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
Bryce Eldridge (SF) – 1B (Yahoo – 11%)
Now a month into his big-league career, Eldridge is finding a groove. Given sporadic playing time during the first couple of weeks, he’s getting more starts and producing more results, raising his overall OPS by more than 200 points in the last week.
Eldridge was getting next to zero chances against lefties, but he’s showing he can be a complete player by hitting .364 against them in eleven AB’s (though he does have six K’s). He’s also showing massive Hard-Hit rates and impressive EVs (at 93.3 mph, his Average EV is 96th percentile). Eldridge is also pretty good at taking a walk, getting free passes nearly 12% of the time.
Interestingly, Eldridge has some massive home and away splits, hitting just .172 in San Fran and .366 on the road. That could be just noise in a small sample size (he’s only got 81 plate appearances on the season), but worth keeping an eye on. Otherwise, Eldridge is showing his breakout is coming sooner than anyone expected.
Noelvi Marte (CIN) – 3B,OF (Yahoo – 35%)
Marte has had a roller coaster of a career. Once a top prospect, he got served the dreaded 80-game suspension for PEDs a few years ago, and when he came back it was a while before he looked like the same player. He worked his way through injuries and stints in the Minors, however, and had a great couple of months in July and August last summer, with an .835 OPS and 19 extra-base hits. While he slumped in September, he was on a lot of sleeper lists this Spring.
So it was a surprise when this year started out as a total bust, and Marte was one of the worst hitters in the Majors. Sometimes good hitters just start pressing, and Marte was chasing pitches at a crazy 45.1% rate and whiffing almost 32% of the time. This earned him a bus ride to AAA to work on both his hitting and defense.
So that’s when Marte learned a little something about patience at the plate and started ripping the cover off the ball. In 160 AAA at-bats, he’s batted an impressive .369 with a .984 OPS. He’s got seven doubles and a triple to go along with eight homers, and has been successful in nine of ten swipe attempts. If he can transfer that kind of production to the next level, he’d be a 30/30 candidate. And if he gets regular playing time (which is an open question with the Reds), he’s got the potential of being a five-category contributor.
Walbert Ureña (LAA) – SP (Yahoo – 30%)
Since I already recommended Ben Brown in this week’s Points League Risers & Fallers article, let’s cover Urena here. At age 22, he’s showing a ton of promise with a 98 mph heater and a 28.6% Whiff rate.
A lot of hard-throwing young pitchers generously give up fly balls (which often go over the fence), but Urena’s 52.1% Ground Ball rate puts him in the 88th percentile. That’s rare for a rookie, but he mostly alternates between a sinker and a changeup while mixing in the four-seamer about 20% of the time. The change has a 31.8% CSW and an elite 5.42 PLV, and not surprisingly hitters are only batting .147 against it.
Playing for Anaheim, Urena’s not likely to lead the league in Wins, but he does have W’s in two of his last three. And if you’re in a league that values Quality Starts, he’s gotten four of those in his last six. While his WHIP is a little elevated at 1.33 (a 12.8% Walk rate will do that), he’s not giving up a lot of hits where his own control issues cause damage. And it actually looks like his control issues are improving, as he served ten free passes in his first twelve innings and has been more in command since.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Yahoo!
A motley crew of probable starters from Thursday night heads up the Yahoo list, with J.T. Ginn earning top honors. While losing his nearly no-hit bid appeared to have rattled him a bit (he went just 2.1 IP with a 2.57 WHIP in his next outing), he’s come back nicely since then. While he gets a tough Cubs matchup, Ginn’s ability to do most things pretty well (he’s at or slightly-above average in most of his metrics) have amounted to a successful campaign. Ginn throws a ton of sliders, which can wreak havoc on your arm, but he doesn’t throw terribly hard so should get away with it.
The next two pitchers are a little more iffy to me, especially Bello. He’s got some history of success (he won 14 games last season) but let’s not confuse that with actually being good. He’s sitting on a .307 expected batting average against, has just a 15.6% K-rate, and has a 1.67 WHIP. I’d stay away until you see a few good starts.
Teng’s a little more interesting, but his xERA’s more than a run higher than his actual and he’s got an 11.4% Walk rate. Batters are also hitting the ball hard against him, with an Average EV of 90.5 mph. He does have an excellent sweeper (5.36 PLV) and a decent sinker (5.15), but I’m not sure it’s enough long-term. He does get a nice start against the Pirates, however.
It’s hard to recommend Wrobleski since he’s so widely owned, but I’m a fan. An article came out recently about how he grades his own starts, and it’s well worth a read. He’s holding himself to high standards and finding success as one of the league’s best surprises. It doesn’t hurt that he plays for such a good team, either.
Lastly, Nick Gonzales shows up as the list’s only hitter. Gonzales is getting some attention for hitting two homers in his last three games but…those are his only dingers on the season. He hits for a good average if you’re in a categories league, but provides little else. He’s got a lot of infield eligibility so I could see riding him for a week until the hot spell ends, but make sure you cut and run after.
ESPN
A lot of the same names here, but once again a shoutout to Ben Brown, who’s been magic in his last several starts and has a 0.93 WHIP on the season. He’s going deeper into games now that he’s got a few starts under his belt and is showing he can get hitters out after several times through the order. His last outing, a seven-inning gem against the Cardinals, was probably the best of his career.
Seth Lugo might be perennial pitch-and-ditch candidate, but he’s been inconsistent this season and his overall metrics are pretty poor. He’s got just a sixth-percentile Whiff rate and gets barreled more than 10% of the time. I wouldn’t trust him, even though I think he’s useful in points leagues because he goes deep into games.
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.
Brandon Young (BAL) – SP (Yahoo – 6%) @ TOR
Young gets a road rematch against Toronto, a team he just picked apart in a home appearance last week. Over 6.2 IP, Young twirled a gem by striking out seven and giving up just two runs. It was his third Quality Start in his last five appearances, and he’s holding onto a solid 3.35 ERA. His expected ERA is about a full run higher, but I still think this is a decent matchup. Young gets a lot of hitters to chase balls out of the zone, and the Blue Jays can be a free-swingin’ bunch.
Matthew Liberatore (STL) – SP (Yahoo – 14%) @ CIN
I hate to copy Nick’s streamer pick here, but this is a great matchup to get the Reds outside of GABP. Cincy simply doesn’t score runs, and with Elly on the shelf this becomes an easy lineup to dominate. Liberatore has survived on some good fortune this season (another pitcher where the xERA is significantly higher than the Actual), but he strikes out nearly a batter per inning and should be looking for a QS.
