Fantasy Baseball: Week 10 Waiver Wire Pickups
Entering the 10th week of the MLB season there are still a lot of talented players sitting on the waiver wire of most fantasy baseball leagues. If you are looking to make changes to your roster, consider the five following players for this week off the fantasy waiver wire.
The MLB fantasy baseball waiver wire has some unnoticed talent sitting in free agency and those players should be able to provide some quality at-bats, or even a quality spot start in the middle of the week that could make the difference between your team winning or losing this week.
This week we’ll take a look at four batters and one pitcher as possible pickups for any fantasy roster, with the highest percentage of any player on a fantasy roster on this list (according to ESPN Fantasy Leagues) being just a tick over 61 percent. The lowest a player on that same ESPN list who will be mentioned in this article is on seven percent of fantasy baseball rosters.
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One of those players that many should take a look at is New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner who is currently on 61.4 percent of fantasy rosters. The past few games he’s really begun to improve his at-bats, which in fantasy baseball is key this time of the season, because finding some waiver wire players just before they start getting in a really good steak of hitting is very beneficial.
There are more than these following five players on the waiver wire who can help you teams if needed, but these are the five being spotlighted for the 10th week of the season.
Next: Brett Gardner
Brett Gardner (LF, CF)
New York Yankees
Owned by 61.4 percent of fantasy teams in ESPN leagues, Brett Gardner doesn’t have the best numbers of the season, but his past three games against the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend he was 2-for-3, 2-for-5 and 3-for-4, scoring a total of two runs and having one stolen base off his seven total hits in that series.
For the season Gardner is batting just .237, and before this weekend he went from at least May 25 through June 2 without a hit. Maybe this is the time he finally turns things around his season, a year which thus far includes 27 runs, five home runs and 12 RBI. He also has 10 stolen bases on the year.
He’s not the safest bet for sure with the season he’s had, but is this past weekend just a start to something really good? If your team is struggling at centerfield or left field, Gardner could be worth the risk, because with high risk comes high reward.
In the past 10 games his batting average has gone from .228 to as low as .211, but after his three games against the Orioles, Gardner raised his average to .237. In his past 10 games as well, Gardner has five strikeouts, but never more than one per game.
Gardner is on the waiver wire because his overall body of work isn’t that great, but his .368 average in the past seven days could be a cause for optimism entering the next set of games, as he and the Yankees face the Los Angeles Angels to begin this week.
Next: Eduardo Nunez
Eduardo Nunez (SS, 3B)
Minnesota Twins
If you are in need of a player who is eligible for two infield positions at shortstop and third base, how about taking a closer look at Eduardo Nunez of the Minnesota Twins, who has been hitting the ball well as of late?
In his past seven games Nunez is batting .323 with 10 hits, six runs, one double, two RBI and has one walk, all in 31 at-bats on a team that is struggling to win. Thus far in June, Nunez has seven hits including two home runs and one walk, along with five of the seven runs scored in the past seven days.
Against the Tampa Bay Rays in the past four games, Nunez went 2-for-5, 1-for-5, 2-for-4 and 2-for-4 with a total of two home runs, two RBI and three stolen bases, including two steals on Saturday.
These is also the matter of May 24 to May 31 where he had at least one hit, and in five of those games he had no less than two hits, facing the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics to obtain those very solid numbers.
Nunez is on 56.5 percent of ESPN fantasy baseball rosters, and if he keeps this type of production going that number will quickly rise just like his season batting average of .335, which is accompanied with 27 runs, 22 RBI, 12 stolen bases and seven home runs.
On Tuesday, the Twins begin a series with the Miami Marlins in Minnesota.
Next: Jon Jay
Jon Jay (CF)
San Diego Padres
Want to really take a risk this week? Try Jon Jay of the San Diego Padres. Not only does San Diego start the week against the Atlanta Braves, but in the past seven days Jay is 13-of-33 for a .394 average with seven runs, two doubles, 16 total bases and two RBI, with an on-base percentage of .394.
Even over the past 30 days Jay’s game has stepped up with a .324 average in that span, as he is 33-of-102 with 14 runs and 10 doubles in those games.
What really stands out for Jay being on the waiver wire is that he is on a mere 8.5 percent of fantasy teams in ESPN leagues. But recently he has had an add increase of +4.5 percent as steam slowly begins to start picking up for him.
Season numbers for Jay show him with 66 hits in 221 at-bats for a .299 average with an on-base percentage of .346. He has a total of 18 doubles and two home runs on the season for his extra base hits.
Jay will get on base and help keep your overall batting average in a good place, but he won’t bring huge power numbers, and his current Padres teammates might have problems batting him around the bases to score runs.
Next: Cameron Maybin
Cameron Maybin (CF)
Detroit Tigers
Here is another centerfielder to possibly take a waiver wire look at in the Detroit Tigers’ Cameron Maybin, who is currently on a six-game hitting streak in games against the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees.
For the month of June, Maybin is batting .381 with eight hits and five runs, with one of those hits being a double. He’s also added two RBI and three steals in June. Maybin has built those aforementioned numbers in just 21 at-bats this month.
Though he’s had a a stint on the disabled list this season, for the year he’s batting .414 with a .474 slugging percentage and .486 on-base percentage in just 19 games thus far. In his past seven games Maybin is batting .333 with five runs, one double, 10 total bases, two RBI and three walks.
Also in those same seven games his OBP is .333 as Maybin and his Detroit teammates helped sweep the White Sox over the weekend. They are in the thick of things in a very close AL Central, so playing in meaningful games in early June for positioning within the division could help add more to Maybin’s game.
That means his 57.6 percent ownership on fantasy rosters will most likely rise within the near future.
Next: Martin Perez
Martin Perez (SP)
Texas Rangers
Pitching is a little tougher to find on the waiver wire at times this season, but a closer look at Martin Perez of the Texas Rangers shows that he’s playing relatively well of late. Perez has won three consecutive starts, and in those starts he allowed a combined five earned runs against the Los Angeles Angels, Pittsburgh Pirates and Seattle Mariners.
On Saturday, Perez faced the Mariners, and in six innings he allowed three earned runs with one walk and one strikeout, his lowest number of strikeouts in a game in quite some time. In his three straight wins Perez has walked a total of five batters, struck out a total of 10 and walked four.
For the season his record is 4-4 with a 3.24 ERA and a WHIP of 1.35. His other win was early in the season on April 27 against the New York Yankees, and from May 3-18 he had two losses and two no decisions. In that span of games he allowed just seven earned runs, including two against the Detroit Tigers and one against the Toronto Blue Jays. He allowed no earned runs in six innings against the Los Angeles Angels.
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Perez won’t give you a lot of strikeouts in most outings, but he’s on just 12.5 percent of fantasy rosters in ESPN leagues and with his next start scheduled for Thursday, June 9 against the Houston Astros, he is worth some interest. Maybe he’ll be a nice filler to gain some innings pitched and a possible win on a day of the week where the scheduled is usually a little bare.