How lucky are you guys that you get two waiver articles per week? Well here we are with our SECOND column of the week outlining our top pickups headed into July!
10-team leagues
Yasiel Puig, LAD OF (68% ownership), FAAB Bid - $21 – After a pedestrian April and May, Puig turned it on in June to the tune of a .298 average. He also lowered his strikeout rate, raised his walk rate and posted a .395 wOBA. Puig’s up to 15 bombs and nine stolen bases on the year, so he’s definitely trending towards a 20-20 season, maybe even 30-20 if he can continue on the power pace he’s currently on. That plays in every format.
Randal Grichuk, STL OF (30% ownership), FAAB Bid - $16 – We’re not sure if he’s turned the corner or what, but since being recalled Grichuk looks extremely good at the dish. At this point, we shouldn’t expect him to hit for a .300 average, but Grichuk has a ton of power as evident to his three homeruns and .960 OPS in his six games since returning from the minors. At this point in the season, guys who are contributing in specific categories are extremely valuable and if Grichuk continues to hit the ball out of the yard, he has value in every format.
Starling Marte, PIT OF (60% ownership), FAAB Bid - $15 – Because 10-team leagues rosters are normally deep and can afford to sit on injured players, why not sit on a suspended one? Marte is an elite talent and is eligible to return from suspension in the middle of July. He stole 107 bases from 2014-’16 and hit 41 homeruns over that same timeframe. Especially looking at it from a 10-team format, if he doesn’t pan out or isn’t activated, there will definitely be options left on the waiver wire.
12-team leagues
Mike Foltynewicz, STL SP (23% ownership), FAAB Bid - $11 – This isn’t a suggestion simply based on his near no-hitter on Friday but one based on a string of good starts overall. He gave up 12 runs in 6 June starts and eight of them came in one start against the Nationals. His K-rate from May to June went up from 15.4% to 23.4% while his FIP went down from 4.95 to 2.90. Folty still has the occasional blowup like we saw against Washington, but he’s been much more consistent of late.
Denard Span, SF OF (4% ownership), FAAB Bid - $9 – It’s crazy that such a professional hitter is barely owned, but that’s what fantasy baseball has come to. Everyone wants flashy and nobody wants rock solid. We wrote about a similar player in Nick Markakis earlier this year who is also having an outstanding season. Span has been especially good over the previous two weeks, hitting .426 with a home run and three stolen bases. In June alone he hit .374 and swiped four bags, more than he stole in April and May combined. He’s well worth the add for depth purposes and will serve nicely as a third or fourth outfielder going forward.
Charlie Morton, HOU SP (22% ownership), FAAB Bid - $8-9 – Morton is going to make one more rehab stat before joining a banged up Astros rotation so scoop him up before it’s too late. Morton has missed bats all year posting a 10.14 K/9 while notching an impressive 25.8% K-rate. When pitchers aren’t missing bats, we hope they’re inducing groundball outs, which Morton does at a stellar 51.3-percent rate.
15-team leagues
Jose Martinez, STL 1B, OF (1% ownership), FAAB Bid - $7 – The Cardinals like the young Martinez so much that they’ve been working out Matt Carpenter at second to free up more time for Martinez at first. He definitely sees the ball well out of lefties hands as he’s hitting .346 and has posted a .991 OPS against them thus far in 2017. He’s definitely best suited for NL-only formats for now, but his multi-position eligibility makes him a valuable commodity in all 15-team leagues if you’re reeling and need some offensive help.
Clint Frazier, NYY OF (13% ownership), FAAB Bid - $6 – The Yankees continue to call up top prospect after top prospect because of injury so it’s Frazier’s time now. The 22-year old hasn’t killed it at Triple-A this year, but he’s posted solid numbers and could be a factor for the Yankees immediately. He’s belted 12 homers and posted an .819 OPS and has even swiped nine bags. Manager Joe Girardi already said you don’t call up such a highly coveted prospect if he’s not going to play everyday, so he’s going to be in the lineup each and every day.
Jose Leclerc, TEX RP (3% ownership), FAAB Bid - $1 – With Matt Bush being removed as the teams closer, the Rangers have said they’re going to implement a closer-by-committee going forward. We written about Keone Kela eventually taking over the job before, but Leclerc is definitely a sleeper to win the job. He’s been dominant to say the least, posting a 14.48 K/9 mark and a 38.5% K-rate. He leads the team with eight holds so talk about a speculative pickup. Kela is a little banged up himself, so if Leclerc gets a few chances in the ninth and continues his stretch of domination, he could win the job outright.
*ownership percentages courtesy of Yahoo
** FAAB bids based on $100 budget