With 10 HRs already, Joyce is on pace to post career best power numbers. The experts rank him as their #1 Batter target.
You know it’s a busy week in baseball whenever news breaks that up to TWENTY players could get suspended for taking PEDs. Despite the buzz, it’s not quite time for fantasy owners to panic considering any suspension could be delayed (if suspensions happen). It would make little sense to sell a key player at 20 cents on the dollar and you’re unlikely to find a suitable replacement for the Ryan Braun’s of the world in free agency.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue to scour your league’s waiver wire for potential ways to improve your squad. This week’s Featured Pros are here to help in that regard by ranking the top readily available targets in most leagues.
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Featured Pros
R.J. White (Fantasy Baseball Cafe)
Nick Raducanu (FantasyTrade411)
Greg Smith (The Fake Baseball)
Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Sports Empires)
Batter Rankings (Waiver Wire)*
| Player | Team | Position | Ownership | Best Rank | Worst Rank | Consensus Rank |
| Matt Joyce | TB | OF | 40% | 1 | 3 | 1.5 |
| Colby Rasmus | TOR | OF | 20% | 3 | 8 | 4.5 |
| Adam Lind | TOR | 1B | 20% | 2 | 14 | 5.0 |
| Jayson Werth | WAS | OF | 48% | 2 | 12 | 6.3 |
| Ryan Doumit | MIN | C/OF | 47% | 1 | 10 | 6.8 |
| Anthony Rendon | WAS | 3B | 15% | 3 | 12 | 7.0 |
| James Loney | TB | 1B | 50% | 4 | 11 | 7.3 |
| Andrelton Simmons | ATL | SS | 46% | 4 | 15 | 8.3 |
| Didi Gregorius | ARI | SS | 29% | 5 | 14 | 8.3 |
| Kevin Youkilis | NYY | 1B/3B | 43% | 6 | 14 | 9.5 |
| Chris Carter | HOU | 1B/OF | 20% | 7 | 13 | 10.5 |
| Jason Castro | HOU | C | 31% | 8 | 13 | 10.5 |
| Brandon Crawford | SF | SS | 48% | 5 | 16 | 11.8 |
| Chris Johnson | ATL | 1B/3B | 31% | 9 | 14 | 11.8 |
| Marcell Ozuna | MIA | OF | 21% | 9 | 16 | 12.3 |
| Yonder Alonso DL | SD | 1B | 16% | 13 | 16 | 15.0 |
*List consists of relevant players with at least 50% availability in Yahoo! leagues
Batter Advice
Each expert was asked to share advice about a hitter they like along with any other waiver wire suggestions they have. Here’s what the pundits had to say:
R.J. White – Fantasy Baseball Cafe
It’s hard to rank hitters at different positions in the same list, because it has the air of deciding between a player for a team’s utility slot. Am I going to use shortstops like Andrelton Simmons or Brandon Crawford at UT? Hardly. But they probably deserve better consideration in my rankings. The guy to watch in this bunch is Adam Lind, and he deserves an immediate pickup in daily lineup leagues where he can be used exclusively against righty SPs.
Nick Raducanu – FantasyTrade411
This list was pretty tough for me to rank across positions since it’s June 7th and most folks are probably targeting specific positions at this point. Matt Joyce stuck out the most to me because you shouldn’t be able to find a player with 10 home runs and 4 steals on your waiver-wire at this point of year, but I also really like Didi Gregorious (moreso than Simmons and Crawford as he’s posted similar numbers to both and in about three-quarters of the at-bats). James Loney and Adam Lind are both good fill-ins for teams in need of 1B/CI help, but I’m not sure I can get aboard the Kevin Youkilis and Anthony Rendon trains since Youkilis is an injury waiting to happen and Rendon may find himself back in the minors soon if he can’t pick up second base.
Greg Smith – The Fake Baseball
As is often the case with other aspects fantasy baseball, position scarcity matters with free agents. For example, it’s much easier to rotate hot-hitting outfielders through your lineup than with shortstops because the supply of outfielders is larger. Hence, I have both Andrelton Simmons and Didi Gregorius ranked in the top-5 (not to mention the soon-to-be-middle-infield-eligible Anthony Rendon). A player like Jason Werth might outperform Simmons or Gregorious, but his position is easier to fill and that makes his stats more replaceable. Acquiring a middle infielder on a hot streak is much more akin to catching lightning in a bottle.
