10-Team Leagues

Mike Clevinger (SP – CLE): Going to piggyback off Grande from earlier this week. Clevinger’s ownership is spiking quite a bit because he’s been pitching so well lately. Friday night against Baltimore he spun six shutout innings striking out seven while picking up the win. The Indians are rolling and they’re arguably the hottest team in baseball. Almost all their pitchers are startable with the run support the offense has been getting them. Clevinger has been exceptional and deserves to be owned. His ownership is creeping above 50%.

Kevin Kiermaier (OF – TB): Lingering injury issues? Away with you! Kiermaier is back baby! Since coming off the DL on August 18th he’s slashed .360/.395/.613! He’s got four HR’s and three steals since coming back as well. He even has nine multi-hit games since coming back also so it looks like he’s doing just fine. The only concern is that he’s only walking at a 4.9% rate and striking out 18.5% of the time. Regardless, he can really help out your playoff team.

Kendrys Morales (1B, OF, UTIL – TOR): Morales may frustrate owners at times, but if you absolutely need power go grab either him or Joey Gallo (mentioned a couple weeks back when his ownership was dipping). Morales’s slash line since August 26th is hilarious: .241/.263/.630! The SLG% certainly stands out the most. Note the slight difference between the OBP and AVG. This should signal that he doesn’t walk much, and he really doesn’t. He strikes out much more than he walks. But he has six home runs in his last 13 games. He’s hitting in the heart of the order with the Jays. He’s a nice addition this late in the year.

Scooter Gennett (2B, 3B, OF – CIN): This is will be brief because he may not even be available in your league, but he’s worth mentioning. Gennett is around 75% owned on most sites and he’s hitting pretty close to .300 with 24 HR’s and 85 RBI’s. He’s not a big household name, but he’s put up great numbers on the year and needs to be owned across all formats.

12-Team Leagues

Jose Reyes (2B, 3B, SS – NYM): Need more help replacing the steals you lost from Billy Hamilton’s injury? Give Jose Reyes some consideration! Hamilton will likely be out the next week-and-a-half and considering the Reds aren’t really in contention right now, there’s no benefit to the Reds to rush him back. So if you need help getting steals or want a player with multi-position eligibility that is stroking it right now go chase Reyes. Since August 27th he’s hitting .342 with five steals. He’s walking 19.1% of the time and striking out just 6.4%. He’s available in less than 30% of leagues.

Doug Fister (SP – BOS): Fister was featured in last Saturday’s Waiver Wire piece in the 12-team section. Not sure why, but he’s still roughly 30-35% owned and he’s been great over his last four starts as Boston charges toward October. Since August 22nd he’s gone 3-1 and gone at least seven innings in each start. He owns a 1.50 ERA over that span with 8.10 K/9 and 2.40 BB/9. He gets Oakland next week if you need a spot start for your playoff run.

Mitch Haniger (OF – SEA): Outfield depth is pretty easy to find, but Haniger may offer a lot of help at the position in 12-team leagues. Over his last eight games he’s hitting .455 with five multi-hit games over that span. He can give you some surprise power if he’s healthy (something he’s struggled with this year). Haniger entered 2017 as a late-round sleeper after getting glowing reviews from coaches in spring training. He’s returning to that early season form he was in to start 2017. And he looks to end his season that way also. Haniger is just under 20% owned.

15-Team Leagues

Dillon Peters (SP – MIA): Little Dillon Peters can help you in a BIG way. Lil Dill has two starts under his belt in the big leagues and his first start was studly against the Phillies and he followed it up with a decent showing against Washington. Peters draws the Phillies again next week. In his last start against Philly he tallied eight strikeouts over seven innings. His fastball isn’t great, but he mixes in his curveball very well and misses a lot of bats. He’s a very intriguing pitching option next week.

Victor Robles (OF – WSH): Is Robles worth picking up? Sure. He’s a young outfielder with a ton of promise. Pick him up in deeper leagues, but don’t hang on to him if the Nationals continue to favor starting Alejandro De Aza over him. They’ve used Robles off the bench just once so far after he slashes .300/.382/.493 across the minors this year. He possesses power and speed, but he needs to prove he can consistently make it in the lineup.

Jose Martinez (1B, OF – STL): Like Robles, Martinez needs to get in the lineup. Unlike Robles, Martinez has been getting more plate appearances and he’s really taken the torch and run off with it (80% sure that’s how that saying goes or something like that). He’s got a hit in nine straight games since being moved into the starting lineup as a regular. It’s a small nine-game sample size, but if you need help with batting average, OBP, SLG, OPS, etc. then Martinez can really help your team. He’s got some pop and has been slotted in the four-spot the last six games for the Cardinals.