It’s another late-ish edition of the Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire this weekend. I do apologize, but I’ve been busy with a little bit of everything today: MMA, NASCAR, fantasy football content, etc. “No excuses, play like a champion.” But at least with a later column we can hit on what to do after a significant trade went down today.
The Kansas City Royals Closer – Trevor Rosenthal was dealt to the Padres on Saturday afternoon, which opens up a door for saves in Kansas City. I would love to see Josh Staumont get the opportunity but I really doubt he gets it. He walks way too many hitters, but his strikeout upside is amazing. Scott Barlow is a more logical option. He still presents similar strikeout upside with far fewer walks. However, Mike Matheny is an old school guy and he could give Greg Holland a shot at the job but Barlow or Staumont make more sense. They’ve been the sexier options while Holland has been pretty underwhelming. A true wild card would be Ian Kennedy who had 30 saves a year ago, but he’s been a dumpster fire in 2020. My gut feeling is that it goes to Barlow, but they could go with a committee.
Ian Anderson (ATL – SP) – I’m breaking my rule of back-to-back mentions, but Anderson was stellar in his debut on Wednesday. It wasn’t the strongest New York lineup he could’ve seen, but he started his MLB debut with five no-hit innings before giving up a solo home run to Luke Voit in the sixth inning. He finished with six strikeouts in six innings with two walks and the lone home run. He got the win and Braves fans are fanning themselves over this potential ace. His next start comes this coming week against the Red Sox. It’s been a down year for Boston so you can easily play Anderson with confidence next week.
Jake Cronenworth (SD – 1B, 2B, SS) I’ve mentioned him ad nausea but consider this last call. His ownership is teetering on that territory where he probably isn’t available in your deep league, but he should be owned almost everywhere. Entering Saturday he’s raised his slash line to .348/.404/.584 with 13 extra base hits and he’s seeing regular playing time. He’s shown he’s a regular threat for multi-hit games and he’s scoring runs for the Padres who have turned into one of the best offenses in the league.
Gavin Lux (LAD – 2B) Lux was a hot commodity in the Mock Draft Army this past Spring/Summer. He was drafted relatively high in most drafts and it was a bit surprising when he wasn’t on the Opening Day roster. He’s made his debut this year and while he hasn’t done anything notable (yet) he’s worth picking up based on his pedigree as a prospect and he’s in a loaded lineup that can make him look good too.
Gregory Soto (DET – RP) I haven’t written up too many Tigers this year save for their rookies and a brief Jonathan Schoop mention. However, Soto looks like he could be the closer going forward for Detroit. Joe Jiménez was removed from the job, Buck Farmer was knocked around quite a bit, and Soto has been probably the most consistent reliever in the Detroit bullpen. Soto got his first save of the season in the second game of Saturday’s double-header, which is a great sign for the short-term.
Brad Miller (STL – 3B) Miller was a very popular add off waivers the last week or two due to the streak he’s been on. He’s raised his slash line to a stellar .340/.467/.596 so he can at least help out in those categories. He isn’t a huge contributor in counting categories, which makes you wonder how exactly he hit 30 home runs four years ago. For a guy hitting in the middle of the lineup, hopefully we see more of an uptick in RBI.
Corbin Burnes (MIL – SP) I still can’t believe Burnes is available in nearly 50% of ESPN leagues. He’s coming off his best start where he looked like an absolutely stud. He tallied ten strikeouts over six innings of work and allowed just three hits and a walk. He has the stuff to be an Ace in Major League Baseball and in every start this season, good or bad, he’s had at least five strikeouts. He now has 46 strikeouts in 32.1 innings of work. He’ll face off against the Indians next week.
Brandon Belt (SF – 1B) Belt has gone on a really steady run the last week or two. On Tuesday night he collected four hits including a pair of home runs. And this performance was coming off back-to-back multi-hit games as well. He’s raised his batting average to .316 entering Saturday’s contest in Arizona and his OPS is flirting with 1.000.
Stephen Piscotty (OAK – OF) Piscotty’s a pretty solid speculative add for the coming week. For starters, he’s been swinging a hot bat to the tune of three multi-hit games over the past week and he has five home runs this month as well. He has a trio of southpaws lined up this week and he tends to hit lefties much better than righties. Although his five home runs have come off righties, he’s still hitting .292 off lefties in 2020 so he’s a nice add for the upcoming week at the very least.