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.
Player News
Kyren Paris hit a two-run homer in Wednesday’s win for the Angels over the Blue Jays.
That’s the first homer for Paris since April 9 when he went deep twice against Tampa Bay and caused everyone to lose all sense of rational thought. The 23-year-old did also single and walk to improve his on-base percentage to .311,, while the homer bumps his slugging mark to .378. There is long-term upside in Paris with flashes that suggest he can be a fantasy option. Fantasy managers should still absolutely looking elsewhere for options up the middle.
Jorge Soler hit a three-run double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Angels a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Trent Grisham went 1-for-1 with a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday.
While the Yankees won this game on a walk-off in the 10th inning, Grisham’s game-tying home run in the eighth was the biggest moment. He came on as a pinch-hitter for Jorbit Vibas against the usually stout Jason Adam and smashed a two-strike changeup into the right field seats. This clutch shot will only continue to push Grisham’s playing time in the right direction after he just started eight of the last 10 games, hit either first or second in each, and already has 10 homers in 31 games played this season.
Jeff Hoffman blew a save and picked up a loss Wednesday against the Angels.
Devin Williams struck out three batters with one walk and hit another in a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win against the Padres on Wednesday.
The Yankees entrusted Williams with the all important 10th inning and the inherited ghost runner on second base after their dramatic comeback. While he loaded the bases and had some tense moments, he left the inning unscathed and opened the door for them to win it right after. It should be noted that Luke Weaver came on for what were the most important outs of this game at the time, after Ian Hamilton walked two to begin the eighth inning and Weaver allowed both of those inherited runners to score. He was called upon as the fireman though and will likely get the next save opportunity. Still, this was a massive step in the right direction for Williams.
Max Fried allowed five hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings in a no-decision against the Padres on Wednesday.
Fried’s excellent season continued as he set down the Padres easily besides for a mammoth solo home run by Jackson Merrill. It was no matter though, as they rarely threatened otherwise and Fried continued to find his strikeout stuff. This was his fourth outing of the year with at least seven strikeouts, a mark he only hit 10 times last season in 29 starts. Fried with a strikeout rate that’s better than league average – which is where he’s at right now – is a clear top-10 pitcher in fantasy baseball. He’s set for a two-start week coming up against the Mariners and Mets.