Often when we’re scouring the waiver wire, we’re looking for players to bolster a particular category, rather than the next trendy up-and-comer. Looking for stolen bases? Home runs? ERA and WHIP?
I’ve got you covered. I present to you Week 13’s fantasy baseball 5×5 category targets.
For this exercise, I’ll be using ESPN ownership percentages. All stats are accurate going into Friday’s contests.
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Batting Average
Josh Reddick (OF – HOU): 35.9%
Batting average tends to be a volatile stat from year to year, so it’s often a tricky stat to target on the waiver wire. Thus, as a career .260 hitter, it’s hard to say if we can trust Reddick as a batting average asset, but since the start of 2016 he’s hit .292 with just a 12.7% strikeout rate, so he appears to be trending upward.
He’s played well since coming off the disabled list last week, and batting second for the Houston Astros is a rather nice way to rack up the counting stats. He won’t blow you away with either power or speed, but he’s turned himself into a nice jack-of-all-trades contributor in 2017.
Home Runs
Joc Pederson (OF – LAD): 31.6%
Randal Grichuk (OF – STL): 20.7%
In what has otherwise been a disappointing season, Pederson is finally starting to heat up, with six homers, a 1.136 OPS, and a .418 ISO in the month of June.
He still has just eight dingers on the season, but hopefully, this is a sign that he’s ready to tap into all that power potential. Across the past two seasons, he slugged 51 homers.
Following a month-long banishment to Triple-A, Grichuck returned to the St. Louis Cardinals this week and has already hit three bombs in five games. His 29.3% strikeout rate leaves him prone to poor stretches, but there’s no denying the tantalizing home run potential, making him worth a pickup if you need a power boost. Just know that when Dexter Fowler returns from the DL, there could be a logjam in the Cardinals’ outfield that leaves Grichuk out of regular playing time.
RBIs
Nick Castellanos (3B – DET): 38.1%
Considering Castellanos’ ownership has taken a small dip this week, it’s worth pointing out that as of this writing, only five guys have a better hard-hit rate this year — Miguel Sano, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Miguel Cabrera, and Aaron Judge. Not a bad group!
With nine home runs and 39 RBIs, Castellanos’ stats remain modest so far, but as you can see from those names, only good things can happen when you’re making this much hard contact. You want to be the owner with Castellanos on your side when his counting stats start to catch up.
Runs
Scooter Gennett (2B/OF – CIN): 41.3%
Curtis Granderson (OF – NYM): 28.9%
I mentioned both of these guys in this week’s By The Numbers article, so be sure to check that out if you want to dig into why they’re good pickups. But the abridged version is that they’re crushing it this month, and hit high in the order for their respective teams. That’s a good recipe for piling up some runs. Need I say more?
Stolen Bases
Michael Taylor (OF – WAS): 32.6%
Tyler Wade (SS – NYY): 3.5%
Taylor is undoubtedly one of the hotter names on the waiver wire this week, with a .930 OPS, seven home runs, and six stolen bases in June. A power-speed dual threat, Taylor has always had plenty of fantasy potential and has taken advantage of his everyday playing time since Adam Eaton was lost for the season. Hitting low in the lineup has held down his value a bit, but with Trea Turner breaking his wrist on Thursday, Taylor could be primed for a leap up the order. If he’s out there, snag him while you can.
Wade is only worth a look in deep leagues, but he deserves a nod while he’s getting regular playing time for the New York Yankees. At just 22 years old, we don’t know how Wade will handle his first taste of the majors, but he was slashing a cool .313/.390/.444 with 24 swiped bags in Triple-A. It’s unclear whether he’ll stick around once Starlin Castro comes back from the DL, but he can play all over the diamond, which could help him carve out a utility role.
Wins
Jon Gray (SP – COL): 40.3%
He’s finally back! Gray is scheduled to start on Friday, his first since going on the DL in mid-April. Despite their recent losing streak, the Rockies have been surprisingly competitive this season, so Gray should be a steady source of wins.
Of course, even though he handled Coors Field reasonably well in 2016, playing there all the time will still inevitably put a damper on his ERA and WHIP prospects. That said, Gray can pile up the strikeouts, as shown by his 26.0% rate last year. If an owner got impatient in your league and dropped him, now is the time to pounce.
Strikeouts
Dinelson Lamet (SP/RP – SD): 13.1%
Due to two disastrous outings, the season numbers don’t look great for Lamet (5.35 ERA), but he’s now rolled off three straight quality starts, including Thursday’s eight strikeout performance against the Atlanta Braves. Don’t let the ERA scare you off, as his 3.21 SIERA suggests an improvement, and he has huge upside with a 32.1% strikeout rate. He’s a bit risky since he’s still giving up a lot of hard contact, and playing for the San Diego Padres won’t do his wins any favors, but you don’t often find this kind of strikeout upside on the waiver wire.
ERA and WHIP
Jordan Montgomery (SP – NYY): 48.7%
Despite holding steady numbers all year, and playing behind a strong offensive club, Montgomery curiously remains unowned in over half of ESPN leagues. He has a solid 3.53 ERA and 1.21 WHIP while giving up hard contact just 26.6% of the time.
His strikeout rate is an above average 23.2%, and his swinging-strike rate remains top ten among qualified starters, so there’s plenty of punchout potential. In all, there’s a lot to like here, and he should be a reliable starter the rest of the year.
Saves
Trevor Rosenthal (RP – STL): 13.2%
Sam Dyson (SP – SF): 11.2%
It’s not pretty, but saves are saves, right? With Seung-Hwan Oh looking shaky lately, St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny gave Rosenthal a save opportunity on Wednesday, which didn’t exactly go smoothly, but he managed to hold on for the save.
No official closer change has been announced, but at the very least this could be shaping up as a committee. It’s messy and might make you queasy, but if you need the saves, it’s worth speculating on Rosenthal in case he wins the job outright.
Speaking of queasy, Dyson flamed out as the Texas Rangers closer in spectacular fashion earlier this season, leading to him getting shipped to the San Francisco Giants. He’s now the expected fill-in closer while Mark Melancon is out.
Dyson has a 9.00 ERA on the season, but has compiled a less cringeworthy 4.91 ERA with the Giants. You’re probably not elated to grab him, but beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to saves.
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Kenyatta Storin is a featured writer with FantasyPros. For more from Kenyatta, check out his archive and follow him @kenyattastorin
