It’s been a busy week in baseball. From crazy brawls (#1, #2) to one of the worst called strikes you’ll ever see, this week has seemingly had it it all. Of course, amidst the chaos, there were plenty of players seeing their stock improve to the point where they can aid fantasy teams.

To help out with your potential waiver options, we’ve rounded together 6 featured experts. The experts were given a list of targets (below 50% Yahoo ownership) and were tasked with ranking the players based on rest of season value. Their picks were then combined to produce consensus waiver wire rankings. So if you’re looking for some advice, check out the results below…

Featured Pros

KJ – (Fantasy Team Advice)

Neil Parker – (The Fake Baseball)

Michael Pichan – (RotoInfo)

Bryan Curley – (Baseball Professor)

Igor Derysh – (Sports Jerks)

Jordan Tozzi – (Legion Report)

Batter Rankings (Waiver Wire)*

*List consists of relevant players with less than 50% ownership in Yahoo! leagues



Batter Advice

Each expert was asked to share advice about a positional player they like along with any other waiver wire suggestions they have. Here’s what the pundits had to say…

KJ – Fantasy Team Advice

When ranking the hitters I like to look at the guys who have a job for the rest of the season. After all, what good will they be if you don’t have their bat available come fantasy playoff time. That is why guys like Starling Marte, Brandon Moss, and Lucas Duda top my list. All 3 should see consistent playing time the rest of the year, while guys like Evan Gattis, Daniel Nava, and Gerardo Parra will see their playing time decrease over the course of the season.

Michael Pichan – RotoInfo

As much as I love Matt Adams (my #9 due to being a non-regular) and Brandon Moss, I just believe adding a middle infielder, in Jean Segura, who has the potential to bat around .300 with 15 home runs with double-digit steal potential, at a position of scarce talent, is something owners will need to fill, more so than adding a 1B/CI player.

Igor Derysh – Sports Jerks

Matt Adams can flat out hit. Although he is currently coming off the Cardinals’ bench, his pure ability will make it impossible for Mike Matheny to keep him there. Adams dominated the minors at every level: 22 HR, 88 RBI, .896 OPS in 121 games at Single-A, 32 HR, 101 RBI, .923 OPS in 115 games at Double-A, and 18 HR, 50 RBI, and .986 OPS in just 67 games at Triple-A. He’s ready to dominate the next level.

Neil Parker – The Fake Baseball

When looking to make a waiver move it is easy to grab the guy with the best stats, but keep in mind their potential playing time going forward. Starling Marte, Jean Segura and Cameron Maybin, for example, have everyday jobs, whereas Evan Gattis, Vernon Wells and Gerardo Parra may find their at bats challenged when injured players return. At this stage of the season I’m targeting potential yearlong contributors, not warm bodies for the next 3 weeks. I also don’t tend to use bench spaces up or add players to sit behind my studs. For example, if you own Prince Fielder, how much value does Brandon Moss have for you? Whereas a Danny Espinosa and Jean Segura platoon could give you excellent fantasy shortstop production all year long if you ride their individual hot streaks and play the matchups.

Bryan Curley – Baseball Professor

Despite the fact that Evan Gattis is sure to lose his job once Brian McCann is healthy enough to suit up for the Braves, he’s one of my must-target waiver players right now. Manager Fredi Gonzalez has been batting Gattis fourth in Atlanta’s lineup with Freddie Freeman out, and that’s a major vote of confidence for such an inexperienced player. Gattis has proven he has the power stroke, but he actually demonstrated good plate discipline in double-A last year (the highest of the three levels he played at in 2012) with a 9.7% walk rate and a 14.0% strikeout rate. It’s early but his 8.0% walk and 20.0% strikeout rates with the Braves this year are great signs he’s not overmatched by major league pitching.