Jeff Boggis – Fantasy Sports Empires
Ryan Doumit was my top sleeper catcher this season and went into a mini-slump. He was dropped in some of my leagues, and I was glad to be able to pick him up. He is now breaking out of the mini-slump and is a viable catcher option for the rest of this season.
Starting Pitcher Rankings (Waiver Wire)*
| Player | Team | Ownership | Best Rank | Worst Rank | Consensus Rank |
| Jose Fernandez | MIA | 50% | 1 | 4 | 2.3 |
| Tony Cingrani | CIN | 34% | 1 | 6 | 3.5 |
| Scott Feldman | CHC | 49% | 3 | 5 | 4.3 |
| John Lackey | BOS | 40% | 2 | 7 | 4.3 |
| Bartolo Colon | OAK | 47% | 1 | 9 | 5.5 |
| Mike Leake | CIN | 44% | 2 | 11 | 6.3 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | CLE | 24% | 3 | 11 | 7.3 |
| Andrew Cashner | SD | 32% | 7 | 9 | 7.8 |
| Tyler Lyons | STL | 21% | 7 | 11 | 8.5 |
| Dan Straily | OAK | 22% | 8 | 14 | 10.0 |
| Bronson Arroyo | CIN | 37% | 4 | 13 | 10.3 |
| Nick Tepesch | TEX | 10% | 9 | 13 | 10.5 |
| Jorge De La Rosa | COL | 49% | 8 | 13 | 11.5 |
| Jason Vargas | LAA | 36% | 10 | 14 | 13.0 |
*List consists of relevant players with at least 50% availability in Yahoo! leagues
I own several of these guys in a points dynasty league, so I may be a little biased on Andrew Cashner, Bartolo Colon and Scott Feldman, three guys that have been all I could hope for in the back of my rotation. Even if Tony Cingrani pitches just a month while filling in for Johnny Cueto, his upside puts him in my top five. Mike Leake has been great in recent starts, but I don’t trust him all that much moving forward. The last four guys (Lyons/Arroyo/De La Rosa/Vargas) only deserve consideration as plus-matchup spot starters.
Nick Raducanu – FantasyTrade411
I’m not sure I’d list any of these players as “must-adds”, but Bartolo Colon is quietly having himself a great season so I had to put him first. After him, this list turns into a lot of young pitchers with promise and a lot of older pitchers who I’m just waiting for the wheels to fall off. I’m not sure I trust Andrew Cashner or Jose Fernandez to give any type of consistency, and I’ve just been burned by Ubaldo Jimenez and Jason Vargas too many times to bite on them. Mike Leake and Dan Straily (until yesterday) have been pitching pretty well lately, so those are two guys I might take a flier on if I needed pitching help.
Greg Smith – The Fake Baseball
When it comes to waiver wire additions, not every player you pick up is going to stick on your roster long term. The generally high turnover rate of pick-ups increases the importance of analyzing those players’ splits and upcoming schedule. Bronson Arroyo may not be the sexiest pitcher available, but he does tend to fare better at home (5-1, 2.64 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 31:7::K:BB in 47.2 IP). Arroyo is lined up to make his next three starts at Great American Ballpark, so he’s worth a look if your staff needs help in the short-term.
Jeff Boggis – Fantasy Sports Empires
Jose Fernandez is not going to win you a ton of games since he pitches for a the low run support Miami Marlins. But he does offer a very high strikeout rate with 60 Ks in 59.1 IP. His ERA is a modest 3.34. Tony Cingrani came up earlier this season and pitched very well, but was sent down to the minors once Cueto came off the DL. Now Cueto is back on the DL and Cingrani has a 2nd opportunity to pitch in the major leagues. Pick him up if any league managers dropped him when he was previously sent down to the minors.
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That wraps up this week’s Featured Pro advice. Thanks to the experts for taking the time to share their insight. Please visit their sites and follow them on Twitter for more of their tips.
Enjoy the games this weekend!
