RADIO
Welcome back for another week of advice for points league waiver wire moves. This segment will include waiver wire adds, drops, and streaming pitchers for the upcoming week. This article will be geared specifically toward points leagues. Every points league is different, so keep that in mind. Walks and extra base hits are more valuable, whereas AVG and ERA are not important, so consider that as well.
Some players will be suggested as streamers (while they are hot), or as rest-of-season adds (ride them all year).
As always, feel free to follow and message me on Twitter @BlakeSullivanFF for any fantasy advice or for further reasoning with this segment. Without further ado, let's take a look at some players that you should either add or drop.
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- Who should I start? Fantasy baseball player comparisons
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Points League Players to Add
Jon Jay (OF, KC) - 14% owned
Jon Jay has a hit in 27 of his last 29 games. Any points league players love getting a consistent player like Jay because he can be put in the lineup and will score. Jay has a .455 BABIP. He's slashing .500/.591/1.091. His stolen bases are down to only three this year. Jay is most valuable in deep leagues, but offers a great option for teams dealing with injuries or inconsistent play.
Brandon Nimmo (OF, NYM) - 39% owned
Brandon Nimmo has been red hot. He has a .429 wOBA. His .431/.574/1.004 slash line for the season is quite impressive. His five stolen bases and six home runs offer the opportunity for high scoring nights. He's only 25 years old, so he has a ton of value in dynasty formats as he nears his prime seasons. His OPS has risen almost 200 points in each of his seasons so far.
Gorkys Hernandez (OF, SFG) - 19% owned
Gorkys Hernandez's numbers don't necessarily make you run to get him, but he would be a great streaming option while he's hot. he has a slash line of .336/.492/.828. He has a .300 AVG. His.354 wOBA is more telling of how his slightly above average season. Throughout March and April his average was only .256. In May he has a much improved .325 AVG. This may be a sign of what the rest of his season will be like. At only 19% owned he makes a good streaming candidate if not a rest of season candidate.
Points League Pitchers to Stream
Joe Musgrove (SP/RP, PIT) - Tuesday 6/5/18 vs. LAD - 29% owned
Joe Musgrove has only two starts this season, but he has been spectacular. He has gone seven innings in both starts. He gets the extra bonus of having a two start week. He has only given up one run while striking out 12 batters. Musgrove has given up a lot of base hits, but he has a LOB% of 93.8. This means that he has been able to get out of jams when he does get runners on base. Musgrove is only 25 years old and has a lot of potential. He should be streamed in all leagues but should be held onto for quite awhile in dynasty formats.
Nathan Eovaldi (SP, TB) - Tuesday 6/5/18 vs. WSH - 9% owned
Nathan Eovaldi is another pitcher with a two start week. He's also a pitcher that has performed well but started the season late. Eovaldi is coming back from Tommy John surgery. He was still able to top 100 mph on his fastball. He was eased back into action but threw six no-hit innings in his first game back. He only struck out four batters but also only walked one batter. His control was good for someone making their first start. Be careful with him because of how Tampa is using their rotation. They have used many relievers to make starts this season which could cut into his time. That being said, it may help keep him sharp and producing for the whole season. He's well worth the addition for at least this week.
Caleb Smith (SP, MIA) - Friday 6/8/18 vs. SD - 35% owned
Caleb Smith has an 11.02 K/9. Although he only gets one start this week, he should have a chance to perform well against the San Diego Padres. If he were playing on a team better than the Marlins, he would have a better record than 4-5. He has had his ups and downs this year struggling with walks at times. When his command has been good he is actually one of the better pitchers in the league for points. Smith isn't the answer to all your problems, but his ERA is .58 better than the league average. Smith is a great add for teams looking for a hot arm to stream or if they need more pitching depth in general.
Points League Players to Drop
Byron Buxton (OF, MIN) - 43% owned
Byron Buxton has not lived up to his expectations so far. He has dealt with injuries to begin the season, but just now was sent to the 10 day DL. It's time to quit waiting on him to get healthy. He's still owned in 43% of leagues despite a .156 AVG. The only thing going for him at the moment is his five stolen bases. That's a low total for him, but he has no home runs and only four RBI. Even in dynasty formats it's getting hard to stick with Buxton. Even if he comes back fine from all his injuries it may take awhile to balance out the cost of waiting.
Jonathan Lucroy (C, OAK) - 30% owned
Jonathan Lucroy is losing value because of his playing time. He has recently lost some of his starts. Lucroy has 12 RBI, but no power to speak of. His wOBA is an unimpressive .293. Lucroy is 32 years old and is winding down his career. He still offers some value and is useful in two-catcher leagues. There are more and more young catchers with great offense such as Gary Sanchez and Wilson Contreras coming into the league. There are also veteran players hitting better than Lucroy such as Yadier Molina and Buster Posey. Catchers are one of the lowest scoring positions, and the most valuable thing is to have an everyday catcher to rely on.
Trey Mancini (1B/OF, BAL) - 63% owned
It seems like a little bit of a stretch to drop Trey Mancini. Before I go into the numbers, I want to clarify only to drop him in redraft leagues. At 26 years old and three seasons into his career, he still has things to figure out and has a good upside. There are a lot of outfielders and first basemen that are emerging this year as consistent and available producers. His OPS is down from .826 last season to .681 this season. One of the most telling statistics is that his offensive WAR is down from 2.8 last year to 0.3 this season. Obviously he had a great season last year, but so far his seven home runs are the only thing that are keeping his value where it is. He's only had six hits in his last 45 at bats. You should use your common sense on this move. If you have injuries or there aren't any options available then don't do it, but he's drop able in most leagues.
