the most added players in fantasy baseball across the major sites, and let you know which players to add and which you can leave on the wire.
Top Priority Players to Add
A.J. Ewing (NYM) – 2B,OF (Yahoo – 16%)
It might be hard to believe, but there is a bright spot or two in this disaster of a season for the Mets. And Ewing might be the brightest (though Carson Benge might also like a word). Promoted to the Majors after Luis Robert went down with an injury, Ewing was getting on base 45% of the time in AAA and came out of the gates blazing, with three walks, a triple, and a steal.
Ewing doesn’t hit for a lot of power at age 21, but he’s got exceptional speed and can hit for average with a .284 xBA. He’s walking more than 11% of the time and though his K-rate is an elevated 25.8%, his Whiff rate suggests that should come down.
The Mets are currently shuffling their lineup around with Lindor back and Juan Soto barely avoiding the IL, and Ewing sometimes is batting in the middle of the order and other times batting eighth. But he’s getting everyday playing time in CF, showing real progress in his decision-making skills, and Robert’s not coming back anytime soon.
Blaze Jordan (STL) – 1B,3B (Yahoo – 12%)
Jordan went viral in baseball circles for hitting some monster home runs at the age of 13, and was drafted a few years later by the Red Sox in the third round. Traded to St. Louis for Steven Matz, he’s been toiling in the Minors up to this year. But he had a breakthrough season in AAA, hitting .313 with 11 homers in 57 games with a 3:2 K:BB rate, and the Cards decided to switch him out for Nolan Gorman a few weeks ago.
Early on, it’s looked like the right call. Though Jordan has only one homer in his first 42 at-bats, he’s also got three doubles and a triple (which is a little surprising given that despite his name, Blaze is not quick on the basepaths).
Jordan will profile as more of a points league threat given his gap power and an exceptional K-rate, which currently sits at 8.5%. But he’s displaying quality power metrics early on with an 89.5 mph exit velocity and 73.2 mph bat speed, so he could be a four-category contributor in categories (he’s already got 12 RBIs in his first 12 games).
Nolan Schanuel (LAA) – 1B (Yahoo – 10%)
It’s hard to believe Schanuel is already in his fourth MLB season, but famously the first-round pick sped through the Minors and was up with the big club just a few months after Draft Day. Schanuel’s been consistently okay since then but hardly stuffing the stat sheet in categories leagues, hitting double-digit homers with a handful of steals.
He might have found another level this past week. Schanuel was having a bit of a rough spell before that, fouling a ball off his leg and missing a couple games and then getting benched a couple of times against lefties (he was hitting .185 against them at the time). But since June 19 he’s fully healthy and batting .333 with a pair of homers and just two strikeouts, slugging .625 on the week. I’m not going to tell you to drop Bryce Harper for him, but Schanuel is showing up enough to get some corner-infield attention in deeper leagues.
Troy Melton (DET) – SP (Yahoo – 44%)
Melton missed the first couple of months of the season with an elbow strain, but since joining the team on May 24th he’s been their best pitcher not named Skubal. Melton throws a 96 mph fastball about 40% of the time and mixes in a slider/change combo another 40%, then resorts to the cutter and sinker for the rest. While he’s not a strikeout artist (16% K-rate in his first six starts), he’s improving in the metric with sixteen K’s over his last three starts versus nine in his first three.
Melton is currently the most efficient pitcher in the Majors with just 12.7 pitches per inning, so he’s been going deep into games. He’s gotten four Quality Starts in those six outings (and barely missed a fifth, getting pulled after 5.2 IP in his first game). While I was a little shaky on Melton after the first few starts—given how he doesn’t miss many bats—he’s yet to give a reason to doubt his stuff is legit. And if you look at his numbers last year, they’re very consistent with what he’s doing now.
Melton lost his game last night to the Astros, but he still looked great and has only allowed three hits combined over his last two starts. Unfortunately, one of the two hits he gave up yesterday was a home run. That’s actually been one thing to watch out for: of the fifteen hits Melton’s given up over the whole month of June (where he has a 0.80 WHIP), seven of those hits have left the yard. But if he’s able to limit those long balls (or just be a little less unlucky), he could be a good contributor to your pitching ratios.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Yahoo!
This is a solid group. Melton gets the top honors, and based on how he’s been pitching it’s well-deserved. However, Melton faced an even hotter Tatsuya Imai in last night’s game, and Imai emerged triumphant with his third win in five appearances, and now has 21 K’s in his last two outings.
Getting a lot of sleeper coverage at the beginning of the season, Imai might have finally figured it out. But he’s got a 91st-percentile Whiff rate but an 8th-percentile Walk rate, so while you get a decent amount of strikeouts, you might also get a lot of baserunners—and he still can have the occasional meltdown, like his June 12 start, where he allowed five runs and didn’t make it past the first inning. But it does look like he’s turned a corner.
By now, you’ve probably heard about Dansby Swanson’s week, knocking in fifteen runs in just three games (thanks a lot, Mets pitching staff). But before that ridiculous outburst, he had only four RBIs on the month outside of that crazy series. Swanson’s been hitting below the Mendoza line for much of the season, batting .151 with a .448 OPS in May. Plus, he usually hits from the 9-hole anymore, so for me it’s a pass.
Roupp and Boyd are in the four and five spots, and both have high ownership, but of the two I’d rather have Boyd. He’s struggled with injuries this season after a tremendous campaign last year, but the 35-year-old is striking out more than 30% of hitters and carrying a 5:1 K:BB ratio. While Boyd only throws his slider 12% of the time, it currently has a riduculous 50% Whiff rate.
That’s not to say that Roupp can’t help you, but after posting a 0.95 WHIP in April he’s been far more hittable, with 1.58 and 1.52 WHIPs in subsequent months. He’s also made it to six innings just three times in his last ten starts and hasn’t won a game in that span.
ESPN
Streaming Pitchers
Check out Nick Pollack’s SP Streamer Rankings for the complete breakdown on every start for the next few days. There are two pitchers to highlight.
Connor Prielipp (MIN) – SP (Yahoo – 4%) vs COL
While I wouldn’t say I trust Prielipp in this one, he’s got a great matchup at home against the Rockies and has been showing some improvement lately. His walk rate was about 4.5 BB/9 in April and May, but it’s down to 3.4 BB/9 in June. While his actual ERA is over five, his xERA is almost a full run below that, and he’s seemed to have rediscovered his feel for the slider, getting over forty percent of his strikeouts on the pitch. Hopefully, he can stay efficient and last six innings in this one.
Jack Perkins (ATH) – SP (Yahoo – 6%) @ LAA
Perkins has been a roller coaster this season, moving in and out of the Minors and when he’s up with the Athletics, in and out of the rotation. But he’s been making starts since June 5 and lately they’ve been good ones: including an 8-K, 5 IP outing against the Angels in his last appearance. He gets the same team just six days later in a rematch. While Perkins is sometimes given to command issues and can be inefficient, he’s still getting stretched out and adopting the full workflow of a starter. He’s got a lethal change-up and other solid offerings; now he needs to learn how to deploy them.
