Hitters

Chas McCormick (HOU); FAAB Bid: 1% - Houston thought enough of McCormick for the remainder of this season that they dealt Myles Straw to Cleveland for Phil Maton at the trade deadline. That essentially gave the starting center field job to McCormick and over the last 14 days, he has lived up to faith the Astros put in him as they look to secure another division title. In that stretch, the outfielder has hit .333 in 27 at bats with four runs scored, three RBI, a home run, and a stolen base. While he does bat towards the bottom of the order most days, McCormick is still in a better place than most due to the strength of Houston’s order. On the season he is batting .257 with 11 home runs, 38 RBI, and 36 runs scored. Strikeouts are a problem, 31.8%, and you would like to see more than three stolen bases for a player with McCormick’s speed, but from Statcast perspective there are some things to like; 18-degree launch angle, 12.6%-barrel rate, and 49.6% hard-hit rate.

Lewis Brinson (MIA); FAAB Bid: 3% - Sometimes players just need a little time to find their groove and live up to their potential. At the same time though, two weeks don’t make a career or even a season. But one hot streak could make a big impact in the standings and it’s impossible to miss what Brinson has been doing in the middle of Miami’s batting order. After they traded Starling Marte and Adam Duvall, someone had to start in the outfield for the Marlins and Brinson has stepped up to take advantage of the opportunity. After going deep twice on Wednesday, the outfielder is hitting .414 with three home runs and 10 RBI over the last seven days. In 138 plate appearances on the season Brinson is hitting .282 with seven home runs and 23 RBI but at 29%, strikeouts are always going to be an issue. With a .357 BABIP, I don’t have faith in the batting average remaining, but everything else should remain considering Brinson has a 13.1-degree launch angle.

Frank Schwindel (CHC); FAAB Bid: 1% - With dust settling from Chicago dismantling their team, we are now left with players like Schwindel finding their way into regular playing time. Entering action on Wednesday he was hitting .346 with one home run and six RBI over the last seven days as he bats in the middle of what is left of Chicago’s lineup. Through 53 plate appearances, Schwindel is hitting .255 with two home runs and nine RBI but he did hit 16 home runs and hit .317 in Triple-A for Oakland prior to his promotion. I wouldn’t expect too much as Schwindel has yet to really put things together at the big-league level, but for as long as he producing, there is likely a hole in someone’s roster that needs to be filled. 

Travis d’Arnaud (ATL); FAAB Bid: 2% - A recurring theme this season has been to send useful players to the waiver wire when they are injured as there seems to be never enough room on Injured Lists. With d’Arnaud returning to action on Wednesday, and also picking up a hit, we should see his ownership level on Yahoo rise from the 37% he is currently at (including a six percent increase in the last day). d’Arnaud joins a team hurting at the catcher position and who is also in the thick of a pennant race with a strong lineup. He has just 91 plate appearances under his belt for the season so I wouldn’t read too much into the .224 batting average after he hit .321 in 44 games last season. 

Anthony Santander (BAL); FAAB Bid: 3% - After struggling to start the season, Santander spent some time on the Injured List, but since his return we can’t ignore his production. Heading into action on Wednesday, Baltimore’s clean up hitter was batting .359 over the last 14 days. Santander is working on an eight-game hitting streak with four home runs in his last three games while driving in two runs in each. On the season he is hitting .253 with 10 home runs and 33 RBI in 289 plate appearances while proving to be a solid contributor. Thanks to a 16.7-degree launch angle, we shouldn’t have to worry about the home runs continuing. 

Starting Pitchers

Madison Bumgarner (ARI); FAAB Bid: 1% - It is clear that Bumgarner’s best days are behind him, but we’ll take any useful starting pitching that we can get. The southpaw did lose in his last start against the Padres but he threw seven innings of run ball while allowing seven baserunners and striking out five. With a 4.42 ERA and 4.31 xERA, Bumgarner isn’t going to be a true liability and he faces that same San Diego team again this week. Through two starts in August, Bumgarner has a 1.93 ERA in 14 innings after posting a 2.00 mark in 18 innings in July. 

Tanner Houck (BOS); FAAB Bid: 2-3% - The problem with Houck this season hasn’t been performance but instead it is the fact that Boston simply needs to let him remain in the rotation. I will not that Houck isn’t exactly stretched out and he hasn’t gotten out of the fifth inning in his last here starts but the results have been there. Houck is slated to make his next start today (Thursday) against Tampa Bay while returning to action against the Yankees as part of a double-header for his next start. In 25.2 innings this season Houck has a 2.45 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with 36 strikeouts and his 2.89 xERA supports the success while his 1.69 FIP says even more success is on its way. 

Luis Patiño (TB); FAAB Bid: 1-2% - Tampa Bay knows their pitching and Patino comes with some prospect pedigree after being acquired from San Diego. The right-hander appears to have acquired a steady role in the Rays’ rotation and has logged 17 innings over his last three starts. It isn’t all that surprising to see Patino strike out 46 batters in 42.2 innings and he has done a solid job of managing the walks at 3.16 per nine innings. The home runs, 1.69 per nine innings, and lack of ground balls, 26.7%, are both concerning to a point, but Patino is talented. 

Relief Pitchers

Mychal Givens (CIN); FAAB Bid: 4% - Here we go with another Cincinnati reliever as Givens appears to be the next contestant for the closer’s role for the Reds. The right-hander is now up to seven straight scoreless innings in a row while also picking up the save in the last two opportunities for the Reds. Ultimately that is what matters but it helps that Givens has 40 strikeouts in 36.2 innings while posting a 2.21 ERA. 

Drew Steckenrider (SEA); FAAB Bid: 1% - Diego Castillo is the closer in Seattle, but Steckenrider is next in line and also a vital part in the bullpen. He picked up a two inning save a few games ago, his fourth on the season, and picked up the victory on Wednesday. Steckenrider has struck out 44 batters in 45 innings this season while posting a 2.20 ERA along with a WHIP of 0.98. He won’t get saves on a consistent basis, but he should see a few more saves along the way this season while providing ratio relief along with the strikeouts.