We have made it through another week of action and have some stats to give us an idea of players’ production. At this point of the season, it is all about playing the hot hand and great matchups in the coming weeks. The season is still young, so there will be a few players to track due to injuries, increased playing time, streaming starting pitchers and some new closers.
We have made it through another week of action and have some stats to give us an idea of players’ production. At this point of the season, it is all about playing the hot hand and great matchups in the coming weeks. The season is still young, so there will be a few players to track due to injuries, increased playing time, streaming starting pitchers and some new closers.
Each week, I will highlight a few players to target in your weekly free agent acquisition budget (FAAB) process, but know there are many others available and, more importantly, others who may be better fits for your teams. If you have any questions, please ask me on Twitter.
Note: We use Yahoo for player percentages and recommend players rostered in no more than 60% of leagues.
Fantasy Baseball FAAB & Waiver Wire Targets: Week 5
Hitters
Andy Pages (OF – LAD)
Rostered: 17%
Suggested Bid: 12%
Andy Pages will be one of the most popular pickups this week. The Dodgers prospect was called up this past week and has played daily. Pages has hits in two of three games with a double and two runs scored. He’s striking out 45.5% of the time over the first three games, but that will likely improve. Pages hit .371 over 15 Triple-A games with five home runs and two stolen bases. If Pages keeps getting playing time, he could return a similar output as James Outman last year, which may be even better.
Jesse Winker (OF – WAS)
Rostered: 27%
Suggested Bid: 7%
After a few years of battling injuries, Jesse Winker is healthy and thriving with the Nats. He’s hitting .345 this season with two home runs and two steals. Winker is barreling the ball 11.1% of the time with a hard-hit rate of over 40% while walking 12.5% of the time. He plays daily, even versus left-handed pitching, making Winker quite a waiver wire add where you may need help in ROTO categories.
Bryan De La Cruz (OF – MIA)
Rostered: 19%
Suggested Bid: 6%
Bryan De La Cruz is locked in to start the season. He has hit safely in 24-of-27 games for a .286 average. His power is also showing up, hitting three home runs over his last five games. The power checks out with a 14.5% barrel rate and 45.2% hard-hit rate. He’s only walking 1.2% of the time, which is not great for OBP leagues, but in standard ROTO leagues, he’ll bring plenty of fantasy goodness.
Pitchers
Zack Littell (SP – TB)
Rostered: 43%
Suggested Bid: 18%
Zack Littell has been outstanding to start the season. In his first four starts, he has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each. He has thrown 21 innings with 22 strikeouts, a 2.14 ERA and a 3.30 xFIP. Littell’s success has produced a nice 19.9% K-BB and 10.4% SwStr. Next week, Littell has one of the best two-steps of the week as he takes on the Tigers and White Sox. He should be streamed in all formats.
Jon Gray (SP – TEX)
Rostered: 23%
Suggested Bid: 9%
After a rocky first start to the season, Jon Gray has been locked in. In his last two starts, he has allowed two earned runs over 11 innings with 16 strikeouts. He has walked 10 over 18.1 innings, which needs to improve, but overall, he has been quite serviceable. Next week, Gray gets a two-step versus the Mariners and Reds, which could result in another hefty strikeout week.
Keaton Winn (SP – SF)
Rostered: 4%
Suggested Bid: 11%
Keaton Winn has gone at least five innings in each start this season, with six strikeouts in two of the starts. He has a 4.09 ERA and 3.98 xFIP with a 56.7% ground ball rate. The ground ball rate and strikeout upside can lead to plenty of quality starts. Winn is also 16th in Stuff+ to start the season, which significantly represents the skills he brings to the mound. Winn has a great two-step next week versus the Mets and Pirates, making for a great stream.
Closers
Kirby Yates (RP – TEX)
Rostered: 50%
Suggested Bid: 26%
With Jose Leclerc‘s struggles to start the season, Kirby Yates was a popular addition this past week. Those who have added Yates have been rewarded in a significant way. Yates has made three appearances this week, earning two saves and one win. He has yet to allow a run over 8.2 innings with 10 strikeouts. Yates appears to be the primary closer for now in Texas, making him a valuable closer for any roster.
James McArthur (RP – KC)
Rostered: 49%
Suggested Bid: 18%
James McArthur has been outstanding after a couple of rough outings to start the season. He has not allowed a run over his last six outings. McArthur has struck out nine over those 6.2 innings with a 1.83 xFIP, 30.8% K-BB and 12.8% SwStr. McArthur has also collected four saves and one win over those six outings. McArthur is locked into the closing role in Kansas City and should be widely rostered.
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