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. 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
Isaac Collins (MIL), OF (16% rostered on Yahoo, 5% rostered on ESPN)
What is with the Milwaukee Brewers finding these stud outfielders?
Isaac Collins was likely not on the radar of fantasy managers going into this season, but he has taken the Brewers by storm. He’s been a key contributor to one of the best teams in baseball, getting on the bases and making the most of his opportunities on them. Collins is a master of plate discipline. He rarely ever chases, which leads to a solid walk rate. This doesn’t come at the expense of his batting average, though, which has remained high despite not being the free-swinger that many of the other high-average slap-hitting types are. Once on the bases, he isn’t afraid to be aggressive either, as he is a solid stolen base threat despite not being a really fast runner. He just knows when to go, and that helps him find success.
Collins has spent most of his season in the middle of the Brewers’ lineup, though he’s climbed up a bit, as he has hit cleanup and even in the three spot recently. If he gets more consistent reps up there, then he might be an even more valuable bat for managers.
Jakob Marsee (MIA), OF (13% rostered on Yahoo, 4% rostered on ESPN)
Talk about a hot start!
Jakob Marsee got called up a week ago and has come out blazing. He looked solid in the minors, with good plate discipline and power, but he’s taken that to another level in the games that he has played thus far. You never just want to be the manager that grabs hot players who are inevitably going to regress, though with Marsee, regression could still mean a very good player.
Marsee has also shown serious aggression on the basepaths. Despite being just an above-average runner, he had a lot of steals in the minor leagues, including 47 this year and 51 last year. We also saw him wheel out a triple and run out some doubles so far, which shows that sort of willingness and ability to nab extra bases could be huge for his future outlook.
The Marlins have yet another scrappy outfielder to help their offense, and you should pick him up for your teams.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
It was mostly a day of streaming starting pitchers yesterday in Yahoo leagues, with one exception being Jakob Marsee.
Aaron Civale has looked, honestly, not too bad with the White Sox, leaving the Brewers after he requested a trade due to not wanting to be a bullpen arm. He faced his former team in Cleveland, who aren’t too intimidating on the offensive side. Unfortunately, Civale had a disaster outing against the Guardians, possibly one of the worst of his career, allowing nine runs in under four innings. He did give you six strikeouts though, so at least there was that?
Tomoyuki Sugano has been your standard “hold down the fort” type of pitcher this year, and he got a great matchup in the Athletics at home. Sugano did exactly what he needed to do, going seven innings and only allowing a single run, nabbing the win for his team. This was the prototypical great streamer start, and should give you confidence turning to him on the wire in the future.
It was a bit surprising that Edward Cabrera survived the trade deadline, as he felt like one of the more valuable potential pieces for a contending team. It seems that many front offices were asleep at the wheel and weren’t willing to pay for a seriously valuable arm. That or the Marlins still view him as part of their plans. Cabrera has always shown us great stuff, but never really knew how to use his awesome arsenal and wasn’t able to locate the pitches with intent like some of the other future aces were doing. Now, he’s giving us exactly what we wanted to see from him when he first started getting hyped up. If he’s available, take him and run. Streaming managers were rewarded with his career-best start, an 8-inning game with only one earned run and 11 (!!!) strikeouts. He will not be available on the wire anymore after this start.
While Chase Burns is somewhat raw as a player, there is one thing that he provides in spades: strikeouts. Burns delivered on that category again, getting 10. He was also just all-around exceptional, only allowing one run from four baserunners in six innings. Yeah, this was awesome, but ugh, it’s frustrating that the bullpen gave away the win.
It’s a pretty similar list of most added players to what it’s been the past few days, with a couple of changes.
Logan Henderson, as the most added player, is a bit shocking, as he plays the Mets today. He is filling in for Jacob Misiorowski, who is on the IL but likely won’t be for too much longer. Henderson is a solid arm who can help against weaker matchups, though again, I’m not sure if he deserves to be added in droves despite the Mets struggling as of late.
Warming Bernabel entered the fantasy baseball sphere as a desperate deep-league target for managers who wanted to capitalize on getting some production at Coors Field. Instead, he’s had one of the hottest starts to a career of any prospect in a while. The reason we haven’t had him as a top priority target is that there is a feeling of regression being imminent. I really love Bernabel, but he was just kind of an average hitter in hitter-friendly minor-league environments. Add to that the fact that he plays in a rough lineup that struggles outside of Coors Field, and it becomes clear that he probably isn’t the player we’re seeing right now.
