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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 20

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 20

Welcome back to the weekly piece that looks to shine a light on some names who appear to be underowned and worth an add given their recent performances. With many trade deadlines now in the dust, the waiver wire remains as your sole resource for help down the fantasy stretch. Even if you can still continue trading, you should never ignore the ol’ WW and what it could provide. Maybe you’re incredibly blessed and don’t need anything, but there’s value even in simply blocking your opponents from improving.

A quick catch-all note for low-owned closers: Blake Treinen (30% owned) and Brad Ziegler (28% owned) remain solid options, while Kenyan Middleton (2% owned) is the enticing new player in the ninth-inning game. Trevor Hildenberger (2% owned) did follow up a Matt Belisle (20% owned) blown save with a save of his own, but Belisle and his 1.15 ERA since the beginning of July is still likely the arm to own in the ninth for now.

Ownership levels are taken from Yahoo leagues and, along with the stats, are accurate through August 14.

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Priority Pickups – <30% Owned

C.J. Cron (LAA – 1B): 19% owned
Now on a six-game hitting streak, Cron has seen his hot bat rewarded with cleanup duties in three of his last four contests — logging an RBI in each of those games. In 70 at-bats since the All-Star break, the powerful 27-year-old has ripped off seven round-trippers alongside a .343 batting average. Heck, he’s even thrown in a stolen base just to show off. His 41.8 percent hard-hit and 25.5 percent line-drive rate give quite a bit of validity to this surge, making him a solid scoop for fantasy owners seeking out power and average down the stretch.

Dinelson Lamet (SD – SP): 30% owned
Lamet fared pretty well against the Reds in Cincinnati his last time out — allowing two runs over five frames with five strikeouts — though his fourth straight win would elude him as his bullpen blew up in grand fashion. But the rookie still owns a crispy 2.31 ERA and 2.70 FIP with 23 Ks in 23 1/3 innings, and that’s what fantasy owners will want to know heading into a favorable home start against the Phillies today. Now do be aware that he owns a .241 BABIP and hasn’t allowed a homer over this recent hot stretch, so he’s very unlikely to continue at this exact level moving forward. That said, his trajectory is an impressive one.

Jordan Montgomery (NYY – SP): 23% owned
Montgomery is set to make at least one more start in the Majors — a rematch with Boston — on Aug. 18 after he spun 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball against them his last time out. After a bit of a rough patch, the southpaw has looked a cut above lately with a 3.20 ERA (2.47 FIP!) over his last four starts, striking out 22 against just six walks issued over those 19 2/3 frames. The Yankees will likely push him back down to the Minors when CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka return, but the latter’s injury could wind up being an extended one pretty easily.

Byron Buxton (MIN – OF): 24% owned
After going just 6-for-27 in his first nine games back, Buxton has gone 7-for-14 over his last four games with a homer, three runs scored, and six RBIs to boost his August average up to .317. The counting stats obvious work as well, and we didn’t even mention the four steals in 13 games. None of these are game-breaking numbers, but these are solid contributions across the board for a highly-touted bat who is capable of power surges and a serviceable amount of swipes. Don’t hitch your wagon to his wild September from last season (9 HRs, 24 runs, 22 RBIs, .287 average,) but don’t forget that he’s capable of such bursts, either.

Tyler Glasnow (PIT – SP): 19% owned
With everyone scrambling for the “next best young arm to stash,” Glasnow is pretty much drifting at a level ownership percentage here. Aside from the fact that he’s a perfect 8-0 through 11 Triple-A starts thus far, he’s walked only one batter in each of his last three outings. That’s the key for him, given his unwelcome control issues that plagued him at the Major League level. Oh, and he’s also struck out 30 over those last three trips to the hill, which gives him 103 punchouts overall in 68 2/3 innings on the farm. No matter how you slice it, that’s pretty amazing and worth getting excited over. The Pirates are only 4.5 games back in the NL Central so they won’t mess around with what’s working, but he could easily step in and be a difference-maker for an injured arm, or Chad Kuhl/the following name should they falter.

Kolten Wong (STL – 2B/OF): 16% owned
As much as I hate repeating several names in back-to-back weeks, Wong has logged at least one hit in each game since then and is still quite underowned here given his robust .409 batting average (18-for-44) to kick off August. The Cardinals are picking it up as an offense and the 26-year-old has benefited with 12 runs scored and 10 RBIs in his last 13 games. His performance has also earned him a bump up in the starting lineup, as he’s slowly gone from the eight-hole to the sixth slot lately. His two homers and four steals overall will scream “empty batting average” — which is fair — but he’s increasing both his hard-hit and fly-ball rates at the moment, which could readily bump up his pop even if he doesn’t start running again.

Jake Junis (KC – SP): 20% owned
While Junis’ first few forays into the Major Leagues didn’t go so hot, his last three appearances have illustrated how he’s posted a 2.92 ERA and 1.07 WHIP through 71 innings at Triple-A this season. Now 3-0 over his last three appearances (two starts, one relief,) the 24-year-old has amazingly walked no batters and yielded zero homers over his last 15 innings. Naturally, this has resulted in a 4.99 xFIP underneath the 1.80 ERA, but his 2.27 FIP gives him lots of credit even with an unsustainable .190 BABIP at play. While the good news is that he’s likely pitched well enough to stick in the rotation for now, he does line up to face the Indians twice in a row moving forward.

