Waiver Wire Claims for Your Fantasy Baseball League

SP Jharel Cotton – 36.7%

I’m going to be straightforward with you here. I was originally going to set the cut-off for this list as available in at least two-thirds of leagues, but once I saw Cotton was available in just under two-thirds of leagues I had to adjust my percent available to include the young righty. Cotton made his MLB debut in 2016, throwing 29.1 innings for the A’s as a 24-year-old. Cotton had a lot of success in that limited time, with a 2.15 ERA and a 2-0 record.

Now small sample size warnings apply, but Cotton has enough potential to scare off any of the possible warning signs that come along with Cotton in 2017 (he also had a 4.32 FIP in those 29.1 innings last year). Cotton’s fastball-changeup velocity difference is the stuff of legends, and being able to pitch his home games in the pitcher-friendly confines of O.Co should do wonders to help the confidence of the youngster.

RP Brandon Kintzler – 24.5%

We all know the importance of the save in fantasy baseball. It’s a somewhat out-of-date statistic that has seemingly risen to prominence in part thanks to fantasy baseball. If you’re in a league without saves, feel free to skip Kintzler, but if your league does reward saves, Kintzler should be on your radar. The 32-year-old righty doesn’t always inspire the most confidence from fantasy owners, but he’s actually one of the safer bets among the bottom tier of closers.

For one, he has the job, instead of one of the closer-by-committee types you often find among the bottom tier of closers. Glen Perkins is there in name to threaten Kintzler, but with his recent health issues, it would be shocking if Perkins ended the season with more than 10 saves. Trevor May was probably the biggest competition, but he is out for the season with Tommy John. Kintzler is also one of the heavier ground ball pitchers in baseball, as he sported a 60+ percent ground ball rate in each of the last two seasons, a great sign for his reliability. Closers are always in close games, so avoiding the long ball is of the utmost importance. Kintzler is a sinker-heavy pitcher who should do better than you think in 2017.

C Welington Castillo – 34.7%

“Beef” Castillo has plenty of meat in his bat, having hit 46 home runs over the past three seasons. He has hit at least 13 home runs in each of those seasons –  a solid total from the catcher position. Castillo should have plenty of opportunity to show off that power once again in 2017, as he is the starting catcher in what is a big-time power lineup in Baltimore. Castillo is set to hit sixth in the lineup, jump behind Mark Trumbo and in front of Jonathan Schoop.

Camden Yards is a big-time benefit to right-handed sluggers, third-best (behind Miller Park and Yankee Stadium) in all of baseball, per RotoGrinders. Fifteen home runs seem like the floor for Castillo in 2017, with 20-25 seeming very possible. Add in a .250 average and decent runs and RBI, and Castillo should end the year as a top-ten catcher.