Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Tyler Stephenson, Tyler Locklear, Gavin Sheets (Week 12)

It’s Week 12. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I want to start these articles by doing a little recap of a movie I’ve seen recently that I love. I skipped out on doing it the last couple of weeks.

The best movie I’ve seen lately was Seeding. It’s about this guy who goes to photograph an upcoming eclipse in the desert. He ends up finding a lost boy and in an attempt to find his parents, he gets lost and loses the boy. After walking around for a bit, he finds a huge crater with a house in the middle and he investigates to find help.

Only after going in does he realize he was lured there by the kid and his siblings and is now stuck with no way out. Everything starts to unravel from there. I would give it a 4.5/5 stars if rating movies were my profession. It’s just a really solid movie with a simple plot. They do a great job of getting every ounce of craziness out of it while completely nailing the end. If you’re looking for a good movie that’ll make you think, freak you out and end how you expect and how you don’t expect at the same time this is the one. It’s been a bit since I’ve seen a movie I enjoyed that much.

With that out of the way, let’s get into some fantasy baseball talk. Here are our top fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups of the week to prioritize for Week 12.

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups (Week 12)

Catcher

Tyler Stephenson (C, DH – CIN)

CBS: 49% | Yahoo: 21% | ESPN: 9%

I want to preface this by saying this is yet another week of not loving the options on the waiver wire. For the catcher position, that is. But if I had to pick one, it would be Tyler Stephenson. Throughout his career, he’s always been one of the better hitting catchers in terms of average. He’s also added a bit of pop and cut his strikeout rate drastically. There’s not much to dislike when it comes to Stephenson. He’s worth an add in every league you feel needs an upgrade at the catcher position.

Corner Infield

Tyler Locklear (1B – SEA)

CBS: 4% | Yahoo: 1% | ESPN: 0%

Ty France is headed to the injured list (IL) and the Mariners have called up rookie Tyler Locklear. There hasn’t been a great track record of rookie call-up success this season, but Locklear feels different. Maybe it’s because I’m a Mariners fan and part of me wants him to be good, but what he’s shown in the minors looks good enough to translate to major-league success. In his short stint in Triple-A, he’s shown that the power and hit tool are real. He’s got a 20.7% barrel rate, a 62% hard-hit rate and his 109.8 miles per hour (MPH) 90th percentile EV is five MPH above league average. He’s going to get a chance at everyday at-bats, so he’s worth a flier in 12-team or deeper leagues right now.

Tyler Locklear gets the call!

Locklear hasn't been in AAA long, but he has displayed great power metrics without sacrificing contact ability. He has been very productive throughout his MiLB career, seamlessly transitioning through new levels.

Congratulations! https://t.co/v1GTmEvnGk pic.twitter.com/pAmB1Av32C

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) June 9, 2024

Gavin Sheets (1B, OF, DH – CWS)

CBS: 11% | Yahoo: 3% | ESPN: 3%

Gavin Sheets is someone I’ve contemplated putting on here for weeks. I can’t ignore that the White Sox are set on continuing to give him consistent at-bats and that Sheets is set on continuing to mash. In his last 15 games, he has four home runs and 15 RBI. While his batting average isn’t great, he’s striking out less than 18% of the time and has a double-digit walk rate. There’s a lot to like when it comes to Sheets, find a way to sneak him on your roster if you need a pick-me-up in power and counting stats.