2023 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Vaughn Grissom Provides Aid At Shortstop
The 2023 MLB season is in the infancy stages and the injuries have piled up, especially this week at the shortstop position. Corey Seager, Tim Anderson, Oneil Cruz, Orlando Arcia, and Kyle Farmer all are sidelined with injuries. Shortstop was considered a deep position, but it was top heavy and in deeper formats, finding someone on the waiver wire is difficult. Going to the fantasy baseball waiver and being diligent will be key this week. Waiver wire pickups are extremely important and with the injuries piling up this week, adding those free agents will help keep your team competitive. Some of these players will be long-term adds, while other are just to plug the gaps for injured players. The percentages are a guideline and should be adjusted based on your roster and needs.
Top Waiver Wire Hitters
Vaughn Grissom, 2B (Atlanta Braves) 20-25%
Grissom was dropped in a lot of leagues after he didn't begin the season in the Majors. Orlando Arcia is out with a micro fracture in his wrist and Grissom was called up and will play shortstop. He's eligible at second base now, so it will take some time to get eligibility depending on your league rules. Grissom had 141 at-bats in the Majors last season and hit .291 with 24 runs, five home runs, 18 RBI, and five stolen bases.
Josh Lowe, OF (Tampa Bay Rays) 15-20%
Lowe has been mentioned here already, but he's still widely available in Yahoo leagues. Lowe is slashing .333/.389/.727 with seven runs, three home runs, seven RBI, and one stolen base. The Rays lineup has been putting up a lot of runs and Lowe has power and speed and has been getting the playing time.
Edouard Julien, 2B (Minnesota Twins) 6-8%
The Twins have been hit hard by injuries allowing Julien to get the call up. He went 0-for-2 with a walk in his debut, then went 2-for-5 with two runs and a homer Thursday before going 0-for-3 Friday night. The Twins are expected to get back Max Kepler, Joey Gallo, Jorge Polanco, and Alex Kirilloff soon. There's a chance Julien doesn't stay up long so take that into account when bidding. Last year at Double-A, he hit .303 with 77 runs, 17 home runs, 67 RBI, and 17 stolen bases and played nine games at Triple-A this season before getting called up.
Franchy Cordero, 1B/OF (New York Yankees) 5-7%
Cordero is getting a lot of playing time against right-handed pitchers. Cordero hasn't done much in his Major League career and had nine home runs in 132 games over the last two seasons. Cordero is batting .250 with five runs, four home runs, and 11 RBI, but has a 32.4% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate. He's a short-term option based on his track record.
Spencer Steer, 3B (Cincinnati Reds) 3-5%
Steer plays in a favorable home ballpark and is off to a good start. He has a slash line of .326/.420/.558 with seven runs, two home runs, six RBI, and one stolen base. He has a 14% strikeout rate and walk rate and above average exit velocity.
Brett Baty, 3B (New York Mets) 3-5%
Baty hasn't received the call to the Majors yet, but it likely is close if you have the room to add him for cheap right now. Eduardo Escobar has been struggling and Baty is sizzling in the Minor Leagues. He homered again on Friday and is slashing .380/.436/.880 with 12 extra-base hits and six home runs. He leads Triple-A in average exit velocity by a wide margin.
Top Waiver Wire Pitchers
Taj Bradley (Tampa Bay Rays) 15-20%
Bradley was impressive in his Major League debut before being sent down to Triple-A. With Jeffrey Springs missing a few months, Bradley should be back up. He pitched five innings and allowed five hits, three runs, one walk and struck out eight against the Red Sox. Bradley got 18 called strikes on 78 pitches.
Kris Bubic (Kansas City Royals) 4-6%
Bubic has been one of the worst pitchers in baseball the last three seasons, but looked great in his first two starts. The change has been an increase in velocity on his fastball by two miles per hour, resulting in a 13.8% whiff rate on the pitch and his slider has a whiff rate of 24.1 percent. In 11 innings, he has allowed nine hits, two runs, walked one, and struck out 13 against the Blue Jays and Giants. The start on Saturday against the Braves will be a big test and determine how aggressive to bid.
Matt Strahm (Philadelphia Phillies0 3-5%
Strahm made his season debut out of the bullpen, but has started since and pitched well. He is building his arm up and went four inning in his first start and five innings in his last. In nine innings, he has allowed five hits, no runs, walked two, and struck out nine. Strahm gets a favorable matchup in the week ahead at home against the Rockies.
Drey Jameson (Arizona Diamondbacks) 3-5%
Jameson is in the starting rotation after beginning the season in the bullpen. In his first start against the Brewers, he pitched four scoreless innings and struck out four, allowing three hits and no walks. In 12.1 innings, he has a 1.46 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and allowed eight hits, five walks, and struck out 12.
Jose Quijada (Los Angeles Angels) 3-5%
It appears Carlos Estevez will get the majority of the saves, but the Angels have been careful with his workload and Quijada has been in the mix for saves. He has converted both of his save opportunities and has pitched five scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and struck out four.
Brayan Bello, (Boston Red Sox) 3-5%
Bello is worth an add in deeper formats and will get a two-start week, starting with the Angels at home on Monday and then at Milwaukee. Bello had a forearm issue in the spring and made one rehab start and pitched six innings, allowing one run with four strikeouts and hit 97 miles per hour.