Today’s installment of the MLB waiver wire will, once again, feel like MLB prospect rankings and they will also have a decidedly St. Louis feel with two top prospects being promoted this weekend. There is always going to be more and more fantasy baseball news to follow and it goes without saying that the MLB fantasy rankings are an ever-changing organism. Let’s take a look some of the latest options available to us in the never-ending question of improving our teams. 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Hitters

 

 

2B/3B; FAAB Bid: 5-7%

There are no questions about what Nolan Gorman can do at the plate, and while he is a versatile infield option, that will trump his mediocre defensive abilities. In 119 games last season between Double-A and Triple-A, Gorman hit 25 home runs and he stepped up that pace this year with 15 home runs through his first 34 games giving St. Louis no choice but to promote him. Gorman has a good job of hitting for average over the past two years, .308 so far this year, but between a .377 BABIP and a 34% strikeout rate, it’s hard to expect him to continue on the same pace. At the same time, we can’t ignore his .368 ISO, and I’m willing to invest to see what he can do with the Cardinals. Gorman began his major league career with a single and walk in four at bats while scoring a run on Friday. 

 

Adley Rutschman, C (BAL - MINORS)
FAAB Bid: 3-5%

It appeared to be the plan all along, but buzz is picking up from multiple sources (including our very own Matt Selz) that Adley Rutschman’s promotion is imminent. The Baltimore prospect was drafted in a lot of leagues, he is rostered in 54% of Yahoo leagues, so let this serve as your last call to snatch Rutschman up even if it’s possible that he doesn’t have a smooth adjustment to the major leagues (see Spencer Torkelson below). Based on what we saw from the prospect last year, there is nothing left for Rutschman to prove in the minor leagues even if he hit just .233 in 12 games at Triple-A, with three home runs and seven RBI, although he is only striking out 11.3% of the time. 

 

 

OF; FAAB Bid: 1%

Prior to going hitless in five at bats on Thursday, Avisaíl García had picked up hits in four straight games and seven of his last eight games after not getting off to the best start this season. Despite the recent stretch of success, Garcia is still batting just .213 for the season with three home runs and nine RBI and Miami continues to run him out everyday in the middle of their batting order. This is a situation where track record should mean something if you are looking to plug a hole towards the back end of your roster, and Garcia’s recent success has value as well. 

 

 

1B; FAAB Bid: 1-2%

This is a far cry from where we saw Spencer Torkelson at the beginning of the season, but a lot has changed for the first baseman. We might be grasping at straws here as it’s just three games, but Torkelson does have a modest hit streak gong four for eight to bring his average up to .179 on the season. He has shown some power with four home runs and 10 RBI, but the rookie is also striking out 30% of the time as it’s clear there is some adjusting to be done at the big-league level. The good news is that Torkelson is walking 12% of the time, and a .222 BABIP along with a solid nine percent barrel-rate coupled with his minor league track record, show that we shouldn’t give up on him too soon. 

 

 

2B/OF; FAAB Bid: 2%

Depending on the league, you have a great deal of positional flexibility with Rojas and the utility player is available in 80% of Yahoo leagues. Rojas has a modest five game hitting streak but that also includes hits in seven of his last eight and eight of his last 10 and that should put him squarely on the radar of fantasy managers. His latest success culminated in a three-home run game against the Cubs on Friday and which brought his batting average up to .289 on the season along with three stolen bases. Power isn’t Rojas’ biggest strength, but he is a solid option and the playing time will be there. 

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pitchers

 

Matthew Liberatore, SP (STL) 
FAAB Bid: 3-4%

Beginning your major league career with a matchup against Pittsburgh is one of the softer landing spots you can find, and it should serve to benefit Matthew Liberatore. Over the past two years, he has had success in Triple-A while also doing a solid job of controlling the walks (under three per nine innings) while striking out a batter per inning. Liberatore followed up a 4.04 ERA last year with a 3.83 mark this year through seven starts and he has done all that he could at the minor league to earn his promotion. 

 

 

SP; FAAB Bid: 3%

It’s interesting to see the dichotomy in ownership levels for Nick Pivetta between CBS (45%) and Yahoo (15%) but it is clear that the right-hander should be rostered. Between his last three starts, 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 22 innings, and the fact that he is taking the mound twice this week (against the White Sox and Baltimore) the case is really made for Pivetta. On the season, Pivetta has a 4.22 ERA while striking out about a batter per inning and, at the very least, he is a viable option this week and as a streamer moving forward. 

 

 

SP; FAAB Bid: 1%

We get another two-start option here in Dylan Bundy and it comes with two favorable matchups against Detroit and Kansas City. It’s fair to be scared off by Bundy’s 5.14 ERA but his 3.16 xERA also paints a much more attractive picture. Bundy does a good job at keeping the ball on the ground (46%) while limiting the walks (2.25 per nine innings) while striking out eight batters per nine innings. The contact Bundy allows generally is on the weaker side, 88.4 mile per hour exit velocity and just a 35.2% hard-hit rate, and that makes him a solid option. 

 

 

RP; FAAB Bid: 2%

Let’s stay in Minnesota here with the veteran reliever who right now is all the Twins have left from their trade with San Diego prior to the start of the season. Emilio Pagán is sharing the closer’s job with Jhoan Duran but he did pick up his fifth save of the year earlier this week while pitching for the third consecutive day. The right-hander has 15 strikeouts in 11.2 innings to begin the season along with a 1.54 ERA and 1.46 WHIP, and to me, he should be rostered in more than 35% of Yahoo leagues as he will continue to be used in high leverage situations while picking up saves at least on a semi-regular basis. 

 

 

RP; FAAB Bid: 1-2%

It appears that the closer’s job in Seattle is up for grabs, so let’s speculate on Paul Sewald before his price truly begins to rise. Sewald only has one save on the season, but it hasn’t been due to a lack of success (2.84 ERA and 0.47 WHIP with 13 strikeouts in 12.2 innings) and with 11 saves last year, he has proven he can do the job. At the very least, you’ll get some strikeouts and solid ratios as the Mariners continue to sort out their bullpen. 

 

 


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