We have made it through another week of fantasy baseball 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. 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 and fantasy baseball waiver wire, 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.
- Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Assistant
- Fantasy Baseball Trade Tools
- Weekly Fantasy Baseball Content
- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire & FAAB Targets: Week 15
Note: We use Yahoo for player percentages and recommend players rostered in no more than 60% of leagues.
Hitters
Rostered: 50%
Suggested Bid: 11%
With Ronald Acuna Jr. and Michael Harris II on the injured list (IL), Jarred Kelenic has risen to the occasion for the Braves and fantasy managers. He has taken over the leadoff role for the Braves and plays every day, facing both right-handed and left-handed pitchers. Since June 15, Kelenic has been the primary leadoff hitter, hitting .340 with four home runs and two stolen bases over 12 games. He’s hit safely in 10 out of 12 games with a 16.2% barrel rate and 45.9% hard-hit rate. Kelenic is finally looking like that top prospect we thought the Mets drafted and should be started on fantasy rosters in nearly all formats.
Rostered: 43%
Suggested Bid: 9%
Joc Pederson is having a great season with the Diamondbacks as he plays primarily versus right-handed pitching and sits versus left-handers. He’s hitting .282 on the season with 10 home runs and four stolen bases. You know things are going well when Pederson is stealing bases. He has an 11.3% barrel rate and a 47.2% hard-hit rate with a .876 OPS and 148 wRC+. Pederson is a great streaming option when the Diamondbacks are scheduled to face a lot of righties. They face six right-handed pitchers over six games next week.
Rostered: 37%
Suggested Bid: 13%
Another week I get to write about Mark Vientos, as he’s still not rostered in nearly enough leagues. The Mets have only played three games this week, heading into Friday, and Vientos has hit safely in all three with three home runs. That brings his June totals to a .278 batting average with six home runs, 14 runs and 14 RBI. Vientos is barreling the ball an incredible 17% of the time with a 43.4% hard-hit rate, leading to a .901 OPS and 155 wRC+. Vientos should be rostered in nearly all fantasy formats.
Pitchers
Rostered: 38%
Suggested Bid: 8%
Kyle Gibson allowed four runs in his last start, but he was dominant in his previous five. Gibson allowed seven earned runs over 28.2 innings with 30 strikeouts. He had a 2.20 ERA and 3.43 SIERA with a 19.1% K-BB. Gibson has a great two-step against the Pirates and the Nationals next week, which should lead to a strong stream this week.
Rostered: 24%
Suggested Bid: 6%
Zack Littell is putting together another solid season. Over his last seven starts, he has allowed three earned runs or fewer in six of seven starts for a 5.15 ERA but a 4.06 SIERA. He has 34 strikeouts over 36.2 innings pitched with a 16.3% K-BB. Littell has been a nice streamer throughout the year and this week he has two excellent matchups versus the Royals and Rangers.
Rostered: 16%
Suggested Bid: 13%
Christian Scott is set to return to the Mets’ rotation this week and that makes him a major add. In his five starts with the Mets this year, he has allowed 12 runs over 27.2 innings pitched with 25 strikeouts. In Scott’s four starts back at AAA, Scott allowed four earned runs over 17 innings with 19 strikeouts. Scott faces the Nationals this week and gets a great two-step the following week versus the Pirates and Rockies.
Closers
Rostered: 56%
Suggested Bid: 7%
Hector Neris is not great for ratios, as he has a 4.40 ERA on the season and a 4.89 SIERA, but he is the closer in Chicago, bringing plenty of weight in fantasy. Neris has recorded 10 saves since he took over for Adbert Alzolay. He has a 22% strikeout rate to go with the saves.
Rostered: 51%
Suggested Bid: 8%
James McArthur has been a solid closer for the Royals this season but saves have been few and far between of late. In June, McArthur had three saves with a 2.00 ERA and four strikeouts over nine innings. McArthur is locked in as the closer and should be rostered anywhere saves are needed.
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