Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Week 8
Less than eight weeks into the 2024 Fantasy Baseball season the injury bug and underperformance trends are rampant. Do you have any of Gerrit Cole, Shane Bieber, Royce Lewis, Spencer Strider, Lane Thomas, Sean Murphy, 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 under 50% rostered on Yahoo Fantasy for 12- and 14-team leagues worthy of waiver bids or claims. As the seventh week of the season gets underway, we are getting a larger sample of data from which to conclude. With almost five months left in the fantasy baseball season, let’s figure out who to target to help our fantasy rosters.
Waiver Options For 12-Team Leagues
Abraham Toro, 2B/3B, Oakland Athletics (55% rostered) – Abraham Toro has found an everyday role for himself on the Oakland Athletics, and suddenly is a part of one of the best offenses of the last month. Toro has been a big part of that surge, as he has hit .297 with three homers and a steal in the last 30 days. Batting leadoff for a team not expected to go anywhere this season has allowed Toro to be much more aggressive than in the past. It hasn’t affected his strikeout rate (only 18.5%), but has bumped up his flyball rate by 17 percentage points and given him a career-high average exit velocity on his batted balls this year. Toro’s expected slugging percentage (.431) is in line with his performance this year (.440), so this looks to be legit.
Brenton Doyle, OF, Colorado Rockies (48% rostered) – In rotisserie baseball formats (5×5), Brenton Doyle has been the single-best hitter over the last week. His .348 average is accompanied by eight runs, five RBI, two home runs, and four steals as he is starting to emerge as one of the best young power/speed combo players in the National League. As expected, Doyle has been much better at home (.352/.410/.592) than on the road (.220/.273/.354), but his performance on the road is improving. He just finished a series in San Diego with two hits, four runs, a steal, and a homer and he has moved up to hitting fifth in the Colorado lineup regularly. He might still be best utilized in home games for now, but his intriguing bat and speed skills are worth rostering everywhere.
Connor Joe, 1B/OF, Pittsburgh Pirates (52% rostered) – Like Abraham Toro, Connor Joe is another boring old veteran who just keeps getting the job done on an unassuming offensive team. Joe is a top-20 hitter over the last week as he blasted three home runs and knocked in seven runs while keeping a .267 average. He has also been able to slightly raise his barrel rate this year (8.8%), giving him more power to go along with the same 41% flyball rate he carried last season. He is still conceding playing time to Rowdy Tellez a couple of days per week, but most days Joe is out there with a great lineup spot hitting right behind Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz.
Cole Irvin, SP, Baltimore Orioles (45% rostered) – Cole Irvin missed the first week or so of the regular season due to injury, but now that he has shaken off that rust, he has been nothing short of phenomenal for four straight starts. In those four games, he has a combined 0.70 ERA with a .222 slugging percentage against to go along with a 17:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That is unsustainable over the whole season, of course, but his FIP (2.76) in that span shows he has been pitching like a true ace. He is not a strikeout artist (under 7.00 strikeouts per nine innings), but rather brings a strong 495 groundball rate with impeccable command (1.7 walks per nine). He likely won’t have many stretches of allowing just two earned runs across four starts, but with a powerful offense behind him and a good arsenal of pitches, Irvin will likely be 70% rostered by this time next week.
Trevor Megill, RP, Milwaukee Brewers (45% rostered) – The Brewers have now gone from Devin Williams to Abner Uribe to Joel Payamps and now to Trevor Megill as their closer. The hope is that Devin Williams makes it back for half the season, but Megill has been lights out lately and might have the role locked down for a good period of time. He has a 1.69 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP while striking out just about one batter per inning. He has been an extreme fly ball pitcher this year (54%), but his barrel rate (3.6%) is the lowest of his career so it’s not doing too much damage. Megill has five saves in Milwaukee this year, including in each of his last four outings.
Waiver Options for 14-Team Leagues
Luke Raley, 1B/OF, Seattle Mariners (11% rostered) – With the caveat that Luke Raley will never play against left-handed pitchers, he still has managed to be a top-10 hitter in the last two weeks with his all-around offensive performance. Raley has a .375 average, three home runs, two steals, and eight runs and RBI each in that span. He has solidified the fifth spot in the batting order when he plays, and looks to finally be the competent bat that the Mariners have needed to protect guys like Julio Rodriguez and Mitch Haniger. Raley has always been graded highly in raw power, but didn’t get a full-time shot until last season with Tampa Bay at age 28. His .490 slugging percentage in that season proved to be no joke as he is now putting up a top-25 line-drive rate in the Majors this year. Multi-position eligibility helps Raley, especially since you’ll have to take him out of lineups when he faces a Southpaw.
Jake Bauers, 1B/OF, Milwaukee Brewers (6% rostered) – Another 1B/OF eligible player who has been absolutely mesmerizing over the last 15 days is Jake Bauers. He is putting up .364, two bombs, three steals, and nine RBI in that span. Like Raley, he is also conceding playing time to other guys when they face a left-hander, but it hasn’t stopped him from going wild when he hits fifth or sixth on the days he is in the lineup. Bauers is mostly a journeyman at this point in his career, playing for five teams in five seasons, but he is finally delivering on some early Minor League promise with a career high in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. It’s largely driven by a 44% hard-hit rate that is eight points above his career average and he has elevated his launch angle from 13 degrees last year to 23 degrees so far in 2024. Add in 44% fly balls and this looks like some power that might be here to stay.
Kevin Pillar, OF, Los Angeles Angels (6% rostered) – Kevin Pillar found the fountain of youth and some extra power at some point in the past few weeks. Coming over from the White Sox a couple of weeks ago, the Angels have plugged Kevin Pillar into centerfield and he has gone absolutely crazy. He is the third-most valuable hitter over the last seven days, and is hitting .556 with a homer, a steal, and eight RBI in that span. Of course that’s completely unsustainable at this level, but the playing time should remain consistent. Pillas has also improved his walk rate and his barrel rate over last season, so some sustained level of success wouldn’t be surprising. Most fantasy managers haven’t bought into the hot start in Anaheim for Pillar so far, but if you are desperate for an OF5, Pillar will have the opportunity to get consistent plate appearances every day.
Cal Quantrill, SP, Colorado Rockies (8% rostered) – Let’s clarify one thing. Rostering (and starting!) a Colorado Rockies starting pitcher is not for the faint of heart. It’s best left to daily transaction leagues where you can ensure that the pitcher is not on your roster for Coors Field games. But Cal Quantrill has been almost unhittable lately, so deserves a look in very deep leagues. Quantrill has now won three straight starts (including one at home) against Pittsburgh, San Diego, and San Francisco. In those starts, he has allowed just two runs and struck out 19 batters. He will next line up on the road against Oakland or San Francisco, and then it will be time to play the daily swap game. A major part of Quantrill’s success this year (even at Coors) is that he is now a 50% groundball pitcher on the season. Balls hit on the ground work for pitchers no matter what park they are in.
Michael Kopech, SP/RP, Chicago White Sox (30% rostered) – The Chicago White Sox have finally started winning some games on a semi-consistent basis, so Michael Kopech and his ability to lock down saves are all of a sudden relevant again. Just in the last two weeks, Kopech has four saves plus a win to go along with his pristine 0.00 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The move to the bullpen has been rejuvenating for Kopech as he has been able to strike out more batters (12 per nine this year), reduce his walks, and reduce his hard-hit rate by more than eight percentage points from 2023. Deep leagues need to focus on the closers on even the worst of teams, and Kopech fits the bill of someone who may not get more than 20 saves but will provide the ratios to help rosters as well.
