2023 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Week 18: Eury Perez Return On The Horizon

Published: Jul 31, 2023

Updated: Jul 31, 2023

Last weekend, the fantasy baseball waiver wire gifted us with another premier rookie to grab out of the free agent pool in Sal Frelick. To no surprise, he was the featured player in the early week edition of this very article. Frelick has rewarded those who quickly added him to their fantasy baseball lineups by scoring a run in each of his first six games, and he notched his first career home run on Monday. This weekend’s article will touch on some familiar faces while also adding some new players to consider. But overall, the goal here is to help you get ready for your fantasy baseball playoffs. So here are this week’s top fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups as we approach the month of August.

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups – Hitters

Triston Casas, 1B, Boston Red Sox; FAAB Bid: 6-7%

Casas has been a featured player in several waiver wire articles the last 48 hours and rightfully so. Since the All-Star break Casas is slashing .469/.575/1.094 with six home runs, 11 runs scored, and 11 RBI. That’s all over an 11-game sample size. Following Friday’s performance he now has recorded multiple hits in five of his last six games. He’s really only a shallow league player to pick up, but he’s been raking and I love to preach striking while the iron is hot.

Lars Nootbaar, OF, St. Louis Cardinals; FAAB Bud: 6-7%

Nootbar has been hitting incredibly well since teams returned to action following the All-Star break. Entering Friday night, he was slashing .311/.456/.533 over the last two weeks with a trio of home runs and a pair of stolen bases. On Friday he provided all the offense for the Cards with a pair of solo home runs in the first and third innings. While the Cardinals aren’t very good, he does hit toward the top of the order for them, and occasionally leads off. He should be owned in most formats.

Wilmer Flores, 1B/2B/3B/DH, San Francisco Giants; FAAB Bid: 5%

It’s a shame he is constantly mentioned in fantasy baseball waiver wire articles because he just keeps hitting the ball well but the roster exposures don’t seem to shift. Entering Friday he was slashing .407/.450/.796 since July 5^th with five home runs in that span. He even collected a hit early on Friday night against the Red Sox before I passed out and woke up to finish this article. I’m not sure what else needs to be said, but he’s seeing the ball well and hasn’t cooled off yet. If you don’t think you have a roster spot for him, so be it. But it’s still surprising he isn’t rostered in more leagues.

Trevor Story, 2B, Boston Red Sox; FAAB Bid: 3-5%

Let’s throw another member of the Boston Red Sox into the waiver wire article, shall we? For a while we haven’t had a ton of clarity on when Story would be back after missing the first 100+ games of the season. Alas, we were given some clarity as Gayle Troiani of NESN.com reported that Story is targeting the Red Sox homestand starting next weekend where they take on the Blue Jays, Royals, and Tigers over ten days. The Red Sox completed a short two-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves this week, and despite being fourth in the AL East, they’re only two games out of the final AL Wild Card spot. So Story’s presence and bat would be a welcome addition to a team trying to make a playoff run and he’s still available in plenty of leagues. Story didn’t showcase a great batting average in his first season with Boston last year, but he did hit 16 home runs inn 94 games with 66 RBI and 53 runs scored.

Maikel Garcia, 3B, Kansas City Royals; FAAB Bid: 3%

Garcia may not move the needle much because of his four home runs and OPS that barely crosses the .700 threshold for the 2023 season. But over the last two weeks he’s hit the ball very well with a .262/.273/.405 slash line. Strangely enough it is the power that’s stood out dating back to July 16^th. In that span he has 11 hits including three doubles and a home run. He improved on that line with a triple and two runs scored Friday night. He hasn’t stolen a base in a few weeks but if he continues to reach base we’ll likely see a resurgence in the swipes department.

Luis Campusano, C, San Diego Padres; FAAB Bid: 2%

Need a little help at catcher? Campusano could pique your interest. Although Gary Sanchez did get the start Friday night for the Padres, Campusano has been getting plenty of reps behind the dish since returning in the middle of last week. He has nine hits in the seven games he’s played since returning, but he just doesn’t walk as much as we would like. But catcher can be tricky and he might just be able to help out down the stretch. There are pro’s and con’s with his situation though. The good thing is that Gary Sanchez can be a streaky hitter and the Friars may like Campusano’s bat more. But if this does level out and become a 50/50 split then I lose interest quickly in this recommendation. But there’s plenty to like from what we’ve seen since he came back last week.

Marco Luciano, SS, San Francisco Giants; FAAB Bid: 2%

Luciano is strictly a deeper league target considering he’s widely available and just recently got the call up. Some pundits have made note that he’s been on MLB’s Top 100 Prospects since he was 17 years old, but he didn’t quite live up to the hype in the minor leagues. At the time of his call, he was ranked 15^th on that list while Sal Frelick was 17^th, to put things into comparison. Shortstop is a position without a ton of depth so if you can possibly find a player with upside then take the chance. Again, this is mostly a deeper league recommendation right now. His overall career trajectory in the minors hasn’t been great, but the Giants are trying to make a push by calling up the young prospect.