Mikie Mahtook (DET – OF): 12% owned
Scorching hot lately, Mahtook has notched multi-hit games in eight of his last 10 contests to the tune of a .429 average over that span. His four extra-base hits mean he isn’t entirely a singles machine, though he’s not a powerhouse either and much of his value comes from the average and his scoring from the upper-third of the lineup lately. Seriously, in that 10-game window, he scored zero runs during his first five games — when he was hitting fifth or sixth — but has scored eight times in his last five games since moving up in the lineup. These are the changes that can tip the fantasy universe’s scales.

Tucker Barnhart (CIN – C): 12% owned
Not that Devin Mesoraco was really standing in his way much anymore, but Barnhart’s path to playing time is just a bit clearer now that Mesoraco is broken again, this time with a fracture in his foot. All Tucker has done over his last 14 games is hit .350 (14-for-40) with two homers, five runs scored, and 12 RBIs with nine walks against just five strikeouts. He’s seeing the ball extremely well and deserves more attention for his efforts given the relatively cold climate at catcher this season.

Tyler Skaggs (LAA – SP): 11% owned
Skaggs most recently blanked the Mariners over 6 1/3 innings with five Ks in just his second start of 2017 and now rolls into a road date with the Nationals today. While it’ll be tough to trust him just like that against a potent Nationals lineup, his overall stock carries healthy strikeout-per-inning upside alongside plus ratios. August isn’t the time to be stingy and turn your nose up at potential like that, one just needs to hope that he can stay healthy down the stretch given his lengthy injury profile.

Deep League Targets – <10% owned

Brian Goodwin (WSH – OF): 5% owned
Normally, I don’t go around endorsing “hurt” guys, but Goodwin’s groin tightness sounds minor and Washington is desperate for help in the outfield so I anticipate healthy playing time remaining moving forward. Of course, the fact that he’s hit three doubles and two homers with eight runs scored, four RBIs, and three steals over just his last seven contests might have something to do with that optimism.

For a bigger picture, his last 20 games have seen him produce a .293 average with nine doubles, five long balls, 17 runs scored, eight RBIs, and four steals. The run boost is due to his hitting leadoff in Trea Turner’s stead, and the young phenom isn’t returning in the near future so just keep riding this wave. Are people skeptical of his big swing or something? He has plus power and decent speed to offer up with an average that won’t hurt you. 2017 is built on big swings that are working with strikeout rates near 25 percent, so just join the party!

Edwin Jackson (WSH – SP): 9% owned
We mentioned Jackson last week before he delivered a lovely quality start — and victory — over the light-hitting Giants. Now with a 3.30 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over the last 30 days, it’s hard to argue with his standing on a powerful Nationals team. Yes, even sans Bryce Harper, they are still quite good. And if you only feel good playing E-Jax in plus matchups then I don’t blame you, in fact I’m right there with you, but you’re in luck! He’ll look to stay hot against the Padres in San Diego in his next scheduled start on Aug. 17.

Asher Wojciechowski (CIN – SP/RP): 9% owned
People are going to cool on Wojciechowski after getting wrecked for seven earned runs over just 3 2/3 innings vs. the Cubs on Monday night. We had propped up his start against the Padres last week, which he won and looked good in until facing the lineup for the third time, but this recent slip should make him more readily available on Aug. 19 for a road start against Atlanta. You know, the Braves team whose .292 wOBA over the last two weeks ranks a cold 27th out of 30 in the Major Leagues? Meanwhile, the Reds’ .356 team wOBA ranks third. His chances of at least nabbing a win look solid there.

Trevor Williams (PIT – SP/RP): 10% owned
Williams has sneakily put up a 2.95 ERA and 1.28 WHIP with 29 Ks over the last 30 days (36 2/3 innings.) He owns an overall 3.80 FIP behind his 4.19 ERA and has somehow posted a modest 0.73 HR/9 in this wild season of power. He’s started walking more batters lately (4.07 BB/9 in his last four outings) but has been able to lean on a robust 57.6 percent groundball rate for support. He’s not an ideal play at home against the red-hot Cardinals in his next start on Aug. 18, but his long-term trend is upward enough to make him a solid hold in deeper formats.

Andrew Heaney (LAA – SP): 2% owned
Heaney has made six rehab starts this season and has a strong chance of being activated for a start against Baltimore during this upcoming weekend. His latest rehab effort saw him unfurl seven frames of one-run ball to bring his Minor League ERA down to 2.60 through 27 2/3 innings alongside a useful 29-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. If you are banking on recovering arms, you’ll likely want to pivot to Skaggs since he’s already proven at least some of the rust is gone at the Major League-level, but Heaney isn’t a poor consolation prize.

Mark Leiter Jr. (PHI – SP/RP): 5% owned
Leiter draws a favorable matchup against the Padres today after logging incredible back-to-back long appearances out of the bullpen for the Phillies. At Coors Field, the 26-year-old scattered just two hits with no walks and nine strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings out of the ‘pen before allowing just one run on a solo homer over five frames against the Mets five days later. He would ring up seven hitters in that one, bringing his total to 16 over his last 9 1/3 innings. Did I mention he didn’t walk anyone in that showing either? Needless to say, he’s got some healthy momentum rolling into today’s start and is worth a grab.

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Nick Mariano is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Nick, check out his archive and follow him @NMariano53

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