Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Week 18
Less than eight 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, Ozzie Albies, 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 eighteenth week of the season gets underway, we have more than a half-season sample of data from which to conclude. With more than two 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
Jeff McNeil, 2B/OF, New York Mets (31% rostered) – Coming into Wednesday, the multi-position veteran Jeff McNeil had homered in three of his last five starts and was hitting .314 with eight runs and 12 RBI in his last 12 games. That surge has moved him up from the eighth spot in the order to sixth in the last three days. McNeil has made a real effort to start pulling the ball this month to give him more power. His July pull rate is 53.1% while every other month was at 40% or below.
Juan Yepez, 1B/OF, Washington Nationals (32% rostered) – Is Juan Yepez reinvented after the St. Louis Cardinals released him and the Washington Nationals signed him as a free agent? He is hitting .368/.429/.614 with almost a 10% walk rate in his first 15 games with them this season. His BABIP (.442) will eventually bring that down some, but he has a nice power stroke so far (two home runs) and has cut down his strikeouts from 30% in 2023 to 19% this season. Before Wednesday, when he ran into the Dylan Cease buzzsaw, Yepez had a hit in every one of his games this season.
Gavin Lux, 2B/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers (16% rostered) – With injuries to Chris Taylor, Miguel Rojas, Mookie Betts, and Max Muncy, Gavin Lux is going to be playing a lot in the weeks to come. On July 22, he even started against a left-hander for the first time in over two months because the Dodgers needed his bat in the lineup. Over the last seven days, Lux has been the 30th-best hitter in fantasy baseball, including four multi-hit games in his last five starts. Add in two home runs in those games and this multi-position player also eligible at 2B and OF is a priority add this weekend.
Luis Ortiz, SP/RP, Pittsburgh Pirates (34% rostered) – Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, and Mitch Keller have stolen just about all the Pirates’ pitching headlines this year, but a fourth member of that rotation has been extremely strong lately. In his last four starts, Ortiz has allowed just three runs in 27 innings with 23 strikeouts in that span. Each of his last four starts have gone at least 5.2 innings which has been a welcome addition considering his 15-start sample from last season didn’t go so well (4.78 ERA, 4.98 BB/9). He has improved everything this year
Hunter Gaddis, RP, Cleveland Guardians (23% rostered) – To be clear, Emmanuel Clase is the best closer in baseball this year, so Hunter Gaddis has no real shot of taking over the role short of an injury to Clase. However, for ratios, relief wins, and high-leverage situations Gaddis has been one of the best bullpen arms in baseball this year, and he does get many, many holds if your league counts those.
Waiver Options for 14-Team Leagues
Connor Norby, 2B, Baltimore Orioles (10% rostered) – Here comes the next in a long line of top Baltimore Orioles prospects to the Major Leagues. After the debuts of Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser, and Heston Kjerstad this year, Connor Norby will come up from Norfolk to take the place of injured Ramon Urias. At AAA this year, Norby is hitting .297/.389/.519 with 16 home runs and 13 steals in 80 games. Like many of the Orioles prospects, Norby has a very good plate approach (12.5% walk rate) and should get a lot of time he can prove he is MLB-worthy ahead of the postseason.
Xavier Edwards, 2B/SS, Miami Marlins (17% rostered) – Xavier Edwards may not have the all-around offensive game of someone like Connor Norby or Jeff McNeil on this list, as he is more of a one or two-category threat. But he has become a master of those two categories and is beginning to get more playing time as a result. In the last two weeks, Edwards is batting .424 with five steals. Overall, he does have a .361 average and an incredible .447 on-base percentage thanks to a 14.1% 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.
Wenceel Perez, 2B/OF, Detroit Tigers (9% rostered) – Wenceel Perez has had a very up-and-down rookie season, but right now is definitely one of the “up” phases of his inaugural year. Perez has gotten some looks in the leadoff spot the past few days and has four hits, three RBI, and two steals in his last four games. Add in two home runs over the last week and this is yet another 2B/OF multi-position player who can help down the stretch. He has really worked to reduce his strikeout rate. It started out at 23% in April but is now down to around 18% in July, leading to more consistent contact at the plate.
Joey Estes, SP, Oakland Athletics (8% rostered) – It hasn’t just been the offense that has made major strides in Oakland. Some of the starting pitching, including Joey Estes, has contributed to the past month’s success as well. Estes’ overall season numbers don’t look great (5.11 ERA and just 23% groundball rate), but in June and July he has been much better. His second-half ERA is just 3.18 even with an inflated .389 BABIP which could mean better days could be ahead for August and September. Wins are sometimes tough to come by in Oakland, but Estes does have two wins in his last four starts.
Victor Vodnik, RP, Colorado Rockies (5% rostered) – After the Jalen Beeks (and his 8.18 ERA) experiment didn’t work, the Rockies turned to their fourth closer of the year, Victor Vodnik. He has been the best option so far with a 2.70 ERA, 0.83 ERA and three saves over the last month despite calling Coors Field home. The 24-year-old rookie has excelled in the role, and even though many saves are probably not in the cards for the fledgling Rockies, he might be in line to get all of them for the rest of the season. His best attribute? He keeps the ball in the park with a 0.83 HR/9 rate over the whole season.