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups – Pitchers

Eury Perez, Miami Marlins; FAAB Bid: 3-5%

Normally I would list players in order of recommended FAAB bid from high-to-low. However, Perez tops the list of pitchers this week because I’m stashing him where I can and the best part is too many people have ditched him and you can get him on the cheap. Perez made his first appearance in the last few weeks at Double-A but only lasted 2.1 innings. It was the first time he took the mound since earlier this month and there is speculation he’ll get one more start in the minor leagues and then will be called up but don’t be surprised if he gets two or three starts in the minors. The Marlins recently acquired David Robertson, which does signal that they want to make a run at the postseason. And if that’s true, it would make sense to bring Perez back. If they still want to manage his workload, it’s hard to imagine him pitching into the seventh inning when he is stretched out and pitching regularly. But we’ve seen the upside and fortunately for us, too many fantasy baseball managers cut ties with him over the last month.

Tanner Bibee, Cleveland Guardians; FAAB Bid: 6%

I have to be completely honest, there aren’t a ton of standouts on the waiver wire for starting pitchers this week, which might be a bit disappointing to some of you. But I suggest you check out Ivar Anderson’s weekly Two-Start Pitchers and Streaming Pitchers article that’ll drop on Sunday morning. But this week it does feel like more of the same. I’ve already suggested stashing Eury Perez, Kenta Maeda is still a top arm to grab as well while Seth Lugo and Grayson Rodriguez are worth considering as well. Those pitchers have frequented the waiver wire article in recent weeks. But Bibee is a guy I can rally around based on what he’s done in his last three starts since the All-Star break. He’s registered three straight quality starts averaging nearly a strikeout per inning in that span. He’s only allowed four walks in that stretch, but he has let three balls leave the park. He has a slightly more difficult schedule coming up against the Houston Astros on the road where Bibee has been far worse this season. Following the start against Houston he will get two starts the following week against the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. So he does have a bit of a gauntlet coming up.

Adbert Alzolay; Chicago Cubs; FAAB Bid: 5-6%

The Cubs aren’t a very good team, but we have a pretty clear closer here with Alzolay. Since the Fourth of July, Alzolay touts a 3.60 ERA in 11.1 innings of work with eight saves in that span and a 15:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s now recorded a save in each of his last five appearances for the Cubs so it’s clear he’s the closer unless David Ross decides to get cute and mix things up, but the Cubs have at least won nine of their last ten games as they sit just 3.5 games back of the last NL Wild Card spot.

Adam Ottavino, New York Mets; FAAB Bid: 4%

When Edwin Diaz was ruled out for the 2023 MLB season following his injury during a celebration in the World Baseball Classic, David Robertson effectively became the New York Mets closer. Well he’s since been shipped off to greener (and more humid) pastures with the Miami Marlins. Ottavino presumably enters the fray as the next option as closer of the Mets. Unfortunately, the team with the highest payroll in MLB history is now looking to sell off their best assets and may not be very competitive down the stretch, but he’s a potential closer that should be rostered. He averages just shy of a strikeout per inning but does have experience in his career working the ninth inning.

J.P. France, Houston Astros; FAAB Bid: 3-4%

France is a regression candidate for sure, but he’s done enough to stick in the rotation. He has a 2.87 ERA but a 4.32 xERA, 4.34 FIP, and 4.62 xFIP. By all accounts, he’s gotten lucky. But we don’t win or lose our fantasy baseball matchups on what might happen. We get points and wins from what does happen. And for France, he’s been pretty damn good since the beginning of June. Over his last nine starts, France his five wins and eight quality starts. The downside? He doesn’t strike many hitters out and he has a 2:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his last nine appearances. That’s pretty bad when you only average 5.00 K/9 in that stretch of games. He gets a pair of starts next week against the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees so use your best judgment with the 28-year-old.

Kevin Ginkel, Arizona Diamondbacks; FAAB Bid: 2%

I’m going to guess Ginkel is largely free on most sites because his rostership numbers are pretty low across the board. He has three saves in his last four appearances dating back to July 18^th. He’s allowed just two home runs and 11 walks in 39 innings of work this year. The Diamondbacks are in the midst of a slight skid having lost seven of their last eight games, but it does appear that they are reserving Ginkel for the ninth inning. His services just haven’t been required enough lately.

Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies; FAAB Bid: 1-2%

There are a few concerns with Sanchez because its possible regression is in order. He doesn’t get wins, but those are out of his control since wins require run support. He’s also only averaging 7.41 K/9 in his last six starts and he doesn’t walk too many hitters. That’s decent, right? Well the reason his 2.98 ERA is rather unsightly next to his 3.92 xERA and 4.06 FIP is because is because he’s given up seven home runs in his last six trips to the mound good enough for a 1.85 HR/9 in that span. But even with the home runs he still isn’t giving up a ton of damage. He gets outs and he eats up innings. I picked him up in the one deeper league I play in and was perfectly content with his seven-inning, eight-strikeout performance against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Sanchez will close out the scoring period on Sunday on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates.