We are back at it again this week. If you haven’t noticed, I’m no longer doing the weekly planner. I got a bit ambitious this season with my content and spread myself too thin. I now have more time to focus on making this the best fantasy baseball waiver wire article out there.
If you’re new here, hello. My focus with this article is to bring you fantasy baseball waiver wire options that have the most short-term upside. Long-term options get sprinkled in as well when I can spot them. I break the players into position groupings and do my best to mix in both National League and American League options. Some articles give you every name imaginable and try to put a positive spin on each player. This isn’t that article. This is fine-tuned for quality instead of quantity.
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There have been plenty of quality names provided so far this year. We nailed the Jordan Westburg pick back before Week 4. We locked down the Michael Busch breakout back in Week 3. And I’ve been screaming from the rooftops for you to add Josh Rojas all season long. The upper-echelon fantasy baseball waiver wire options are starting to get thin the farther we get into the season, but there’s still plenty to be had to help you have continued success this season. At least in the short term. Keep in mind these are players meant to help you now, not forever.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups (Week 7)
Catcher
CBS: 2% | Yahoo: 0% | ESPN: 0%
Korey Lee is the prime example of a guy whose long-term value is unknown, but the short-term value is real. They already have defensive wizard Martin Maldonado behind the plate most nights, but Lee has still found a way to be useful with the bat. After another pair of hits Saturday, including a double and two more RBI, Lee has four XBH, six RBI and a stolen base in his last eight games. There’s not much in his batted-ball profile to suggest this continues for the long hall. However, if you want to ride the hot hand while you can, Lee is your guy.
CBS: 43% | Yahoo: 10% | ESPN: 5%
In his career, Tyler Stephenson has found ways to be your prototypical “I’m not great at anything but I’m good at a lot of things” fantasy contributor. Outside of some unluckiness at the plate, this season has been no different. His .366 xwOBA is 42 points higher than his wOBA and is also the highest of his career. He’s making the best quality contact of his career (19.2% barrel rate, 53.8% hard-hit rate). He just returned from a hand injury, but before that, he was on an eight-game stretch where he slashed .292/.452/.583, drove in five runs and scored six. When healthy, he’s a great option. Right now he seems to be healthy.
Corner Infield
Willi Castro (2B, 3B, SS, OF – MIN)
CBS: 37% | Yahoo: 37% | ESPN: 11%
Willi Castro was on this list last week. At this rate, he will be on the list next week as well. He doesn’t hit for tremendous power, or have the speed to steal 30 bases, but he does a lot right. Since April 17th, he’s hitting .448, one of the best 16-game stretches you’ll see from a player all season. He’s driven in 10 and scored nine in that timeframe. He can thank his elite 88.6% zone contact and 35% line drive rate. He’s currently filling in for the injured Royce Lewis, but if he keeps this up, he will play his way into the everyday lineup for the remainder of the year.
Tyler Nevin (1B, 3B, OF – OAK)
CBS: 21% | Yahoo: 32% | ESPN: 6%
Speaking of players on a hot streak, Tyler Nevin has been on an absolute roll lately. Before going hitless Friday and Saturday, Nevin was in the midst of a nine-game stretch where he had five multi-hit games. During that same stretch, he hit four home runs, scored seven runs, drove in seven runs and stole a base. Not much has changed in his hitting profile, except one thing. He’s swinging considerably more this season than he ever has. Despite some lackluster batting average numbers previously, he’s always made good contact. This season is no different with an 87% zone contact rate and 78.8% contact number overall. Add in the fact he’s now swinging at 76.6% of pitches in the zone (+6%) and 52% of pitches overall (+5%) and we may be seeing a version of Nevin that’s working on a mini breakout in 2024.
9️⃣ game hitting streak for Tyler Nevin ? pic.twitter.com/7xRopwSOI4
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) May 1, 2024
Middle Infield
CBS: 19% | Yahoo: 7% | ESPN: 3%
Whether it was in the middle infield or the outfield section, Wenceel Perez was going to make this list. First of all, second base and outfield is a rare position combo for a player. Immediate value boost. Now take into account his production and you get a guy who should be rostered in all 12-team or deeper leagues. What he brings to the table is excellent bat-to-ball skills and enough speed to keep it interesting. With him hitting in the middle of the order he’s got plenty of opportunity for counting stats. He’s currently slashing .302/.383/.566 and is locked in the heart of that scary Tigers lineup. He’s outperforming his potential a bit, but he’s got a great 83.5% contact rate, a low 7.6% swinging strike rate and a robust 17.5% pulled fly ball rate that could lend to him hitting closer to 15 home runs should it continue.
