Waiver Wire Targets: Week 11
A look ahead at some waiver wire targets for the upcoming week
Jon with no H is on vacation now. The wifi really sucks here, and I don’t really want to try to do a podcast in front of my family. So we’re parking the podcast version of it for this week and next. But we’ll just keep this article free in the meantime.
Shallow League Pitcher Targets
Jack Flaherty (45% Owned): K-BB% is king! And Flaherty has been awesome in that regard for more than a month now. He put it together in a nice start on Tuesday against the Rays. And I think we’ll see him being pretty effective the rest of the season… knock on wood.
JT Ginn (50%): This guy is really figuring things out. Going back to May 7th, he has a 1.48 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP in five outings. The K-BB% is underwhelming at 14.4%. But he has the ground ball prowess to make up for a lot of that. He’s given up just two homers during this stretch with a pretty solid 3.70 JA ERA in the last five.
Christian Scott (33%): K% is up to 28% now, and he’s been delivering solid results for the Mets lately. The sweeper looks really good, and maybe the fastball will survive enough to get it all working together.
Trevor McDonald (26%): There’s very little respect for this guy! Even the sports books are constantly insulting him giving the opponents very high implied run totals. But McDonald has a 21% K%, a 6% BB%, and a 62% GB%. That will play, man! Especially in AT&T Park.
Tatsuya Imai (44%): Back-to-back quality starts for Imai, so he might be settling into his new job in the States. The 7:6 K:BB makes you very nervous about it, but he’s got a
Deep League Pitcher Targets
Gage Jump (27%): All we can do is go off the MLB numbers so far. He has a 10.4% SwStr%, a 31.2% Ball%, and a 34% GB%. That’s not very good. But we’re holding out for him to tap into a little bit more. He’s thrown all of 173 MLB pitches so far, so we can’t really judge him on the numbers. What we do know is that he has a 96.4mph four-seamer from the left side. And that pitch has been great so far with a .267 xwOBA allowed. Slider/Sweeper/Curve/Change behind it. I think there’s a good ceiling for Jump, although it might take a year or so to find it.
Walbert Urena (30%): It’s the same formula as they have going with Jose Soriano. That gives mixed results, but Urena has a big 52% GB% with a K% hovering around the league average. I’d use him in good matchups, but it’s working all the time lately. He’s allowed 1, 1, 2, 0, 1, and 1 earned runs in these last six.
Dustin May (34%): May has given up more than three earned runs just one time since his second start of the year. He has 25 strikeouts in his last three outings. If you forgive his first two bad ones, he has a 3.19 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP and a sick 0.46 HR/9. So he’s getting the job done in points leagues, and he’s good for deeper roto formats as well.
Sean Burke (33%): He might just be kinda decent? He has a 16% K-BB% this year with a 3.51 JA SIERA. Not bad at all. He’s given up five homers on a .301 xwOBA. So he’s holding down the fort for a White Sox rotation that doesn’t have a lot going for it.
Connor Prielipp (35%): After a couple of bad ones, a lot of people gave up. But the Twins didn’t, and he six innings with seven strikeouts in his last start. His 16.3% K-BB% with a 0.94 HR/9 vastly beats his 4.91 ERA. The slider he has keeps the floor decently high, it’s a very good pitch.
Robert Gasser (4%): He throws a lot of different pitch types and has decent command. The stuff isn’t overwhelming, but the Brewers often turn these types of dudes (low stuff, good command) into studs. So I’m signing up for some Gasser shares in leagues where I’m hurting at SP.
Chad Patrick (30%): They’re kinda asking a lot of Patrick in Milwaukee. He went to the bullpen, but then made a start and threw four innings. And then he went right back for a one inning appearance on June 1st. But he’s pitched pretty well of late, and they might need him back in the rotation at some points. He’s someone to keep an eye on. His 3.90 JA ERA on the season really isn’t too bad, all things considered.
Shallow League Hitter Targets
Jake McCarthy (22%): McCarthy has recaptured some of his old fantasy value back when he was a rookie with the Diamondbacks. He’s hitting .277/.324/.458 this year with four homers and 10 steals. He’s averaged 2.08 fantasy points per plate appearance, ahead of guys like Mike Trout and Sal Stewart.
Kyle Manzardo (23%): Since April 20th, Manzardo has a .271/.352/.505 line with six homers in 122 PAs. That’s a 30-homer pace. He’s a good start any time the Guardians face a right-handed pitcher.
Bryce Eldridge (37%): This kid is striking out just 24% of the time this year. I thought it would be 8-10 points higher than that. The Brl% is 11.5%, which is pretty good, but is down a little bit from what we though it could be - probably because he’s focusing a little more on making contact. But he can still murder baseballs, and you’re not certainly not mad about the .286/.363/.471 slash line he’s given so far.
Sam Antonacci (48%): Up to eight steals now while hitting .288. Pretty solid player and a fixture in the White Sox lineup.
Spencer Horwitz (34%): What does the guy have to do to get some love in fantasy leagues? He’s hitting .285/.386/.452 this year with seven homers. He’s the Pirates lead-off hitter against all righties, and that’s a good spot to be in.
Cam Smith (42%): The Astros have stuck with him. He started very hot, and then got very cold, but for the last month or so, he’s been about a league average hitter. We’re still betting on those elite skills coming through at some point. His EV90 is way up there at 107, and he’s getting the ball in the air at a decent rate. If he picks up the pace just a little bit, he’ll end up as a 20-20 guy.
Noelvi Marte (37%): Shocked he’s 37% owned… did people really just stash him when he went to AAA? But okay, he’s back now after hitting .369/.409/.575 down there with eight homers and nine steals. That took him 40 games to do. Pretty sick stuff. Of course, he hasn’t been good in the Majors. But at least he has a job again with TJ Friedl being the guy they switched him with.
Deep League Hitter Targets
Paul Goldschmidt (8%): The Aaron Judge injury (4-6 weeks out minimum) sends Goldy into the lineup every day. Goldy’s hitting .276/.360/.528 this year with a 12.6% Brl% and a 20% K%. Being put into the lineup daily is going to bring those numbers down, because he’ll have to face a ton more righties than usual. He has a .230 xBA and a .291 xwOBA against righties this year, about half as good as he does against lefties. But he’s hit 3rd and 4th this week while Judge has been out, so it’s a good lineup spot to be in if he can figure out some way to be half-decent against righties.
Nick Gonzales (27%): Two homers recently. So he’s showing he has some power. But moreso he’s a guy you want for the batting average and the daily role in a good Pirates lineup.
Jacob Young (12%): Has anybody noticed that this guy has eight homers already? One more will triple his previous career high. He’s hitting .236/.290/.390 with eight homers and four steals. So it’s not great, but he’s on his way to a 17-homer, 12-steal season or something like that.
Kody Clemens (17%): Four homers in the last ten days. He’s slugging .460 now with eight homers. So the power is there, and the K% continues to improve, down to 23% now.