Fantasy Baseball 2018: Week 1 waiver wire options
By Gavin Tramps
It is never too early to improve your roster with reinforcements from the waiver wire.
As the dust settles after the busiest weekend of drafts, it is time to take stock and re-evaluate your roster to fill the holes from the waiver wire before the season starts. Here are six players for your consideration.
For standard mixed leagues, Brewers’ second baseman Jonathan Villar (33% ownership) is someone have at the top of your wish list.
With speed at a premium this season, Villar is only one season removed from leading the league with 62 stolen bases. Although the switch-hitter will bat at the bottom of the lineup, he will be on base when Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain and Ryan Braun come to the plate to drive him in.
The 26-year-old hit a robust .311 in spring training with two stolen bases in 45 at-bats. He has averaged 15 home runs with 40 stolen bases over the last two seasons, and we all know that the Brewers love to run. Watch his ownership rise if he swipes a couple of bags in the first week.
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In deeper leagues, but staying at second base, we have the oft-injured but currently healthy, Devon Travis (4%) of the Blue Jays.
The 27-year-old has a history of injury problems but a sustained stretch of playing time could see him catapult into fantasy relevancy.
Travis has excellent contact skills and offers the potential of double-digit home runs and stolen bases, from the top of the Blue Jays’ lineup.
There are plenty of starting pitcher options available for standard, mixed leagues, but at 38%, Patrick Corbin looks startlingly under-owned.
The Diamondbacks’ Opening Day starter suffered from a dreadful May last year which distorted his season’s figures but look more closely, and you see a pitcher who should definitely have been taken way before his ADP as the 66th starter off the board.
Over his final 20 starts, Corbin averaged almost a strikeout per inning with 3.21 ERA and induced ground balls at a near-elite 51%.
As if you needed more encouragement to pick him up, Diamondbacks’ pitchers will all benefit from the installation of the humidor. No one knows for sure how much impact this will have, but studies suggest it could reduce the number of home runs by as much as 50%.
If you play in deeper formats, then Jack Flaherty (8%) is worth picking up. The Cardinals’ No. 2 prospect is in the rotation thanks to Adam Wainwright starting the season on the DL. He was superb in the minors last season with 2.18 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 8.90 SO/9.
Although Wainwright is not expected to miss more than two or three starts, it will be difficult for the contending Cardinals to demote Flaherty if he is pitching well.
The relief pitcher to pick up before his ownership rockets up is the Angels’ Cam Bedrosian (24%). Although he has not officially been anointed the closer, the 26-year-old is considered the favorite for saves, ahead of Blake Parker and Jim Johnson.
He has the best stuff out of the Angels’ bullpen and was striking out at an impressive rate of 14.90 SO/9 during Spring Training.
Next: 12 snippets from Spring Training
Finally, in the deepest of leagues, you may want to consider adding Yairo Munoz (< 1%) who slashed .300/.330/.464 between Double-A and Triple-A last season. He has broken camp with the Cardinals and could be next out-of-nowhere infielder to emerge in St Louis after Aledmys Diaz and Paul DeJong.
If you have any suggestions for future articles or just want to chat about fantasy baseball, find Gavin on Twitter @_tramps