Hitters
Luis Urías (MIL); FAAB Bid: 2% - Seeing that Urias is up to 19 home runs on the season entering action on Wednesday made me do a double take. He has developed into quite the useful infielder this season both for Milwaukee and your fantasy team as Urias plays just about every day, bats either lead-off or in the middle of the order, and can be used at every infield position other than first base. In his last seven games, Urias is hitting .308 with four runs scored to bring his average up to .248 on the season with 68 runs scored and 62 RBI. At 20.7% we can live with the strikeouts and Urias’ 10.4% walk rate adds value in OBP leagues as well. After essentially nonexistent Statcast metrics last season, Urias is sporting a 14-degree launch angle along with a 9.4%-barrel rate and 40.2% hard hit rate which does give me some confidence for him sustain his current performance level. It also doesn’t hurt that he is hitting .271 in the second half of the season.
Jarred Kelenic (SEA); FAAB Bid: 3% - In leagues with a keeper option there is no reason for Kelenic to be sitting on the waiver wire dependent upon your rules but the Seattle outfielder is finally getting closer to living up to his top prospect status. Kelenic has been playing everyday for the Mariners as they hunt for a playoff spot and we should not be scared off by his .165 batting average on the season. Prior to going 2 for 4 with a run scored and two RBI on Wednesday, Kelenic was hitting .240 in September. While that likely won’t win fantasy championships we are betting on the talent here and the fact that the only place for his .208 BABIP to go is up.
Andrés Giménez (CLE); FAAB Bid: 1-2% - We need at least one option on a weekly basis for those looking to chase stolen bases, so that brings us Gimenez for today’s installment. The versatile infielder is coming off a stretch earlier this week in which he stole bases in three consecutive games to bring his total for the season to 10. It should be noted though that there is more value here in leagues that allow daily roster moves as while Gimenez is in the lineup most days, he is not a fixture. Prior to running into a lockdown performance from Joe Ryan on Wednesday, Gimenez did have a modest five game hitting streak (.353 batting average in that stretch) but he is still hitting just .201 on the season in 156 plate appearances. If Gimenez didn’t run I’d likely keep on scrolling here but that makes him hard to ignore, especially if he is beginning to find his stroke at the plate.
Jo Adell (LAA); FAAB Bid: 4% - Adell finds himself in a similar situation as Kelenic but he has been the more successful of the two top prospects so far this season. Granted the bar hasn’t been set at a super high level, but there is no questioning the talent here either. The outfielder took a five-game hitting streak into action on Wednesday which gave him a .400 batting average over his last seven games. Overall, the outfielder was hitting a respectable .248 and at 22.2% his strikeout rate could be worse. With just three home runs in 32 games, we are still waiting for the power to come around but Adell does have 24 RBI after hitting .289 with 23 home runs and 69 RBI in 73 games at Triple-A prior to his promotion. As the season comes to a close, we know that the Angels are going to continue give Adell at bats to show what he can do.
Alejandro Kirk (TOR); FAAB Bid: 2% - Kirk was a popular option pre-season but instead he spent the majority of the season in Triple-A. Since his promotion Kirk has been playing pretty regularly and I would expect to see that continue as long as he keeps on hitting, and that doesn’t appear to be a problem. Before going hitless on Wednesday, Kirk had back-to-back three hit efforts while hitting three home runs and driving in five runs. Through 145 plate appearances, Kirk is hitting .281 with seven home runs and 22 RBI while striking out just 11.7% of the time.
Starting Pitchers
Jesús Luzardo (MIA); FAAB Bid: 2% - To say that this season hasn’t gone according to plan for Luzardo would be an understatement. There is still a talented pitcher in there and Miami certainly believes in him as they dealt Starling Marte for him at the trade deadline and promptly inserted him into their rotation. The problem is that to this point said talent and results haven’t been in concert but Luzardo does have a 2.31 ERA and 0.77 WHIP over his last two starts. The best we can say about Luzardo is that he strikes out a batter per inning and his 5.03 xFIP gives us some optimism compared to his 7.00 ERA on the season. Walks are a problem but I’m comfortable giving Luzardo a shot against the Mets on Thursday and seeing what he can do over the last three weeks of the season as we bet on the talent.
Brady Singer (KC); FAAB Bid: 3% - As a former first round pick, the prospect pedigree is there for Singer and the results have been there as of late. Over his last two starts, Singer is sporting just a 0.69 ERA and 0.77 WHIP which brings his ERA down to 4.58 on the season. At 1.53 the WHIP is still concerning but a .348 BABIP has worked against him along with a 67.3% strand rate. Singer is striking out a batter an inning and his 3.68 FIP does point to better days ahead as does his 3.80 ERA in August. The fact that Singer’s next start comes against Minnesota so that also works to his advantage.
Joe Ryan (MIN); FAAB Bid: 2% - After allowing three runs over five innings in his first career start, all Ryan did for an encore was take a perfect game into the seventh inning in his next start. Ultimately the right-hander threw seven shutout innings against Cleveland while allowing one hit and striking out four while picking up his first career victory. Prior to his promotion, Ryan posted a 3.41 ERA in 66 innings along with a 0.788 WHIP while striking out 92 batters and that is all I need to take a look at him over the remainder of the season.
Relief Pitchers
Carlos Estévez (COL); FAAB Bid: 2-3% - With two saves over the past week after taking the closer’s job from Daniel Bard, touting Estevez seemed like the obvious play. But then we are reminded that he is a closer and the right-hander promptly blew the save and took the loss on Wednesday finishing the day with a 54.00 ERA and 7.50 WHIP. That one outing took Estevez’s ERA from 3.93 all the way up to 4.59, but his 4.05 FIP is still respectable as we hunt for saves while getting a strikeout per inning. And at this point, that is all we can really ask for from the waiver wire.
Kyle Finnegan (WAS); FAAB Bid: 3% - Finnegan caught my attention at the trading deadline as Washington sold off multiple assets, but he is still just 41% owned in Yahoo leagues as he continues to rack up saves. While the 3.94 FIP does give us some pause compared to his 2.68 ERA, there is little competition in Washington’s bullpen as Finnegan is up to eight saves on the season while striking out a batter per inning. With 4.42 walks per nine innings, it’s not going to be a smooth ride, but is it ever here?