Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Week 11
Less than eleven weeks into the 2024 Fantasy Baseball season, the injury bug and underperformance trends are rampant. Do you have any of Trea Turner, Gerrit Cole, Shane Bieber, Cristian Javier, Spencer Strider, Ronald Acuna Jr., or other injured stars? Chances are you do, and you will be looking to fill those gaps somehow this weekend when waivers run. Who are the players who can adequately give you some level of production while you wait for your studs to return? That’s what we will focus on in this piece today.
This weekly piece will examine five options at or under 50% rostered on Yahoo Fantasy for 12- and 14-team leagues worthy of waiver bids or claims. As the eleventh week of the season gets underway, we are getting a larger sample of data from which to conclude. With still almost four months left in the fantasy baseball season, let’s figure out who to target to help our fantasy rosters.
Baseball Resources
Waiver Options For 12-Team Leagues
Miguel Andujar, OF, Oakland Athletics (41% rostered) – Oakland seems to make a sport of finding other teams’ castoffs and turning them into productive players. Miguel Andujar, a 29-year-old journeyman outfielder, is the latest in that long line. Getting playing time in their outfield now, Andujar has jumped on his opportunity in his first 10 games. He is hitting .341/.333/.537 with a couple of bombs and a steal in 42 plate appearances. Andujar is certainly benefiting from a .333 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and a low 9% strikeout rate, but playing time and opportunity could help him overcome some regression in luck. With an 8% barrel rate and 111 miles per hour max exit velocity, there is certainly some juice in this bat.
Nick Gonzales, 2B/SS, Pittsburgh Pirates (38% rostered) – The Pirates got everything they hoped for and more when they promoted the 25-year-old Nick Gonzales four weeks ago. He has been phenomenal for them on defense and at that plate. I’m willing to bet they didn’t expect him to be a top-40 hitter in all of baseball over the last 14 days. In his last 40 at-bats, Gonzales is hitting .350 with a home run. 11 RBI, and a steal while primarily hitting fifth or sixth. His roster percentage has sky-rocketed from nothing up to 38% in a couple of weeks, but there are still over 60% of leagues where he is available. There is some luck involved here based on his average on balls in play, but a solid contact rate could keep this ride going for a while.
Jonathan India, 2B, Cincinnati Reds (52% rostered) – In Spring Training, Jonathan India looked like one of the odd men out in a crowded Reds lineup. With injury, suspensions, and poor performance creeping in, however, India is now a full-time player again. He has really been taking advantage of that opportunity just as players are getting healthier and the lineup begins to look crowded again. Over the last two weeks, India is the 14th-best fantasy hitter with a .359 average, two homers, a steal, and 11 RBI. India has a career-best 14% walk rate and 85% contact rate driving his success, and this is turning out to be the year everyone thought he would have after a stellar debut in 2021.
Tyler Anderson, SP, Los Angeles Angels (52% rostered) – If you’re looking for strikeouts in your starting rotation, Tyler Anderson is not at all what you are looking for. He averages fewer than six strikeouts per nine innings, but that hasn’t stopped Anderson from posting a 2.37 ERA and earning five wins. Anderson has certainly been lucky with a .210 BABIP and an 88% strand rate this year, but his walk rate is down, his groundball rate is up, and he is allowing only one home run per nine innings on the season. With that combination, he can continue to post quality innings, even if he isn’t overpowering batters.
Carlos Estevez, RP, Los Angeles Angels (57% rostered) – Sticking with City of Angels, there is no doubting the fact that Carlos Estevez is the main man in the Angels bullpen now. He has 10 saves on the year to go along with a 1.05 WHIP and about a strikeout per inning. He has lost some of his strong strikeout rate from recent years (he was at 11.3 per nine in 2023), but he has improved his walk rate to just 1.42 men per nine innings (a full three walks per nine innings better than last season). That has ended up driving his success and will serve him well as he closes out games for the Angels all year.
Waiver Options for 14-Team Leagues
Brendan Rodgers, 2B, Colorado Rockies (7% rostered) – Benefiting from a stretch of home games, Brendan Rodgers has emerged as a top-30 hitter over the last week and is now hitting .303 with two home runs in the last month. Rodgers, who bats fifth every day for the Rockies, is the perfect player to have as a middle infielder in daily transaction leagues as you can make sure he is in the lineup every day he has a home game. Rodgers is a .314 hitter at home and just a .234 hitter at home this season, clearly benefitting from the Coors Field factor.
Heliot Ramos, OF, San Francisco Giants (13% rostered) – With four full-time players on the IL, the San Francisco Giants called up Heliot Ramos from AAA in May and he has now become their primary left fielder. He has performed so well (18th-best hitter in the last week) that he is now hitting first or second in the lineup every day. He is hitting .304./407/.511 in just over 100 plate appearances. While much of that is due to some good fortune (.433 BABIP is very high), his hard-hit rate is almost 57% and he has over a 12% barrel rate. in context, those numbers are very similar to those that a player like Gunnar Henderson has.
Coby Mayo, 3B, Baltimore Orioles (9% rostered) – For a player like Coby Mayo who hasn’t even been called up yet, it’s likely better to be ahead of the curve rather than get into a waiver wire bidding war when he does inevitably get the call up from Baltimore. Connor Norby was the latest player to get a promotion to the big leagues from the Orioles, but this could have just as easily been Mayo. The Orioles have shown they are going to be aggressive this year in promoting their young studs like Jackson Holliday, Heston Kjerstad, and Norby. Mayo’s time is coming soon considering he is hitting .291/.359/.605 with 13 home runs and three stolen bases this year. Will he struggle like some of the prospects who have been called up this year? Maybe, but it’s worth paying a small price to find out.
Jake Irvin, SP, Washington Nationals (29% rostered) – Whether it’s Trevor Williams or Mitchell Parker or Jake Irvin, the Washington Nationals seem to have a knack this year for rolling out pitchers who have excelled. In just his second year in the big leagues, Irvin has made a major leap over his 2023 numbers (4.61 ERA, 4.02 walks per nine). Through his first 12 starts in 2024, Irvin has a 3.39 ERA, 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings and just 1.6 walks per nine. He has cut his home run rate in half, his groundball rate is up, and the barrels allowed per plate appearance have dropped. What’s causing the improvement? He’s added a 90-mile-per-hour cutter this year he throws 14% of the time and has cut back on his average sinker pitch. The wins might not be plentiful for Irvin this year, but the rest of the stats look good under the microscope.
Jalen Beeks, RP, Colorado Rockies (16% rostered) – A Colorado Rockies pitcher? Gross, right? Well, saves and saves and Beeks has full control in that department, earning two in the last two weeks and six over the last month. The Rockies are bad, but not so bad that they don’t outslug some teams at home. That can lead to some “rocky” ninth innings with Beeks, but at only 16% rostered in Yahoo leagues, there is a chance to jump here on a player who could have 15 more saves the rest of the season. Beeks does have 23 strikeouts in 28 innings this year, so he helps in that department as well. The ratios are nothing to get excited about (1.38 WHIP), but six saves and two wins will help any fantasy team no matter how large the league.
