This week’s waiver piece seems chalk full of pitching and young position players coming into their own. It feels that way because heck, it is! We have a ton of young talent bursting onto the scene and some pitchers we’re really growing fond of as the season continues to progress available in a bunch of leagues. Let’s dive in!

 

10-team leagues

Patrick Corbin, ARI SP, RP (62% ownership), FAAB Bid - $19 – Your FAAB funds are likely running low, but Corbin is worth spending on right now. Over his last four starts, Corbin has a 1.23 ERA, .185 BAA and has struck out 31 opponents over 29.1 innings. He’s limited the hard contact to an extremely low 24.7-percent mark and has simply been one of the best pitchers in baseball in August. Corbin needs to be owned in all formats.

Trevor Bauer, CLE SP, RP (72% ownership), FAAB Bid - $17 – If Bauer isn’t the most frustrating fantasy player to own over the last few seasons he’s close to the top. He’s been fantastic since the middle of July, posting five straight quality starts and six consecutive in which he’s allowed three earned runs or less. Bauer’s well on his way to a career-high in strikeout percentage too as he sits at an elite mark of 25.8-percent. With how well he’s missing bats and limiting any damage, he’s an SP2 for the remainder of the season.

Byron Buxton, MIN OF (59% ownership), FAAB Bid - $14 – Since July 1, Buxton has turned a corner in a big way. He’s slashed .336/.381/.551 in 32 games, has belted five homeruns and swiped nine bags. With the way he’s performing and still kind of flying under the radar, he is a really nice option for the remainder of the season.

Carlos Rodon, CWS SP (62% ownership), FAAB Bid - $14 – Over his previous five starts, Rodon has had to navigate through extremely tough offenses in the Cubs, Indians, Red Sox, Astros and Twins and has shined in each outing. Three of those starts he’s struck out nine-plus and three times he’s pitched into or completed the eighth inning. Rodon is doing literally everything you could ask for on the mound.

 

12-team leagues

Jonathan Villar, MIL 2B, 3B, SS (64% ownership), FAAB Bid - $13-14 – We’ve waited all year long for Villar to hit like he did last year so better late than never, right? Villar’s hitting .316 in August and .379 over the last two weeks. Villar’s not going to have multi-homerun weeks, but he can provide you depth in the average and stolen base category when he’s rolling like this.

Nicky Delmonico, CWS OF (19% ownership), FAAB Bid - $12 – “Tread lightly” is what Walter White told us in one of the more iconic scenes in television history and that’s what he encourage you to do here. Delmonico has burst onto the scene in a big way, belting six homers in 20 games, including two multi-homer contests. That said, he slugged just .421 at Triple-A and had a slash of .262/.347/.421 as a whole. What he’s doing now shouldn’t go unnoticed, but the regression train is on its way before the end of the season. That said, there’s no reason not to scoop him up and ride this wave while he’s hot.

Rhys Hoskins, PHI 1B, OF (37% ownership), FAAB Bid - $12 – After getting off to a slow start, the husky 1B is mashing everything in sight having hit six homeruns over his last nine games. The power is no joke either. He hit 29 homers at Triple-A before his call up and 38 during his time in the minors in 2016. Hoskins multi-position eligibility and his power upside make for a great pickup for the stretch run.

 

15-team leagues

Blake Snell, TB SP (22% ownership), FAAB Bid - $8 – Snell has had a really rocky time in the majors dating back to last year, but if his last three starts are any indication of things to come, then he does have some season-long upside. Snell’s coming off his best start as a professional to date firing seven scoreless innings against Seattle. We’re not expecting an outing like that every time, but in a 15-team league, quality outings are a good start.

Stephen Piscotty, STL OF (25% ownership), FAAB Bid - $6 – After finally getting recalled earlier this week, Piscotty has responded by going 4-for-7 with a homer in two games. Piscotty posted a 1.202 OPS at Triple-A before being recalled, so it seems as if he’s getting back in the swing of things. He’s going to be in a battle with Randal Grichuk for playing time down the stretch it seems, so if he continues to hit, he’ll continue to see the bulk of playing time, which would make him worth an add in deeper formatted leagues.

 

*ownership percentages courtesy of Yahoo

** FAAB bids based on $100 budget