We are officially in the dog days of summer and the fantasy baseball waiver wire is where we can look to prep our lineups for the fantasy baseball playoffs. As always, we’ll have you covered to help you get there and potentially win your league. This is around the time of year where, if your league’s trade deadline hasn’t passed, then you may not be prioritizing the waiver wire because the true star plays are acquired via trades. But if you’re in a league that isn’t as active with trades, or your trade deadline has come and gone, then we can help you here and on Saturdays with another MLB Waiver Wire piece. But also don’t hesitate to check out our other great content such as the MLB Streaks & Trends to get a read on the fantasy baseball risers and fallers. The MLB Two-Start Pitchers article always lists a handful of streaming options at the bottom of the article. And as always, don’t hesitate to ask your questions in the MLB Seasonal Discord channel as you prep your roster for the playoffs. Here are the mid-week fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups to target for your team.

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups – Hitters

Trevor Story, 2B, Boston Red Sox

With the Boston Red Sox riding a four-game losing streak heading into Monday, and their playoff hopes looking a little grim, Trevor Story will officially be activated on Tuesday in time for Boston’s second game against the Kansas City Royals. Boston’s lost seven of their last nine games so there’s a sense of urgency that they need to right the ship if they still want to earn an AL Wild Card spot. Story hasn’t played all year, and even last year was a bit of a struggle in his first season with Boston. He only hit .238 with a .303 on base percentage but in 94 games he did still hit 16 home runs and stole 13 bases. Given the upside of the player he’s definitely worth grabbing and seeing how he performs coming back from injury.

Max Kepler, OF, Minnesota Twins

Over the weekend in the last fantasy baseball waiver wire article, I mentioned his teammate Matt Wallner and still think he’s worth a grab as well considering he collected four hits and a home run over the weekend. But Kepler has contributed consistently of late as he hit a home run on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Entering Monday he was hitting .328 with a 1.048 OPS since July 17th. He can contribute to a variety of categories as the Twins continue their push to make the playoffs as the AL Central champions.

Wilmer Flores, 1B/2B/3B/DH, San Francisco Giants

Seems like every other week we need a reminder that Wilmer Flores is hitting the ball very well and is still available in a good number of leagues. Since July 29th (over the last ten days basically), he has five multi-hit games, and he doesn’t strike out that often. He boasts an even .900 OPS on the season entering Tuesday’s action. The knock on Flores might just be that despite the plate discipline and .300+ batting average, he doesn’t pop off in the counting stats. He gets an RBI here and there and the same goes for the runs. He’s still a competent hitter through and through regardless, and he’s been hitting in the heart of the order.

Brendan Rodgers, 2B, Colorado Rockies

Another returning player at the keystone position? Let’s go for it! Rodgers made his return to the Colorado Rockies last week after missing all season with a shoulder injury. He may not be a hot target in points leagues because of the tendency to strike out but he does have five hits in as many games entering Monday night. The Rockies are in horrendous shape especially after they were unsurprising sellers at the MLB trade deadline. He was a productive player the last two seasons, but don’t feel committed to giving him a long look in this offense.

Zack Gelof, 2B, Oakland Athletics

I normally don’t like to overload the waiver wire article with too many options from one position, but Gelof does stand out as a player that’s made the most of his time so far. The rookie now has 20 hits in 20 games with 12 of those being for extra bases. Moreover, he’s absolutely stuffing the statsheet with five home runs, 14 runs scored, 10 RBI, and six steals as well. Maybe it’s the stigma of playing for Oakland that is suppressing rostership at the moment, but the kid can provide in a few categories. He gets a slight downgrade in points leagues but overall he’s still a fine pickup.

Davis Schneider, 2B/OF, Toronto Blue Jays

This isn’t a must add by any means and for the most part he may only be worth targeting in deeper leagues. But Schneider had an outstanding debut over the weekend for the Toronto Blue Jays. Schneider went 9-for-15 in one series against Boston over the weekend with a pair of home runs and a run scored in each game. As of this writing, he may have already cooled off as he’s 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts against the Cleveland Guardians. But they did hit him leadoff on Monday night. This is definitely a speculative waiver wire addition and Schneider should be kept on a short leash. He’s tiny in stature but he still slugged 21 home runs at Triple-A this year.

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups – Pitchers

Eury Perez, SP, Miami Marlins

Similar to the Trevor Story and Boston Red Sox situation listed above, the Miami Marlins have been riding a similar losing streak and decided to bring Eury Perez back after sending him down to manage his innings about a month ago. His return didn’t necessarily go as planned considering he couldn’t even make it out of the fifth inning and he allowed four runs including home runs to Joey Votto and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. He still had seven strikeouts despite the tough start on the road against the Cincinnati Reds. He’ll get a road start at home against the New York Yankees on Sunday before visiting the Los Angeles Dodgers next week.

Kenta Maeda, SP, Minnesota Twins

I don’t get tired of writing up Kenta Maeda, but I’m sure people are tired of hearing about him. He’s arguably the best and most consistent pitcher to grab on waivers. I was going to throw out Seth Lugo before he got roughed up by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. Alas, he’s still a good add, but I would’ve preferred Maeda either way. Maeda has quality starts in three of his last four outings with at least seven strikeouts in each. In eight starts since returning on June 23rd he has a 2.47 ERA, 11.95 K/9(!), and he’s allowed just 13 walks in this 43.2-inning sample size. If there’s cause for concern it might be that he’s allowed a home run in each of his last four starts. But I still think he’s one of the best adds if you need pitching help.

Kutter Crawford, SP, Boston Red Sox

Crawford is in the midst of trying to stay in the Red Sox rotation and he’s pitched pretty well in six starts since the beginning of July. In those 30.1 innings of work, Crawford has a 2.97 ERA and he’s averaging over a strikeout per inning. The lone knock on him from a fantasy perspective is that he doesn’t pitch terribly deep into games. He’s only gotten into the sixth innings just twice this year so he’s not a reliable source of quality starts. 

Gregory Santos, RP, Chicago White Sox

With Kendall Graveman dealt at the trade deadline and Liam Hendriks being lost for the remainder of the year due to Tommy John surgery, Santos stands to work the ninth inning in the Southside. The White Sox aren’t very good with just 45 wins entering Monday night. But Santos is sitting atop the list of ninth inning candidates. Santos has a fastball that can touch 99mph and he boasts pretty good control. He’s a cheap source of saves over the next couple weeks and it’s a good opportunity for the White Sox to see what they have in the young pitcher.

Yonny Chirinos, SP/RP, Atlanta Braves

Very intriguing two-start option this week that you can stream for both matchups. Spencer Strider surprisingly got tagged by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night, but I’m fine grabbing Chirinos for both trips to the mound this week. Entering Monday night, the Pirates had a team OPS of .697 while his opponent on Sunday, the New York Mets, are not much better (.717). Both are bottom 12 in that category so Chirinos is a fine streamer. He’s more of an “innings eater” rather than a guy that guy sit batters down on his own so keep expectations in check.

Chase Silseth, SP/RP, Los Angeles Angels

Silseth is a guy I added in a deeper league and benefitted from his stellar outing on Sunday. He does make for an obvious regression candidate. He has a 2.04 ERA in his last three starts with a 3.78 FIP and I just don’t buy the strikeout upside. And I don’t think the Angels will consistently let him pitch six complete innings so that may cap the quality start potential. But in three starts since the All-Star break he has 26 strikeouts, three walks, and just four earned runs in 17.2 innings of work.

 

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