The fantasy baseball waiver wire has been a busy one in the 2023 MLB season. Budgets in leagues that use FAAB are extremely low for June and those with first come, first serve pickups have been busy making adds and drops often. Every week, big prospects are getting the call causing players to make a lot of moves.

Injuries have been a big factor, too. Over the last week, some big names suffered injuries. Pete Alonso, Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez, Jorge Polanco, Vinnie Pasquantino, Ryan Helsley, and Liam Hendricks all landed on the injured list. While most of the top prospects recently called up are on most rosters by now, not all waiver wire adds need to be productive for the rest of the season. Playing weekly matchups and adding hot players can help plug holes temporarily while key players are out.  As always, continue to hit the waiver wire and consider adding some of the players below to help bolster your fantasy baseball teams.

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups – Hitters

Marcell Ozuna, OF, Atlanta Braves (40% – Yahoo, 15.4% – ESPN)

Why is Ozuna not on more rosters? He has been mentioned here many times. Ozuna got off to an awful start and it appeared his at-bats were in danger, but he has bounced back to be one of the better hitters in recent weeks. He has 13 home runs and 29 RBIs in his last 50 games and is in one of the best lineups in baseball. Over the last 31 games, he is batting .319 with a 1.020 OPS. Ozuna got hit by a pitch on his wrist Monday night and left the game early, but X-rays were negative and he isn't expected to miss much time.

Joey Wiemer, OF, Milwaukee Brewers (25% – Yahoo, 6.9% – ESPN)

After a slow start to the season, Wiemer has played well in June. Over the last 11 games, Wiemer is batting .324 with seven runs, three home runs, nine RBIs and two stolen bases. Wiemer is striking out 28.4% of the time, so the average won't be high but he has eight home runs and 10 steals in 64 games.

Gary Sanchez, C, San Diego Padres (34% – Yahoo, 12.7% – ESPN)

Sanchez has been hitting since coming to the Padres and often hitting in the middle of the order. He has always displayed power, but a high strikeout rate has led to awful averages. Sanchez has a 32.1% strikeout rate, but a 51.5% hard hit rate. He is batting .282 with five home runs with San Diego. 

Will Brennan, OF, Cleveland Guardians (7% – Yahoo, 2.7% – ESPN)

Brennan has been a sneaky pickup over the last week. Over the last 12 games, he is 20-for-48 with four runs, two home runs, eight RBIs and two stolen bases. Brennan makes a lot of contact and is in the 82nd percentile of sprint speed. 

Edouard Julien, 2B, Minnesota Twins (4% – Yahoo, 1% – ESPN)

Julien gets another opportunity with Jorge Polanco sidelined again with a hamstring injury. Julien will play most of the time with Polanco out and batted leadoff in his first two games back over the weekend. He went 3-for-7 with two runs, and a stolen base. He has four home runs in 69 at-bats with the Twins this season.

Kerry Carpenter, OF, Detroit Tigers (1% – Yahoo, 0.7% – ESPN)

This is for deeper formats, especially if you have been hit with injuries. The Tigers have seven games this week and all are against right-handed pitchers, which is a good thing for the left-handed Carpenter. He was out six weeks with a sprained shoulder and returned on Friday. Over the weekend, he went 8-for-12 with two runs scored. He is slashing .284/.341/.506 with 10 runs, six doubles, four home runs, and eight RBIs. Carpenter has a hard hit rate of 45.6%.

Tommy Pham, OF, New York Mets (5% – Yahoo, 2.1% – ESPN)

Pham has seen more playing time with Pete Alonso on the injured list. He has consistently hit the ball hard this season with a 51.2% hard hit rate and is in the 90th percentile of max exit velocity. In the last seven games, Pham is 8-for-24 with four doubles, six runs, three home runs, eight RBIs and a stolen base. He has six home runs and six stolen bases in 45 games.

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups – Pitchers

Braxton Garrett, SP, Miami Marlins (35% – Yahoo, 16.2% – ESPN)

Garrett had one awful start that makes his season stats appear worse than the way he is pitching. He pitched 5.1 scoreless innings on Sunday against the White Sox and allowed three hits, one walk and struck out a season-high nine batters. Over his last six games, he has pitched 32 innings with a 2.25 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, a 41:7 K:BB ratio and a .188 average against. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of his last six starts.

Brayan Bello, SP, Boston Red Sox (29% – Yahoo, 9.8% – ESPN)

Bello has been mentioned here several times, yet he's still widely available. Bello had another strong performance on Sunday against the Yankees. He pitched seven innings and allowed three hits, two runs, walked two and struck out three. Both runs scored on a ball that likely would have been a ground out and it hit second base and bounced into the outfield for a two-run single. He has allowed two earned or fewer in seven of his last eight starts for a 2.80 ERA in that span. He isn't getting a lot of strikeouts, but it could rise if he uses his changeup more since it has a 41.5% whiff rate. Bello limits damage with a 57.1% ground ball rate.

Kutter Crawford, SP, Boston Red Sox (4% – Yahoo, .9% – ESPN)

Crawford is back in the starting rotation with Chris Sale injured and he was moved to the 60-day injured list. Crawford started on June 3 and threw 40 pitches and increased to 58 in his last start Wednesday. It might take another start or two before he gets to a normal starters pitch range, but he has a great start on Tuesday at home against the Rockies. After allowing seven runs in four innings to open the season, Crawford has allowed eight runs in 32.2 innings with a 30:4 K:BB ratio. He is in the 99th percentile of chase rate.

Kendall Graveman, RP, Chicago White Sox (36% – Yahoo, 11.3% – ESPN)

Liam Hendricks is on the injured list with elbow inflammation and Graveman should get most of the save opportunities. He blew a save against the Marlins on Sunday, but was pitching well before that. He has six saves with a 2.86 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. Graveman had pitched 16 consecutive scoreless innings before allowed the runs on Sunday.

Aaron Civale, SP, Cleveland Guardians (32% – Yahoo, 13.2% – ESPN)

Civale has made two starts since coming off the injured list and has limited the damage, pitching 10.2 innings, allowing eight hits, two earned runs, walked four and struck out seven. In 23.1 innings, he has a 2.31 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP with a 15:6 K:BB ratio.

 

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