CBS: 11% | Yahoo: 1% | ESPN: 1%
If you’re unfamiliar with Jorge Mateo’s game you should know he’s fast. Real fast. I know that the Baltimore Orioles lineup is young and exciting, but the only thing standing in the way of Mateo and consistent playing time was the Jackson Holliday hype. In his last 10 games, Mateo is hitting .259 with five XBH and four stolen bases. There are long-term concerns. Holliday will likely be back at some point. Mateo’s contact numbers don’t jump off the page. He swings and misses a lot. In the short term, though, Mateo will contribute in every category and be an elite stolen bases option. He’s worth adding in all roto and category leagues.
Outfield
CBS: 38% | Yahoo: 15% | ESPN: 8%
Max Kepler is someone I was in on before the season. In terms of both quality and quantity of contact, Kepler is in the top tier for both. Only a handful of guys like Julio Rodriguez and Mookie Betts can say that. In that regard, nothing has changed for Kepler this season. In the 16 games he’s played, Kepler has four XBH, 11 RBI and a 92% zone contact rate. His quality of contact numbers hasn’t picked up yet. Despite that, he’s still finding ways to be valuable. The Twins are hot right now and Kepler will only get better. He’s worth adding in all 12-team or larger leagues or leagues that utilize five outfielders.
MAX KEPLER SAYS SEE YA ?#MNTWINS // WEBELIEVEINTC pic.twitter.com/8L0MXPicag
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) May 4, 2024
CBS: 13% | Yahoo: 5% | ESPN: 3%
In case you were unaware, Tommy Pham has been electric since being added to the White Sox roster this season. He was a good power/speed combo guy in 2023 and seems to have picked up right where he left off. Even at 36, Pham can hang with the best of them. In his eight games, he’s hitting .323 with a .484 SLG and an extremely low 6.1% strikeout rate. The quality of contact isn’t all that exciting (just one barrel so far), but he’s making an insane 87% contact overall. Add in his 28% line drive rate and the fact the White Sox have nobody to take at-bats from him and you get a sneaky good fantasy option for the short and potentially long term.
Starting Pitchers
I’m prefacing this by saying this isn’t a two-start pitchers article, so I don’t typically fill this section with my favorite guys starting twice in the upcoming week. This position, like the others, is meant for my favorite options for the week. Regardless of how many starts they have lined up.
CBS: 55% | Yahoo: 29% | ESPN: 10%
He won’t be a waiver wire find for long, so if you’re reading this you need to add Christian Scott. He’s been talked about as a guy to keep an eye on these past few weeks because of his excellent minor-league numbers. His big league debut on Saturday confirmed what we hoped he could be. He went 6.2 innings, allowing five hits and one walk, while striking out six against an ok Tampa Bay Rays squad. He generated 18 whiffs, good for a 35% whiff rate on the day.
“I know my stuff is going to play at this level."
Top @Mets pitching prospect Christian Scott retired 12 straight and struck out 6 in his MLB debut: https://t.co/lreprjZjPW pic.twitter.com/pIJX8SeZzn
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 5, 2024
In 25 Triple-A innings this season he had a K-BB% of 31.9%. In 62 innings of Double-A in 2023 he had a K-BB% of 29.4%. To put that into perspective the league leader this season is Jack Flaherty at 30.6%. Jared Jones is second at 28%. Scott has an arsenal that potentially puts him amongst the best strikeout pitchers in baseball. He’s worth an add in all formats and league sizes.
CBS: 21% | Yahoo: 12% | ESPN: 5%
I preach it all the time and I’m going to do it again. When pinpointing pitchers worth adding from the waiver wire look for quality start ability first rather than chasing wins. Guys who can consistently get you quality starts will likely get more wins. Not only that, they’ll typically have great ratios as well. Cole Irvin is that guy. He’s not going to strike out a ton of batters, but over his last four starts, there have been few better pitchers in the ratios department. In that stretch, he’s allowed just two runs, both of which came in the same game. He’s also allowed a .181 batting average against and a WHIP of just 0.73. This includes starts against the Reds at Great American Ball Park, the Royals scorching hot offense and a Twins team that’s scored the most runs in baseball over the last couple of weeks.
He lines up to face a Diamondbacks squad that should scare you but won’t. In their last 12 games, they’ve scored just 38 runs, which is in the bottom five in all of baseball. They’re hitting just .218 with .644 OPS. Irvin likely won’t surpass five strikeouts, but he should be locked in for yet another quality start.
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