MLB Fantasy: Hurry Up and Target These Waiver Wire Options

Injuries got you feeling down on your MLB Fantasy squad? Take a look at a few replacements for your lineup!

Welcome back to another MLB Fantasy: Waiver Wire Options. Previously, we discussed a few interesting pieces to add to your lineup, and some produced! Yes, a were slightly higher owned and may not have been considered the “sneaky” target. But a few of the lesser known options out-performed expectations.

For those of you that are new to MLB Fantasy “Waiver Wire Options” posts, check below to see how it works!

Long-term or short-term help.  Some players listed may only help in short-term.  Others may fill long-term needs.

Scooping up low owned MLB Fantasy players is risky. We can’t all be Nick Papagiorgio in Vegas, “Put a dollar in win a car, put a dollar in win a car, put a dollar in win a car.” But if you’re the guy or gal meandering the beach with a metal detector searching for gold, you may find it on your waiver wire.

Let’s take a look at some of our previous picks that performed well over the last week of work.

June 3, 2018 – June 10, 2018

P Frankie Montas – Oakland Athletics

7.2 IP – 5 K – 6 hits – 2 ER – 1 BB – 1 W

P Blake Parker – Los Angeles Angels

4.1 IP – 6 K – 1 hit – 0 ER – 1 BB – 4 SV

P Mike Montgomery – Chicago Cubs

6.0 IP – 1 K – 7 hits – 1 ER – 1 BB – 1 W

SS Dansby Swanson – Atlanta Braves

9 hits – 2 HR – 4 RBI – 2 BB – 8 R – 1 SB

OF Carlos Gonzalez – Colorado Rockies

7 hits – 1 HR – 5 RBI – 1 BB – 5 R

OF Juan Soto – Washington Nationals

5 hits – 1 HR – 3 RBI – 5 BB – 5 R

C Kevan Smith – Chicago White Sox

7 hits – 2 RBI – 3 R

Now that we’ve seen success among the waiver wire, let’s see if we can dig for more of that gold!

Are you looking to replace Ohtani or another injured pitcher on your MLB Fantasy roster?

SP/RP Steven Wright – Boston Red Sox (ESPN-24.5% owned)(Yahoo!-36% owned)

Knuckle-baller Steven Wright is an interesting pick up here. It is an extremely unpredictable pitch to rely on, as it is tough to pin point its accuracy. However, hitters struggle with it even more. His .185 BABIP is proof that hitters who make contact have still been ineffective.

One area to worry about with knuckle ball pitchers is the walk rate where Wright is at a 5.09 BB/9. But if you can get past that number, he has a 22.7 K% and a 54.5 GB%. The unpredictability of location puts the batter at unease with an uncomfortable at bat. Plus, it is tough to string together hits.

Wright’s last outing consisted of 7.0 scoreless IP, and only allowed two hits and six strike outs. Keep in mind this was his first start of the season as he has been used in a relief role.

RP Justin Miller – Washington Nationals (ESPN-3.5% owned)(Yahoo!-5% owned)

Here is another one of those opportunities to find a lights out relief pitcher to fill a few IP, K’s, and help lower your team’s ERA and WHIP. Over just nine innings of work, he’s allowed one hit and struck out an absurd amount of hitters, 17.

His ERA is still 0.00 and WHIP is 0.11. Now we can take this with a slight grain of salt as he hasn’t had a ton of work. However, Miller has also poached three wins. He is a two-pitch pitcher throwing a four-seamer (72.62% of the time) and a slider (27.38% of the time).

You might be delighted to find power and speed on your MLB Fantasy waiver wire.

OF Joc Pederson – Los Angeles Dodgers (ESPN-25.6%)(Yahoo!-27%)

Pederson is swinging a ridiculously hot bat right now. Must feel like Pablo from Backyard Baseball! Over his last ten games, Joc has six home runs and nine runs batted in while raising his average from .254 to .275.

After going two consecutive years of 100+ hits and 25+ HR, he struggled and found himself losing playing time. Pederson has already almost matched his 2017 statistics 60 games into the season as he looks to regain confidence at the plate.

He has drastically lowered his K% in 2018 at 14.5% and is making hard contact 37.7% of the time. If you are in need of power numbers for your team, don’t miss out on Pederson who is en fuego!

OF Leonys Martin – Detroit Tigers (ESPN-24.7%)(Yahoo!-17% owned)

Martin has had a great start to June against mostly solid competition: Blue Jays (See word, mostly), Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians. In his last ten games, he has 11 hits, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3 SB, and 10 R.

Those are pretty impressive numbers! Martin has also raised his OBP from .318 to .329, SLG from .438 to .476, and OPS from .755 to .805. He’s beginning to look more like his former self when he was producing regularly for the Rangers.

Martin’s wOBA is the highest of his career as an everyday player at .346 as is his wRC+ of 118. If he can remain a regular in the Tigers lineup, expect for him to continue to produce extra base hits, steal some bags, and score some runs.

SS Willy Adames – Tampa Bay Rays (ESPN-2.9% owned)(Yahoo!-8% owned)

Adames is one of the highly touted prospects with the Rays, and one of MLB.com top SS prospects in all of baseball. He was called up following the injury of teammate Daniel Robertson and could stick with the big league team this time around.

He has a slash line in AAA of .286/.356/.424 in 54 games. Middle infielders can be hard to find on the wire as useful offensive pieces. It is always a good idea to take a chance on a young, successful prospect with the opportunity to showcase what could be a major part of their team’s future.

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