Digging Deeper: Week 8 AL/NL Waiver Wire Targets

May 20, 2018

Tom Bellucco brings you the best deep MLB sleepers and picks for Week 8 of the 2018 Fantasy Baseball Season in NL-only, AL-only, and 14+ team leagues.

Welcome back, RotoBallers! As we enter Week 8, we're getting closer and closer to panic time. If you've been ravaged by injuries like me, waiver wire pickups might not cut it anymore. Don't wait too long to go out on the trade market and fill some holes on your team. Remember, it's a long season, but if you're struggling now, you want to be sure you're in a position to make a big move in the dog days of summer when (hopefully) your team starts to get healthy. For now, let's try to find some more sleepers in the free agent pool.

In Digging Deeper our goal is to serve the fantasy players who don't get mainstream love. The target percentage for players discussed in this article will be 15% owned or less in Yahoo! leagues. Obviously, that means these players will fail to meet their upside more often than not, but if a few deep waiver adds can breakout throughout the season, you'll be in a good place to win a fantasy league.

Because we'll be covering more players, and because a lot of these players are shots in the dark, our analysis will be shorter and to the point. Feel free to find me on Twitter (@BellRoto) with any questions or comments you may have. Let's do this.

Digging Deeper: Week 6 Picks

Jesus Aguilar (1B, MIL) - 33% owned

I know that Jesus Aguilar is far above our typical 15% owned threshold, but I put him on my list on Sunday when he was sub-20%, and after hitting his fourth home run in three games yesterday (bringing his average up to .333), fantasy owners have caught on. He's probably snatched up at this point, but if not, it's worth taking a shot on this heater to see how long it lasts, especially with Ryan Braun on the DL for the time being.

Leonys Martin (OF, DET) - 14% owned

The lead-off man for the Detroit Tigers is healthy again, and while he hasn't collected a hit in his first three games back from the DL, there's plenty of value in a player like Leonys Martin. Martin is currently sporting the highest fly ball percentage of his career (54.4%) with an impressive hard hit percentage of 36.1%. Those numbers tell me that the five early home runs are no fluke, and he may be able flirt with 20 this season if he keeps up this approach. The downside of that fly ball approach is that Martin's batting average will certainly falter a bit from the .300 number we typically expect, and the has also only converted one of his four steal attempts. It's too early to know exactly which kind of player Martin will be the rest of the year, but either way his skillset will provide you with value, and that value will increase as the weather gets warmer and the Tigers lineup gets healthy.

Ben Zobrist (2B/OF, CHC) - 12% owned

The aging utility man Ben Zobrist probably won't help you tremendously in any one category, and we can't even expect him to start every game like we can Martin, but 12% owned is too low for what he does provide when he plays. Zobrist has led off for the Cubs in all but two of the last 12 games he's started, and those two exceptions included a stint as the clean-up hitter and second hitter. When he plays, he's right in the heart of the Chicago's run production. Zobrist is still one of the best Cubbies at getting on base and creating runs, evidenced by his .382 OBP and 19 runs scored this year despite missing two weeks in April due to injury. He'll also run into a homer or two, although he can't be relied on for power or RBI if he continues to hit lead-off. The Cubs offense will heat up with the weather, that I know for sure, and Zobrist should be right in the middle of that run production so long as he stays healthy.

Matt Duffy (2B/3B, TB) - 7% owned

There's no rocket science here: Matt Duffy is hitting .328 this season. This Rays lineup isn't going to provide him all that much run production, but he does have a pair of homers and a pair of steals to give owners at least a little something on the side with the plus batting average. The .428 BABIP will almost certainly regress, but Duffy's high amount of line drives, ground balls, and opposite field hits should help keep that BABIP higher than most. I'll buy him as a .300 hitter for the season, and that's plenty valuable for owners like me who forgot to factor in batting average when drafting their teams in March (whoops) and then proceeded to lose their best average contributors to injuries. Yeah, it's not pretty right now.

Dustin Fowler (OAK, OF) - 4% owned

The young A's outfielder has started four games in a row now (he led off in one of them), and Dustin Fowler looked pretty darn good doing so, collecting three runs, five RBI, two steals, and his first major league homer. We know this kid can run, so if he can find ways on base from anywhere in the order, he'll help in stolen bases. I can't guarantee much more than that, but he's young enough to have upside for improvement in other categories. If I'm desperate for steals and/or a spark on my injured roster, Fowler is a fine flier to take.

Daniel Mengden (SP, OAK) - 13% owned

Daniel Mengden doesn't have overwhelming stuff by any means, but he's pitching effectively enough to be picked up in most leagues. He's pitched his way to four wins already, sporting a 3.30 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. His strikeout totals will likely remain low, but his great fastball command mixed with a deceiving change-up should be enough to get him through most outings unscathed, just as it did in two recent starts against the dangerous Red Sox. Mengden is a smart, effective pitcher who will throw most of his outings in a very pitcher-friendly park. There's a lot to like here.

Joe Musgrove (SP, PIT) - 10% owned

We'll finally get to see the Pirates' new starting pitcher in action after a injury-riddled Spring Training left him on the shelf to start the year. There's not much to analyze here other than the fact that Joe Musgrove will pitch his first game against the Cardinals on Friday, and if you're desperate for a spark in your rotation, he's worth a shot. We're not looking at a potential ace here by any means, but we've seen Ray Searage and company convert worse pitchers into very effective fantasy options in the past. There's enough upside here to pick up Musgrove before your league mates do.

Luiz Gohara (SP, ATL) - 9% owned

Coveted Braves pitching prospect Luiz Gohara will move from his relief role to a starting role on Wednesday, and there's plenty to be excited about with this kid. Gohara sports a pretty strict fastball/slider mix, and it remains to be seen if he can translate that combo into success at the major league level, but the upside with the big southpaw is certainly there. You know what they say, "You can't win the lottery if you don't play." You might as well take a shot on Gohara.

Clayton Richard (SP, SD) - 7% owned

Clayton Richard got off to a really shaky start this year, but he's calmed down in his past three starts to the tune of 23.1 innings pitched, 20 strikeouts, one walk, and seven earned runs while collecting wins over the Cardinals and Pirates and a tough-luck loss against the Nationals. Those are pretty good offenses, and Richard looked pretty impressive. This could just be a blip on the radar, and he very well may return to his putrid form in the coming weeks, but something tells me it won't happen against the Dodgers on Friday. Los Angeles is ranked 26th in the MLB against lefties this season, so Richard is in a good spot to keep it rolling for the time being.

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