Man oh man has it been a fun first four weeks of the fantasy baseball season. I mean, I guess it might only be fun if you’ve been winning but even then there’s still plenty of time to get back on the winning track. And if you’re here reading this, that means you’re looking to take your lineup to the next level. We love to see it.
If you’ve been following along with my weekly waiver wire series thus far, you’ll likely have added guys like Brent Rooker, Jack Suwinski, and Justin Steele. If you have, props to you because those guys have been performing at a level I don’t think many expected them to. If you told me you were on the Brett Rooker hype train before the season just stop it, you aren’t fooling anyone but yourself.
If you tell me you’re NOW on the Brent Rooker hype train, I’d ask you if the seat next to you was available. That man has been a hitting machine and…you know what, let’s get into this thing, and I can break it down even further.
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Waiver Wire Advice
Here are players you should prioritize on the waiver wire this week.
Waiver Wire Priority Additions
Rooker was someone who was a part of this last back in my week three article, and he’s now becoming a recurring guest. Available currently in 49% of Yahoo leagues and just 15% of ESPN leagues. So far Rooker has been proving that even though the Athletics are a dumpster fire, they still have fantasy-relevant talent on their roster.
His full-season production has been impressive, but what he’s done the last two weeks has been mind-blowing. Since April 16th, Rooker is hitting .364 with two doubles, four home runs, seven runs scored, and nine RBI. Like I previously pointed out, Rooker’s big improvement this season has come by way of plate discipline. In those same two weeks, he has a walk rate of 22.7% while striking out just 16% of the time.
Oakland isn’t the most enticing team to play for, but his production is legitimate. They have an upcoming home series against the Mariners followed by two series on the road against the lowly Royals and struggling Yankees. All of these seem like matchups Rooker can take advantage of. The time to add him is now, he likely won’t be available after this coming week.
Another recurring guest on the list and the first player I’ve ever put on here in back-to-back weeks. Jack has gone from a guy who looks to have found a legitimate power swing to now becoming a demon on the basepaths. At this point, I’m sitting here starting to wonder what Suwinski CAN’T do.
I like using the numbers from the last two weeks like I did with Rooker so let’s stick with that. The numbers have been *Chef’s kiss* recently. Hitting .387 with four doubles, four home runs, seven runs scored, nine RBI, and four stolen bases coming into Saturday. Then on Saturday he showed out in the doubleheader and went 3-7 with a double, home run, five RBI, and another stolen base. The man is a menace.
Jack Suwinski grand slam makes it 12-0 Buccos! pic.twitter.com/KTFFebIlt8
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 30, 2023
Suwinski has fully leaned into the pull-hitting, flyball hitter this season and it’s proving beneficial. As long as he sticks with it he’s going to have a serious breakout year with sustained success. The upcoming road series against the Rays may be tough, but he follows that up at home against Toronto and Colorado. Get him in your lineup while you’re still able.
My man Yan is an ageless wonder at this point. At the age of 35, he’s still making a case for being a fantasy-relevant catcher option. I will say, though, that he is splitting time with Tucker Barnhart so proceed with caution. Gomes is someone worth a look in 12-team or deeper leagues, as well as two catcher leagues (which don’t seem to get enough love).
He’s seemingly going the route of hitting more fly balls. This seems simple enough in theory, but his 42.9% flyball rate is his highest since 2016. His 39.3% hard-hit rate is the highest of his career. And while he’s pulling the ball much less, he’s making up for it by tearing the cover off fastballs and not striking out. His .342 batting average and .312 xBA against fastballs are 70 and 40 points higher than his 2022 season. And his 12.3% strikeout rate is elite. A catcher that’s shown good power this season (five home runs already) and the ability to not strikeout is worth a look, especially in points leagues.
His 1% walk rate is almost laughable, but Gomes is hitting his way into a more prominent spot in that Cubs lineup. Should the hot streak continue, Gomes will have sneaky fantasy value moving forward.
A second Pirate on the list and it’s very well deserved. The one-time Phillies legend has found new life in Pittsburgh and I’d be lying if I said I knew Velasquez was only 30 years old. I swear he’s been pitching in the league forever and was one of those “Man he may not have much left in the tank, but good for him giving a good effort” type of guys. Boy was I wrong.