Jordan Tozzi – Legion Report

Players unlisted (Yahoo ownership above 50%) that should be targets:

Jed Lowrie (79% Yahoo owned) sports an intriguing line of .412 Avg. with 3 HR’s, 10 Runs and a 1.294 OPS. Continue to ride the hot hand in Oakland. Also, Manny Machado (64% Yahoo owned) should be all-systems-go after belting a pivotal HR Wednesday night vs. Boston. He followed that performance up with a 3 for 4 night on Thursday. His stat line isn’t pretty for the year at the moment, but we sense a hot streak.

SP Rankings (Waiver Wire)*

*List consists of relevant players with less than 50% ownership in Yahoo! leagues

Pitcher Advice

KJ – Fantasy Team Advice

Shelby Miller is the consensus #1 here for good reason, and I am buying into the Barry Zito hype as my #2 pickup. He hasn’t lost in 16 consecutive appearances, and over that stretch he is striking out 6.3 batters per inning. Zito has plenty of value as the Giants give him a chance to win every time he takes the mound, and as long as this streak stays alive he should be owned in all formats.

Michael Pichan – RotoInfo

Most of these pitchers are merely streaming options, besides Shelby Miller and Barry Zito. I recommend Miller as your top target based on his higher potential for strikeouts than Zito, but if your team is already stocked with some high strikeout pitchers whose ERA/WHIP will blow hot and cold, then adding Zito would make more sense as he can help balance your ERA/WHIP fluctuations.

Neil Parker – The Fake Baseball

I’m a streamer and encourage the approach of frequently adding and dropping pitchers based on favorable matchups and keeping roster spots available to employ the strategy. However, when I am looking at potential pitcher additions for more than just a streaming start there are a number of things I’m targeting. Firstly, there is the obvious advantage to pitching in the NL where there isn’t a DH. I also want a guy on a strong team that provides ample run support and also boasts a solid bullpen. Barry Zito won 15 games last year with average numbers; Cliff Lee won 6 games with exceptional numbers. The readily available options aren’t going to be able to win on their own often, or provide solid numbers consistently, or else they’d be owned, so keeping their supporting cast in mind is important.

Igor Derysh – Sports Jerks

Tommy Hanson’s 4.48 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in 2012 turned many fantasy owners off but his overall body of work can’t be denied. In four years with the Braves, Hanson posted a solid 3.61 ERA and 1.25 WHIP over 635 IP. Until last season he had never allowed more than 17 homers in a season. He owns a 8.4 K/9 and 2.70 K/BB career ratio, and plays on a team that should win plenty of games.

Bryan Curley – Baseball Professor

Ervin Santana is one player who’s getting no love after a disastrous 2012 season. His velocity was way down last year, his fastball flattened out, and home runs became a problem. This year he seems to have more movement on his pitches, though the velocity is down another tick according to some pitch tracker sources, and in the early going he has maintained his usual high strikeout rates. A little home run luck, or at least regression towards the mean HR/FB rate, would make Santana a league average pitcher (or maybe slightly better) in ERA and WHIP with a shot at a 200-strikeout season.

Jordan Tozzi – Legion Report

A player unlisted (Yahoo ownership above 50%) that should be a target if available is Alex Cobb (74% Yahoo owned and deservingly so). Cobb has a small sample size of 7.1 IP, hurling a shutout with 6 Ks. We expect a Lance Lynn 2012 type season from Cobb this year. Legion Report loved him as a sleeper this year and continues the Jim Cramer “Buy Buy Buy” notion going forward.

Additional quality pitching candidates are Shelby Miller and Jose Fernandez. Taking on rookie pitchers always adds a certain type of risk to your portfolio, however the ability for Miller and Hernandez to rack up Ks makes them worth the gamble.

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Thanks to this week’s Featured Pros for sharing their advice. Be sure to visit each expert’s site for additional fantasy insight. Also, if you’re looking for a fun way to play fantasy baseball AND win cash, check out FanDuel’s Daily Fantasy Baseball Championship. You can still qualify for FanDuel’s mega-contest that will pay out over $1 million this summer.

Enjoy the games this weekend!