Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Week 4
This weekly piece will look at five options under 50% rostered on Yahoo Fantasy for 12- and 15-team leagues that are worthy of waiver bids or claims. As the third week of the season gets underway, we starting to get a larger sample of data from which to draw conclusions. With over five months still left in the fantasy baseball season, let’s figure out who to target to help our fantasy rosters.
Waiver Options For 12-Team Leagues
Brandon Marsh, OF, Philadelphia Phillies (54% rostered) – There are just two players left in MLB who have at least a .300/.400/.700 slash line through three weeks: Matt Chapman and Brandon Marsh. Chapman is universally rostered, but fantasy managers have been slow to warm to Marsh despite his three home runs, 11 RBI, and 11 runs. The .514 BABIP is certainly coming down, but his flyball rate (29.7%) is below his career average so far, so the power numbers might have room to grow.
Andrew McCutchen, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates (44% rostered) – McCutchen has been turning back the clock all season. He is currently one of only six players to have at least four home runs and three stolen bases through the first three weeks. With names like Tucker, Rodriguez, Franco, and Arozarena, you might have heard of the other guys. Pittsburgh has no reason not to hit McCutchen in the heart of their order this season and their offense (and 13-7 record) has been surprisingly good, ranking eighth in wOBA on the year (.343).
Josh Jung, 3B, Texas Rangers (54% rostered) – During his active eight-game hit streak, Jung is hitting a robust .344/.417/.500 with a home run, a steal, and two doubles. He has helped spark the Rangers’ offense to first place in the AL West. The day before his hit streak started, his batting average was just .229. He has now raised that to .284 overall but his best skill so far is his ability to hit with men on base. He has 30 plate appearances with men on base this season and is batting .370/.433/.630. With Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, and Nate Lowe always the top four ahead of him in the order, he will have many more opportunities with men on for the rest of the year.
Mason Miller, SP, Oakland Athletics (33% rostered) – Mason Miller was a surprise call-up this week by Oakland, but he passed his first test with flying colors. Against the Chicago Cubs, Miller threw 4.1 innings, struck out five batters, and allowed two earned runs. He settled down after a shaky first inning to strike out the side in the second, which was not uncommon in his minor league career. Miller struck out 58 of the 121 batters he faced in the minor leagues, never having a K/9 rate below 13.5. There is likely to be an innings limit on Miller this season, and there is certainly a wins limit, so you don’t have to go crazy spending FAAB to get him, but he should be a nice source of WHIP and strikeouts.
Jose Alvarado, RP, Philadelphia Phillies (48% rostered) – Let’s see. SerAnthony Dominguez? Terrible. Craig Kimbrel? Horrific. Brad Lidge? Retired. That leaves Jose Alvarado (he of the World Series-losing home run ball) as the best available option for the Phillies in the ninth. He has a hold and back-to-back saves over the last week and a sparking ERA (1.08) and WHIP (0.48) so far. The Phillies overall are struggling (getting shut out at home by the Rockies on Thursday?), but Alvarado has been the best late-inning option and should get the ball to preserve a win until he shows he can’t handle it anymore.
Waiver Options for 15-Team Leagues
Taylor Walls, 2B/SS/3B, Tampa Bay Rays (31% rostered) – The Rays keep finding these guys who were afterthoughts in our fantasy drafts and turning them into major fantasy contributors. The latest is Taylor Walls, who has taken what is essentially a platoon role and turned it into one of the more valuable fantasy seasons of 2023 so far. He has a .350/.400/.700 line through 13 games, including three bombs and a steal. But he is also top-five in the American League with 16 runs scored while striking out only 15% of the time. His ultra-versatility makes him an extremely valuable weapon on any 15-team league this year.
Brent Rooker, OF, Oakland Athletics (23% rostered) – Somehow, a second Athletics prospect was able to crack into the big leagues before being traded. But that’s because Rooker is a player who came to Oakland from the Royals after developing a Quad-A reputation. This year, he is quickly dismantling that label with a .324/.395/.676 line with a .296 BABIP, which is perfectly in line with the league average. The 28-year-old is unlikely to maintain this level of production. Still, he has been a waiver wire find recently in higher stakes leagues, and it won’t take long before most fantasy leagues start figuring out what kind of power and on-base ability he can bring to lineups.
Christian Bethancourt, C/1B, Tampa Bay Rays (4% rostered) – Christian Bethancourt is essentially splitting time 50/50 with Francisco Mejia for the Rays this season. Still, Bethancourt is having a much more productive fantasy season. Despite playing in only half of his team’s games, he already has three dingers, eight runs, and six RBI from the nine-hole. If you are in a 15-team league with two catchers, any backstop with a pulse is worth rostering, and Bethancourt can provide some of the same production at 50% of the time as some catchers who may end up playing 70% of games.
Kyle Bradish, SP, Baltimore Orioles (12% rostered) – Bradish’s season was halted after just 1.2 innings when he was placed on the IL due to a right foot contusion. But in his first start back, he carved up the Nationals for six strikeouts and nary a run over six innings. He got the win in the meantime, and he could see a lot more of those with this now-strong Orioles’ offense behind him. In his meeting against the Nationals, he produced a very strong 28% called + swinging strike rate (CSW) and strikeouts could be a big part of the equation for the 26-year-old hot prospect. For Bradish it’s all about the walks, if he can cut down his 3.52 BB/9 rate from last season, the sky is the limit.
Carlos Estevez, RP, Los Angeles Angels (10% rostered) – The Los Angeles Angels bullpen was one of those dreaded “best-guy-in-the-best-situation” ‘pens before the season started. But a hierarchy is starting to take shape and Estevez is moving toward the top of the pyramid. He has two of the Angels’ six saves and has only allowed two runs all season. His WHIP is improving over the last five appearances and looks like a co-closer at worst. If Estevez keeps getting a save per week, his roster percentage will be up over 50% before too long.