After his dominant start on Saturday where he went six innings giving up five hits, no runs, and striking out five. That’s now no runs allowed in his last 13 innings pitched, and no runs allowed in three of his last four starts. The Pirates are riding high and Velasquez has been a big part of that. His fastball has been hittable, but most of his success has come from the fact that he’s really leaning into the slider. This season it has a 41.5% usage rate, almost double his previous season high usage rate. It’s been damn good too with a .132 batting average against and .125 xBA with a 34.8% whiff rate.
This isn’t a pitcher doing what they’ve always done and is now outperforming what we all know they can do. Velasquez has made real changes to his pitch usage and it’s paying major dividends. What has essentially been a streaming option up to this point has now played his way into a full-time rostered player for me. Velasquez really is that good.
Deep League Options
A lot of Bibee’s appeal for me is the fact that his stuff really is as advertised. I love a player with a primary pitch that isn’t a fastball, who has a dominant fastball to complement it. In his first start this season he threw his slider 44% of the time. He managed a .146 xBA with it and an impressive 38.9% whiff rate. His fastball was a bit more hittable but it averaged 95 MPH and did a good job of keeping hitters in check.
In that first start, Bibee showed the command we all expected. In 5.2 IP he walked just one batter while striking out eight. The reason he is on the deep league list for me is the uncertainty of how long he’ll be up. With limited space in the big league rotation moving forward once Triston McKenzie comes back from injury, both Bibee and Logan Allen are fighting for what little room is available. Add Bibee and enjoy his time in the rotation while you can.
Ezequiel Duran (2B/3B/SS/OF – TEX)
Duran has one of my favorite traits in a fantasy baseball asset…multi-position eligibility. That might even be an understatement. The man plays every position except first, pitcher, and catcher. He’s having a pretty damn good year at the plate as well, which is where the deep league interest comes into play.
Now, he’s a player on a hot streak so you’re going to need to go into adding him understanding that it will be more of a short term move. But he’s offering a lot of all-around production right now. Currently hitting .291 with three doubles, a home run, and two stolen bases in just 19 games. He’s hit .333 with two doubles, two RBI, and two stolen bases in the last week alone. Ride out this hot streak while you can and enjoy the multi-position eligibility. His high strikeout rate will limit his points league upside, but he gives a little of everything in category leagues. Minus the power.
This is a fresh one because the news just dropped that he’s joining the Dodgers rotation and starting Wednesday. Much of his addition to your fantasy baseball roster comes purely as speculation. He’s seen minor league success, is a highly rated prospect, and has a 70-grade changeup but his 4.74 ERA and 4.38 BB/9 this season aren’t exactly exciting.
Gavin Stone had another strong outing for OKC as his ramp up continues, he ratcheted up the slider use (25%) and still posted a very good CSW of 35%. His velo is trending up too, last FB of the day was 94.0. The line:
5.0 IP
3 hits
1 run (earned)
2 BBs
8 Ks⬇️ pic.twitter.com/c3oGenjs3G— Josh Thomas (@jokeylocomotive) April 27, 2023
There’s a lot to like, though. In 2022 across three different levels in the minors, he went 9-6 with a 1.48 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 121.2 innings. Really damn good. In his last minor league outing of this season, he went five innings, three hits, one earned run, two walks, and eight strikeouts. He offers major league worthy “stuff” and is pitching for a team known to get the absolute most out of their pitchers.
His start Wednesday comes against the Phillies who’ve had a very rough start to the year. This is the type of player you can add and potentially start all season.
Bailey Ober is the definition of a guy making the most of his opportunity this year. And boy is he doing a damn good job of it. He had a pretty solid 11 starts in 2022 which led to a lot of people thinking he had a rotation spot locked down this season. That wasn’t the case. He ended up starting the year in Triple-A and had a fairly productive four starts.
He’s now two starts into his 2023 major league season and he’s been surprisingly dominant. He’s been hit hard and his velocity is down, but his pitches have been much more effective overall. He’s a 45% fastball guy and it currently has a .167 batting average against and .111 xBA. His improved slider has been his most dominant pitch this season, though. Last season it averaged 83 MPH with 40 inches of vertical break and 5.4 inches of horizontal break. This season it’s averaging 80.8 MPH with 38.6 inches of vertical break and 12.8 inches of horizontal break. It’s now a slider that’s actually cutting like a slider is supposed to and with it comes an almost 30% whiff rate. These are improvements we love to see.
His next start comes against a tough Cleveland Guardians lineup, but in deeper leagues he’s shown he can be good enough to start at least for the time being.
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