Points League Hitters: Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 26

September 18, 2021

Nicklaus Gaut's H2H points league waiver wire pickups for Week 26 of the 2021 fantasy baseball season, identifying free agents hitters to add.

We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax.

Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform, so we'll make sure to highlight where players are the best and worst fits. We know points league players get neglected and we're here to help.

These waiver-wire adds are for the week of September 20 - September 26, looking at players below 50% rostered for ESPN and Yahoo! Stats and rankings are calculated using games through Friday, September 17.

Know Your System

If you've read me even a little, you likely know what I'm going to say...You must account for, as precisely as possible, how a player performs under your particular scoring system. Don't be fooled into believing you can just make rough adjustments in your head, bumping up guys with high on-base percentages and low strikeout rates. Every point, in every category, counts.

For example, ESPN and Fantrax are virtually identical in their scoring for hitters and roster size. The only difference is that stolen bases are worth one more point on Fantrax and ESPN subtracts one point per strikeout. That's the difference between Ronald Acuna Jr. being a top-five hitter versus top-20.

If your league uses standard settings, then great! Turn to page 94 and you can skip ahead to the leaderboards. If you play with custom settings, it'll still be fine. Go back to page 43 and look below at the scoring systems of the four major platforms. I bet there's a chance that you'll find that your league's scoring is very similar to one of the four (well, not Yahoo!'s), even if it's not the platform you actually play on.

For example, my home league started on a now-defunct platform before moving first to ESPN and is now at Fantrax. But our scoring is basically ESPN standard only with two points for stolen bases and a handful of other minor adjustments.

If you look above, you'll likely find a suitable mirror to your own system. While every point counts, as long as they aren't seismic changes you can get away with some "close enough" calls. IE. If everything is the same except for HBP (or something similar), you're probably fine.

Waiver Wire Leaderboards

In addition to our overall waiver wire leaderboards, we're deep enough into the season that we'll also start doing a 14-day leaderboard, as well, giving us a window into recent production. The charts are updated prior to Saturday's games, on stats and ownerships. All leaderboards, overall and 14-day, are sorted according to the player's roster%, and clicking on a chart will open a new page with a magnified version.

*APR = Average Platform Ranking - the average platform ranking between ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, and Fantrax (standard point settings)

The Hansels

Let the recency bias wash over you because these players are just so hot, right now. So, just for fun, let's start making a chart of the players in the top-100 of APR over the last two weeks before diving into the position-by-position analysis.

First Base

Must Add

• Bobby Dalbec, BOS - The strikeouts aren't going anywhere but Dalbec just keeps crushing, hitting five home runs in his past eight games. In 124 PA since the start of August, Dalbec is slashing .315/.403/.750, with a .470 wOBA and 199 wRC+.

Can Add

• Nathaniel Lowe, TEX - Lowe finally hit his first home run of September and now has 15 HR on the year, running a 53 APR over the last two weeks. But his production just isn't steady enough for points and his per-PA rates rank near the bottom of qualified hitters, regardless of platform.
• Miguel Sano, MIN - Sano keeps slugging enough to outrun an atrocious 34.5% K%, posting a .423 wOBA and .387 xwOBA over the last two weeks and hitting six home runs in 50 PA.

Desperate Adds

• Miguel Cabrera, DET

Notable IL

• Rowdy Tellez, MIL
• Mitch Moreland, SD

Second Base

Must Adds

• Nah. In fact, the whole of second base on the wire is kind of one big struggle bus, right now. Part-timers, late-season collapses and flashes in the pan. Not much else.

Can Adds

• Abraham Toro, SEA
• Enrique Hernandez, BOS

Desperate Adds

• Garrett Hampson, COL - He has a 72 APR over the last two weeks but only managed 42 PA. But hey, he's got three games at home this week, I guess?
• Brad Miller, PHI

Notable IL

• Cavan Biggio, TOR
• Christian Arroyo, BOS
• Michael Chavis, PIT
• Jon Berti, MIA

Third Base

Must Adds

• Evan Longoria, SF - Longoria has picked things right back up since coming off of the IL on September 3. Over the last two weeks, he's posted a 24 APR, slashing .297/.404/.649 over 47 PA, with a .415 wOBA and 164 wRC+. And if that didn't already make him a must-add, allow me to sweeten the pot with three games in Colorado this week. Zero reasons he should be on your wire.
• Jeimer Candelario, DET - Candelario only has a 105 APR over the last two weeks (69 APR for 2021) but has also got a bit unlucky, with a .390 xwOBA coming in at just a .315 wOBA.

Can Adds

• Yoshi Tsutsugo, PIT - Tsutsugo hasn't gone yard since September 5 but in his nine homer-less games since then, he has slashed .323/.462/.419 over 39 PA, with a .395 wOBA and 149 wRC+. But his overall production will continue to be limited by something less than full-time at-bats.
• Hunter Dozier, KC

Desperate Adds

• Matt Duffy, CHC

Notable IL 

• Nope

Shortstop

Must Adds

• Luis Urias, MIL - Urias has kept up his late-season hotness, slashing .314/.407/.490  in September, with a .389 wOBA and 144 wRC+.
• Brendan Rodgers, COL - Rodgers has had a really hot September, slashing .310/.344/.517 over 61 PA, with a .367 wOBA, batting and playing second most every game. He has seven hits in his modest four-game hit streak and Colorado has six games at home this week.

