As we head deeper into the dog days of August, fantasy rosters are being tested by late-season fatigue, minor league call-ups reshuffling everyday lineups, and rotation changes following the trade deadline. Whether you need a spark in the power categories, a hot hand off the wire to bolster your secondary middle infield, or a high-upside starting pitcher riding a pitch-mix adjustment to a late-season breakout, staying aggressive on the waiver wire is what separates contenders from pretenders down the stretch.

This week’s run of priority pickups highlights several compelling profiles: young ceiling plays making noise upon their promotions, established veterans quietly altering their plate approaches, and pitch-mix changes unlocking new strikeout upside on the mound.

Take a peak at some of the other fantasy baseball content on Fantasy Alarm from this past week;

Fantasy Baseball Stock Watch

Fantasy Baseball Closer Grid
 If you want more waiver wire content, head over to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel where Colby Conway and I broke some waiver wire options down for Week 21!

Top Waiver Wire Targets at a Glance

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Infielders

Chase Meidroth, Chicago White Sox - 47% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 5-6%)

It’s been a fantastic second half for Chase Meidroth who has elite positional eligibility along with it. Since the break, he’s hit .326 with a .991 OPS with a .424 wOBA to boot. The power surge this year for Meidroth has been a pleasant surprise and his numbers have ticked up against right-handed pitching.

He’s league average against righties, but is insanely good against southpaws. He has a near-1.000 OPS against lefties this year and has been slotted in as the team’s leadoff hitter against them. 

George Lombard, New York Yankees - 44% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 6-8%)

This will simply be the last time George Lombard will be under 50% rostered in Yahoo! Fantasy if he continues to perform the way he has. He’s hit two homers in 10 games along with nine runs scored and runs batted in combined. Lombard got caught stealing in his only attempt but also has 96th percentile sprint speed, so we should see that come into play sooner rather than later.

Nolan Arenado, Arizona Diamondbacks - 28% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 5-7%)

What a resurgent season for Nolan Arenado. He spent the last two seasons being a less than league average bat and this year he’s turned that around completely. He’s already up to 20 home runs and he didn’t hit more than 16 in either of the previous two seasons.

Arenado’s approach has changed this year as his 9.2% BB rate is his highest number since 2019 when he was still the Colorado Rockies third basemen. His power has trended up big time since the All-Star break as he’s belted eight of his 20 homers already. He’s elevated the ball a LOT over that span posting a 48.7% FB rate.

Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays - 27% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 4-6%)

If you need a boost at the catcher’s spot, Alejandro Kirk is starting to heat up and he’s a very good hitter when he’s going good. Since the All-Star break, Kirk is hitting .351 with three home runs, 13 RBI, and has a 12:10 BB:K ratio. You don’t often see catchers slashing .351/.432/.486 for nearly 25 games. Kirk has a chance to be a top-10 catcher for the remainder of the season.

Abimelec Ortiz, Washington Nationals - 13% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 6-8%)

Look, through his first 13 games Abimelec Ortiz’s numbers look fantastic. Everything under the hood looks fantastic and it all looks very real to boot. He’s homered five times in his first 12 games and the power is and should continue to be real as his prospect profile has 55-power grade. He has an elite barrel rate, launch angle, bat speed, and hasn’t chased out of the zone either. I’m totally interested here when the Nationals are facing righties, which is obviously the dominant end of the split.

 

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Outfielders

Joshua Baez, St. Louis Cardinals - 53% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 12-15%)

On the rare occasion I put a player that’s over 50% rostered here, it must be a special occasion. No player has been added like Joshua Baez has in the last 24 hours after being the first player in major league HISTORY to homer in each of his first three at-bats. That’s what Baez did at the minor league level; just hit tanks. Well, that’s not all he did because he struck out a LOT too, but he’s an immediate source of power to all fantasy rosters he’s added to.

Jakob Marsee, Miami Marlins - 47% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 7-8%)

It’s been a really great month of August for Jakob Marsee and he’s doing a lot of why we loved him last season when he was called up. He has slashed .342/.405/.500 with a .395 wOBA. Marsee has run into some bad luck this year at the dish with a .265 BABIP but there are still some really encouraging signs as he’s posted a robust 12.5% BB rate and has 19 steals. The steals and OBP will tick way up if he continues to hit as well as he has in August.

