Intro
Another weekend of waiver wire adds! I am traveling this weekend with the family, so a lot of this was written earlier in the week. It’s tough to cite statistics in these write-ups when they change so drastically every day,
This week, I’m breaking it down into four categories
Pitchers - Shallow
Pitchers - Deep
Hitters - Shallow
Hitters - Deep
For “shallow”, I have 12-team leagues in mind. For the "deep” recommendations, we’re thinking more of a 15-team situation. So keep that in mind as you read.
And rely on your own judgement. Use the tools I offer, find your own targets, don’t just listen to me! That’s the whole fun of the game.
Pitchers
Shallow Leagues
Dustin May, Los Angeles Dodgers (38% owned)
This ownership number is on the way up, but there are probably plenty of you reading this in leagues where he’s available.
In case you’re new to baseball, Dustin May is very good. He missed all of last year and most of 2023 with elbow surgery. But he’s back now, and he looked mostly like his old self in his Dodgers debut.
I think he’ll be limited to 75-85 pitches most starts, and there will probably be some six-man rotation stuff and bullpen games for the Dodgers as we get through the long season. But May’s ratios should be spectacular. He’s more than good enough to be 70%+ owned. Let’s get him there.
Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals (19% owned)
Bubic was fantastic in his first start (55% Strike%, 15.8% SwStr%, 32% Ball%). And this was a guy on a lot of people’s sleeper lists. I think he’s close to a must-own right now. The upside seems to be there.
Jeffrey Springs, Oakland Athletics (55% owned)
We are going to try to focus on pitchers that I had interest in at the beginning of the season. I don’t want one or two starts to cause a reaction, because it shouldn’t. But if there were already reasons to like a guy, and then they come out of the gate well, then that’s twice as good.
Springs was phenomenal in his first start. It was against the Mariners, so that’s some reason for a little grain of salt, but still - a 20.5% SwStr% with a 33.7% Ball%. That generated a 3.25 xERA. The command is good, the changeup is elite. I’m buying in pretty much all league sizes.