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 players you can leave on the wire.
Top Priority Players to Add
Chase Burns (CIN) – SP (Yahoo! – 55%)
Burns poses an interesting philosophical question. How long can you trust talent without results? A 6.26 ERA in six major-league starts should be enough for us to drop and move on.
Burns has had a difficult schedule to welcome him to the majors. He’s faced the Yankees, Red Sox, and now the Dodgers. He’s had mixed results, surviving the Yankees, getting crushed by the Red Sox, and now very nearly earning a quality start against the Dodgers, falling just one out short after a passed ball strikeout spiralled into a tough inning. He’s had ten strikeouts in three consecutive games but took the loss in two of them.
Burns’ 14.82 K/9 leads all starting pitchers (over 20 innings pitched). The question is whether it will translate to a better ERA. Spencer Strider held a 4.63 ERA after his first five starts and ended his rookie year with a 2.63 ERA. There’s time for Burns’ talent to win out. His 1.77 ERA in the minors this year wasn’t a mirage, and his strikeout ability is nearly unmatched. Yet there’s no guarantee that it will all come together this year.
The upside is worth it for me. If it doesn’t all come together for Burns, then I’m okay trading strikeouts for ERA. But if it works out, I’ll be delighted to have both. I still think that Burns is a must-add player in all league sizes.
Joe Boyle (TBR) – SP (Yahoo! – 26%)
Boyle will be the starter for the Rays today. We haven’t seen much of him as a starter; he opened just one game this year. He holds a 1.42 ERA between his one start and a few bulk relief appearances. Now that he’s back in the rotation, he’s worth an add everywhere. The downside is his immediate schedule, with consecutive dates with the Yankees and then the Dodgers. The Judge-less Yankees aren’t too intimidating, and the Dodgers haven’t had their usual pop of late. Boyle is startable against both and will be a no-brainer against weaker lineups. With Taj Bradley out of the rotation, Boyle should have a job for the foreseeable future. It’s a limited sample size, but it certainly looks like he’s worth an add in all league sizes.
Ramón Laureano (BAL) – OF (Yahoo! – 23%)
Since two risky players led this article, it feels like a more stable player should round them out. Laureano has been quietly excellent all year, with an .852 OPS and 14 home runs. He’s rostered in just 23% of Yahoo! leagues, along with the likes of JP Sears and his 4.95 ERA. Laureano is doing everything right this season and is still widely available. He’s not a young, flashy, upside bat, but he’s a good veteran having a great season. It took Laureano some time to settle into an everyday role, and he missed some time due to injury, but he’s tied the homer total of Ceddanne Rafaela in 20 fewer games. His OPS is nearly .100 points higher than Rafaela’s .761. Rafaela is rostered in 81% of Yahoo! leagues; Laureano should be, too.
Yahoo! and ESPN Most Added Players
Yahoo!
Slade Cecconi was a popular streaming pick against the road Rockies. He got the job done, handling seven innings while allowing three earned runs and tallying three strikeouts. He lines up against the Mets next, and I’d be hesitant to start him there.
Cade Smith is the heir apparent for the closer job in Cleveland while Emmanuel Clase is suspended. Smith holds a 3.02 ERA on the season and has been even better in the last month with a 1.26 ERA. Clase could be out for a good long while; his Guardians’ teammate, Luis L. Ortiz, was suspended on July 3 for a similar gambling investigation, and won’t be eligible to return until August 31. It is a safe bet that Smith will be a strong closer for as long as Clase is out, which could be a week or the entire season.
Edward Cabrera is primed for a strong second half. He’s having a good season with a 3.48 ERA, and has been even better in the last month, with three quality starts and a 2.43 ERA. He’s had plenty of strong stretches in his career, but typically, his blow-up starts outweigh the gems. He’s changed up his approach, and he has a real chance to keep the momentum going through the season.
Carson Whisenhunt made his MLB debut against the Pirates last night. He gave up four earned runs in five innings, notching three strikeouts. It’s easy to forgive a rough debut, especially when he’ll play half of his games in one of the best pitchers’ parks. There’s no guarantee that he sticks in the rotation, but I’d guess he gets at least one more turn. The results haven’t been there for him in the minors this year, where he posted a 4.42 ERA across 18 starts at Triple-A. He’s worth a speculative add in deep leagues.
Tyler O’Neill had a day off yesterday, but had an excellent July. He posted a .933 OPS since the start of the month, with four home runs in just 13 games. O’Neill is a veteran talent who should be rostered in all but the shallowest leagues while he’s healthy.
ESPN
Last week, I wrote, “Nick Kurtz is my pick for waiver-wire add of the year. He has a .949 OPS with 19 homers in just 61 games. Stowers should be rostered everywhere. Kurtz should definitely be rostered everywhere.” In the week since, he’s improved his OPS to 1.061 and added four homers to his total. He leads all rookies in home runs and is wedged between Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani for the second-best OPS of all batters. Kurtz should DEFINITELY be rostered everywhere.
I can mostly reuse Stowers’ blurb from last week, too: “Kyle Stowers should be rostered everywhere. He’s an All-Star and holds a .930 .952 OPS with 21 23 home runs.” He’s day-to-day with an illness but should be back in a few days.
Quinn Priester is having a breakout season, with a 3.28 ERA. It’s his third year in the majors and by far his most successful. He’s only 24 years old, and he has the Brewers coaching staff behind him. He’s executing well, and I’m inclined to believe that he’s for real.
Edward Cabrera got a write-up in the Yahoo! section above.
Priester benefited from joining the Brewers; Eric Lauer appears to be benefiting from leaving them. He carries a 2.61 ERA after ten starts with the Blue Jays. Unlike Priester, I don’t think that this is a step forward for Lauer. He’s 30 years old and had a career 4.30 ERA in the MLB before this year. The wheels will fall off eventually, but you can start him until they do.
Streaming Pitchers
Check out Nick Pollack’s SP Streamer Rankings for breakdowns and recommendations for every start.
Reese Olson Chris Paddack (?) (DET) – SP (Yahoo! – 7%)
Olson is lined up to face the Diamondbacks tomorrow. Olson is out for the season, so there’s some question about who will make this start. I’m guessing Paddack will make his Tigers debut as he hasn’t pitched since July 23. The snakes aren’t looking all that fearsome with Josh Naylor traded and Eugenio Suárez possibly set to miss some time after a bad HBP. All of Detroit’s options have a good shot here.
Deep League Players to Watch
Check out Ben Rosener’s Deep League Waiver Wire column every Thursday and Saturday for more Deep League picks.
Heriberto Hernández (MIA) – OF (Yahoo! – 1%)
Hernandez has drawn most of his starts this season on the short side of a platoon with Kyle Stowers and/or Jesus Sanchez. He’s started in five of the last seven, including against four right-handed pitchers. Hernandez’s numbers are impressive, with a .909 OPS in 36 games. His average exit velocity (in a small sample) is 90.7 mph, and he’s making solid contact with a 12.7% Barrel%. His 27.3% K% is less enticing, but he’s getting good results even with a lot of swing-and-miss in his profile. Hernandez isn’t a highly touted prospect, 29th in the Marlins system, but he’s an interesting player for very deep leagues, especially if he’s broken out of his platoon. Stowers will be back soon, but Sanchez isn’t exactly forcing his way into the lineup, so Hernandez has a good shot at more consistent playing time.