Zack Gelof, Athletics - 43% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 5-6%)

It’s been a stark difference at home and on the road for Zack Gelof this year, but there’s no ignoring the fact that he plays his home games at Sutter Health Park and that’s not going anywhere.

Home: .308/.361/.568, .260 ISO, .399 wOBA

Away: .222/.287/.374, .152 ISO, .292 wOBA

His positional flexibility is elite as he can be slotted in 2B, 3B, and OF and two of those positions are the worst on the board. His strikeouts are down and his slug is up and those are good trends for the rest of the season.

Cam Smith, Houston Astros - 19% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 3-4%)

The physical tools are never the question when it comes to Cam Smith, it’s the results. Smith has 99th percentile bat speed and 96th in sprint speed. His expected stats aren’t bad either because they’re ALL better than his surface level stuff. Smith has had a fantastic month of August notching a .357/.386/.643 slash and has already belted three home runs in 12 games, just two off his month high of five in June. 

Jordan Lawlar, Arizona Diamondbacks - 4% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 3-4%)

We’re nearing a return for Jordan Lawlar and that’s exciting because of how well he was playing at the major league level before his injury and how well he’s hit during his rehab assignment as well. In just his last FOUR games at Triple-A, Lawlar is 6-for-17 with five home runs and seven runs batted in. 

It looks as if the DBacks are going to bring Lawlar back as their center-fielder full time as every game he’s played during his rehab assignment in the field has been in center field. Lawlar has every skill imaginable notching 70-speed and 60-power grades. He can be a difference maker if he comes back the same player he was prior to the injury or during his rehab. It is worth mentioning that Lawler has been a notoriously good minor league player.

 

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pitchers

Dustin May, Milwaukee Brewers - 38% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 9-11%)

Since being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, Dustin May has looked fantastic and has changed his pitch mix up. He has thrown his cutter north of 35% of the time two consecutive outings and his seasonal average is only at 23.3%. He had only thrown the pitch more than 30% twice before arriving in Milwaukee and it’s rated out as an elite pitch.

May has back-to-back quality starts and has notched one in three of his last four games and is up to 12 on the year. May’s a fantastic add for the remainder of the year and could be a high-end SP2 for the remainder of the fantasy season.

Tyler Mahle, Atlanta Braves - 27% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 7-9%)

The turnaround for Tyler Mahle happened a little before arriving in Atlanta, but like Dustin May above, there’s a pitch mix change here. He has three quality starts over his last four outings and four over his last six.

The Braves have gone splitter heavy with Mahle as he has thrown it 34% of the time or higher in each of his first two starts despite only throwing it 26% of the time over the course of the year. He only threw it north of 30% twice before this. He’s generating more whiffs, too, notching 12.1% SwSt or higher in three straight games and it’s been 14.1% or higher in two straight.

Patrick Sandoval, Boston Red Sox - 15% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 6-8%)

Since returning from the injured list, Patrick Sandoval has pitched really well for the Red Sox and has a nice schedule coming up. He finally got through six innings in his previous start and has a chance to make that a regular thing with the Pirates and Giants as his next two scheduled starts.

Sandoval’s swinging strikes are down since returning from arm surgery but is still over 10%, which does suggest his strikeouts should tick up a bit from here. He’s had some awful batted ball luck allowing a .389 BABIP and league average is around .300.

Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies - 16% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 3-4%)

Today’s theme; pitch mix changes. I’m not sure I’ve seen anything more drastic than Andrew Painter’s change.

He didn’t previously throw a change-up and now he does and not only is he throwing it, he’s throwing it a LOT. He replaced his splitter with the change-up and it already rates out as his most valuable pitch at 3.0 RAA (runs above average). 

Painter’s actually been able to miss bats at a pretty high level for some time now, notching 11% or higher in four consecutive starts and five of six overall. I’m very interested in this version of Painter who’s pitched really well since being recalled and Philadelphia has no reason not to keep Painter in their rotation moving forward.

Ben Joyce, Los Angeles Angels - 9% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy (FAAB - 3-4%)

The early returns on Ben Joyce are very positive and the Angels have wasted absolutely no time pitching him in high leverage situations. He notched two saves in his first five appearances without allowing any earned runs. Joyce has already generated a bunch of whiffs as his fastball velocity is sitting at 101.7. Opportunity is the primary issue for Joyce and really for any closer on bad teams but even those teams have someone that’s going to pitch in the ninth inning and Joyce is clearly the man for the job.