Can Adds

• J.P. Crawford, SEA - Crawford is a boring compiler that derives a lot of value simply from playing every day and batting at the top of the order. He has a 37 APR over the last two weeks but posted a .368 wOBA backed by just a .278 xwOBA.

Desperate Adds

• Alcides Escobar, WSH - I'm not sure whose life force he stole but Escobar is hitting like it's 1999 when he was (I assume) crushing middle school pitching, posting a 31 APR over the last two weeks. It won't last.
• Elvis Andrus, OAK

Notable IL

• Nico Hoerner, CHC

Outfielders

Must Adds

• Lane Thomas, WSH - The latest ex-Cardinal to make St. Louis immediately regret their decision, Thomas has a 6 APR over the last two weeks, hitting four home runs, with a .417 wOBA. Over 132 PA for the Nationals, Thomas is slashing .310/.402/.549, with a .403 wOBA and 151 wRC+. Still available in ~75% of leagues.
• Anthony Santander, BAL - If he's available, Santander is about the safest high-floor/high-ceiling pick you're going to find lying around. He only has a 91 APR over the last two weeks, hitting three home runs in 47 PA. And this is a great week for adding, as Santander and the Orioles have seven games, going on the road to Philadelphia's bandbox for three games before heading to their home bandbox to take on the doormat Rangers for a four-game set.
• LaMonte Wade Jr., SF - He's going to sit some against lefties for the platoon-happy Giants but Wade's performance is steadily excellent enough that it makes his Roster% fairly ridiculous in all but deep leagues with weekly moves. < 15%? Really? Wade has a 43 APR over the last two weeks, running a .432 wOBA and putting up top-10 per-PA rates.

Can Adds

• Odubel Herrera, PHI - Not a lot of flash but Herrera is about a safe of a bet as you're going to find, with a 140 APR on the season and a 108 APR over the last two weeks.
• Jesus Sanchez, MIA - Sanchez has put up a 59 APR over the last two weeks, running a pretty decent .369 wOBA and .360 xwOBA. But a 31.4% K% will strongly limit him in leagues with a strikeout penalty.
• Jarred Kelenic, SEA - Kelenic's recent numbers are flashy but are driven by a two-home run game against a rookie making his MLB debut for the Royals and two home runs off of Humberto Castellanos and JB Wendleken in last week's series against Arizona. So is this the start of the breakout we've been promised by the Kelenic truthers? Or taking advantage of suspect pitchers?
• Lorenzo Cain, MIL - Cain has a .358 wOBA and .382 xwOBA over the last two weeks but as we've been talking about for the past month, he's limited less by talent and more by the Brewers limiting his playing time in preparation for the playoffs.
• Brandon Nimmo, NYM - That's right, baby...Mr. September is back!
• Brett Gardner, NYY

Desperate Adds

• Ben Gamel, PIT - I know that Gamel has a 120 APR over the last two weeks, with a .402 wOBA and .379 xwOBA but let's be real. If you're clicking that 'Add' button for Ben Gamel, things have hit a desperate level.
• D.J. Peters, TEX - Peters has an 82 APR over the last two weeks but be aware that his .304 wOBA over that time period is backed by just a .240 xwOBA. But he'll at least have the benefit of playing in hitter-friendly parks all weeks, facing the Yankees in New York for three games, before going to Baltimore for four games.

Notable IL

• Tyler Naquin, CIN
• Kyle Lewis, SEA
• Andrew Vaughn, CHW
• Jo Adell, LAA
• Connor Joe, COL
• Justin Upton, LAA
• Alex Dickerson, SF
• Jarren Duran, BOS
• Seth Beer, ARI
• Adam Engel, CHW
• Danny Santana, BOS

Catchers

Must Adds

• Elias Diaz, COL - Diaz has a 76 APR over the last two weeks, hitting three home runs and posting a .426 wOBA. But like many Colorado hitters over the years, Diaz is a man of splits, with a .375 wOBA at home and .289 wOBA on the road. The key to his must-add status? Six games at home, baby. Boom.

Can Adds

• Travis d'Arnaud, ATL
• Alejandro Kirk, TOR - If Kirk isn't available, you can probably get a similar value from teammate Danny Jansen (.510 wOBA, .413 xwOBA over the last two weeks), with the Toronto duo splitting duties pretty evenly. But Kirk has the bigger upside in points, with a .383 xwOBA for the season and .432 wOBA (.439 xwOBA) over the last two weeks. Unfortunately, they're both limited by the other's existence but are certainly useful in daily-moves leagues.
• Mike Zunino, TB - You know what you're getting by now; big-time pop (31 HR in 344 PA) with big-time whiffs (35.5% K%). Use accordingly.

Desperate Adds

• All catcher adds are desperate adds.

Notable IL

• Mitch Garver, MIN
• Jorge Alfaro, MIA
• Wilson Ramos, CLE
• Stephen Vogt, ARI

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