Andrew Vaughn has showcased the difference between two franchises this year. He went from the struggling White Sox, where he was viewed as a bit of a bust, to the Brewers, where he has put up unreal numbers off the back of a long hit streak and a lot of home runs. Obviously, he isn’t the best hitter in baseball, which is the level he’s been playing at as of late. But he is one of the hottest hot hands you’ll ever be able to ride, so if you’re somehow able to grab him without paying an arm and a leg in FAAB money, snatch him up.
Ramón Laureano has been a player that we (and other PL columnists) have been yelling about from the rooftops for a while now. He’s been unbelievably great this season, to very little fanfare, up until the trade deadline. Laureano was packaged with Ryan O’Hearn in a major deal to the Padres to juice up the middle of that lineup, and so far, he’s looked great there. Laureano has been a bit of an on-and-off guy, especially as he has bounced around to a few different franchises where he has seen varying levels of success. His xStats this year are looking great, though, and it’s showing with excellent real-life and fantasy stats as well.
Category Specific Players to Add
Trent Grisham (NYY), OF (2o% rostered on Yahoo, 22% rostered on ESPN)
I remember at the beginning of the year when Trent Grisham was one of the hottest commodities on the waiver wire. He’s dipped a bit, but he’s the answer to my favorite weekly question: Who has the most home runs currently available on my wire? In addition to being a home run fiend, he also leads off a fair bit when he’s in the lineup, which makes him a candidate to get runs as long as he gets on base at a decent clip. This Yankees lineup, despite some struggles, is pretty deep, and with Aaron Judge back in the mix, it could be worth bringing in some of their players to go wild for you at the end of the season.
Charlie Morton (DET), SP (16% rostered on Yahoo, 9% rostered on ESPN)
It’s no secret that Charlie Morton hasn’t had a great year, as his ERA and WHIP are inflated to levels that make him almost eligible to be worth fully avoiding. However, the move to Detroit could be promising. Don’t expect clean sheets the rest of the way but he now joins a winning ballclub with a fairly long leash, so he could be a play for wins and potentially quality starts. He’s also striking out a batter an inning, which means that he could be a play for strikeout-desperate teams.
Streaming Pitchers
WAIT! You haven’t read Nick Pollack’s starting pitcher streamer rankings for today? Get on that pronto. He ranks every expected starter for each day, highlighting who you should start, sit, and claim off waivers. The whole series of these can be found here: https://pitcherlist.com/category/fantasy/sp-streamers/
In terms of whom I would recommend you pick up? A couple of names come to mind.
Eduardo Rodriguez (ARI), SP (16% rostered on Yahoo, 5% rostered on ESPN)
It’s our weekly streaming matchup against the Rockies, and it’s a pitcher whose name you’ll probably recognize! Eduardo Rodriguez hasn’t necessarily been for the Diamondbacks what they probably wanted, but he’s still a pitcher who can take advantage of good matchups. We’ve seen him put together some excellent games against teams like the White Sox, and the road Rockies are arguably a worse lineup. Start him and reap the rewards of a likely streaming victory.
Adrian Houser (TBR), SP (32% rostered on Yahoo, 22% rostered on ESPN)
Adrian Houser going to the Tampa Bay Rays is honestly a bit of a shock. The Rays appear to want to give owner Stuart Sternberg one final kick at the can, which means, as per usual, they bought and sold a bit. Houser joined the rotation and replaced Zack Littell, which kind of feels like a lateral move? Either way, Houser has a chance to bounce back against the Mariners at their home ballpark, which is known for raising strikeouts and suppressing offense. He should have a good matchup here, so let’s see if he can earn a win with good ratios and some Ks.
Deep League Targets
Curtis Mead (CWS), 1B, 2B, 3B (1% rostered on Yahoo, 0.2% rostered on ESPN)
At one point, not too long ago, Curtis Mead was viewed as a key piece of the future for the Rays. He sputtered out a bit and then looked promising during Spring Training. He came out of that even worse, and thus, he was the key piece of the Adrian Houser trade that we previously mentioned. The White Sox have brought him into their lineup and are looking to try him out in various roles. The Rays mostly kept him around as a lefty masher, though the White Sox may try to turn him into an everyday player. At the very least, he can slot in at three different infield positions, which adds value to him as a fantasy player.
