Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Week 17
Less than seventeen weeks into the 2024 Fantasy Baseball season, the injury bug and underperformance trends are rampant. Do you have any of Shane Bieber, Kyle Tucker, Spencer Strider, Jacob DeGrom, Walker Buehler, 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 seventeenth week of the season gets underway, we have more than a half-season sample of data from which to conclude. With almost three 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
Luis Garcia Jr., 2B, Washington Nationals (48% rostered) – What will it take to get this guy above 50% rostered in Yahoo leagues? In less than half a season, Luis Garcia Jr. has already passed his career-high 11 nine home runs and surpassed his career-high with 12 steals. With still almost half a season to go, it’s clear this is the breakout year for the 24-year-old Garcia. His batting average (.281) and slugging percentage (.444) are both very good, but both should be even better. Statcast shows that his expected batting average is .291, and his expected slugging percentage is. 477. Garcia really bumped up the line drive and fly ball rate this year, and he will be one of the hottest waiver targets around after hitting five home runs in the last two weeks.
Michael Toglia, 1B, Colorado Rockies (16% rostered) – Batting average hasn’t been Michael Toglia’s friend lately, but do we really care when he hit seven home runs in under two weeks? Toglia’s power is legit and he has a massive .503 slugging percentage (plus a .546 expected slugging percentage). Toglia still strikes out too much this year (31%), but his walk rate has increased and with a weak .180 batting average on balls in play (BABIP), there is a chance that everything will improve in the second half.
Lawrence Butler, OF, Oakland Athletics (20% rostered) – Don’t panic if you see multiple players from teams like the Athletics and Marlins on the list this week. We are entering the time of year where the the veterans on those teams are getting fewer and fewer starts while the young players and rookies are getting some showcase time. Lawrence Butler is maybe the best of those as he has shown incredible power and speed as a 23-year-old rookie this year. He has nine home runs and six steals in just 193 plate appearances and a .463 expected slugging percentage. Butler has moved into the leadoff slot in the last two games for Oakland and looks poised for a big second half.
Max Meyer, SP, Miami Marlins (28% rostered) – Even though he is still down in AAA for the time being, the common speculation is that Max Meyer will finally be getting a call back up to the big leagues soon. If the Marlins wait until Monday to call him up, they gain another year of team control for Meyer, one of their best young prospects. He shut down Jacksonville in AAA last week, hurling six strikeouts in five innings and we know he can already succeed at the MLB level. He has a 2.12 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in his first 17 innings this season.
Jason Adam, RP, Tampa Bay Rays (43% rostered) – Jason Adam may not be the permanent closer in Tampa Bay, but it’s clear he is getting many high-leverage situations and is the team’s preferred choice if incumbent Pete Fairbanks can’t go. Adam got a save on July 12th in one of those situations and now has seven strikeouts in his last 3.1 innings pitched. Including his 1.67 ERA and 0.79 WHIP, Adam is one of the more reliable relievers this year for ratios and strikeouts, and he is likely to get 5-7 more saves before the season ends.
Waiver Options for 14-Team Leagues
Angel Martinez, 2B/SS/3B/OF, Cleveland Guardians (14% rostered) – On July 4th, Angel Martinez was called up from AAA and has been inserted permanently (it seems) into the centerfield position and number two spot in the Guardians’ lineup. The Tyler Freeman experiment appears to be over in center, and Martinez is the beneficiary. Fantasy managers are too as he is eligible in four positions and has already come in and hit .277 with two homers, four RBI, and six runs. Eventually steals should come too as he has multiple minor league seasons with 10+ swipes. Fourteen percent of managers have already noticed Martinez’s new role, and that number should shoot up this weekend even higher.
Xavier Edwards, 2B/SS, Miami Marlins (7% rostered) – Xavier Edwards may not have the all around offensive game of an Angel Martinez or Lawrence Butler, as he is more of a one or two category threat. But he is a master of those two categories. In the last two weeks, Edwards is batting .405 with three steals. Overall, he does have a .352 average and an incredible .426 on base percentage thanks to an 11.5% walk rate. There are many who believe Jazz Chisholm is about to be traded, and if that happens, Edwards is right there ready to move into one of the top two spots in the batting order.
Max Schuemann, 2B/SS/OF, Oakland Athletics (16% rostered) – Max Schuemann may have recently lost the leadoff spot of the order to Lawrence Butler, but he has still started at shortstop 22 of the Athletics’ last 24 games. He is hitting .344 with a homer and three steals in the last two weeks after finally making his MLB debut this year. He spent parts of four seasons in AAA and now is finally getting his shot with the big club, and it appears his role is safe with Oakland the rest of the season.
Spencer Schwellenbach, SP, Atlanta Braves (25% rostered) – Four of the last six starts for Braves’ rookie Spencer Schwellenbach have been absolutely phenomenal, which has led to a 3.41 ERA and 1.07 WHIP plus 29 strikeouts in his last 29 innings. His career started out with a few losses, but now he has won three of his last five. He has adopted to MLB surprisingly well for a pitcher who skipped AAA altogether. He might be getting slightly lucky with so few home runs (8.3% HR/FB rate), but his strikeout rate (8.26/nine innings) has some room to grow as well.
Ben Joyce, RP, Los Angeles Angels (4% rostered) – Trade talk around the league has been swirling around Carlos Estevez of the Angels, and if he is moved, Ben Joyce is the likely candidate to move into the role the rest of the season. Joyce has six strikeouts in his last five innings and has not allowed a run to score since June 11th. His fastball is a league-high 101.7 miles per hour and he has major strikeout potential if he is given the keys to the ninth inning sometime this month.
