Articles
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2B/SS/OF NYY) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 15
BALLER MOVE: Add in 15+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 3% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Adding Isiah Kiner-Falefa in fantasy isn't as sexy as some top prospects, but the 28-year-old super-utility man has been surprisingly productive over the past two months. Since the calendar turned to May, Kiner-Falefa-Falefa is slashing .267/.306/.457 with all five of his homers […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year ago2B and SS Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 15
Welcome to July, and another week of middle infield waiver wire pickups! The flipping of the calendar means many things, from barbecues and fireworks to All-Star debates and trade talks. Here in our little world of fantasy baseball, it also means time is running out to get into playoff position or to make up points […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoLuis Garcia (2B/SS, WAS) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 15
BALLER MOVE: Add in 15+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 23% of Leagues ANALYSIS: With each passing week, I get more perplexed at how Luis Garcia's roster rate remains so low. He's batting .280 on the season thanks to a 96th-percentile K-rate. He's got 36 runs, 37 RBI, five homers, and four steals, so he contributes […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoEzequiel Tovar (SS, COL) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 15
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 35% of Leagues ANALYSIS: After weeks of writing up Ezequiel Tovar as a waiver wire option this week, I decided to give it a rest and include him in the "Others To Consider" section while shining the spotlight elsewhere. After all, how many times can you […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoJordan Westburg (SS, BAL) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 15
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 46% of Leagues ANALYSIS: In the pantheon of top prospects, Jordan Westburg got lost in the shuffle. Perhaps it's because of the loaded Orioles farm system, which includes a higher-rated shortstop in Jackson Holliday. Whatever the reason Westburg was overlooked, he's in the Majors now and got […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoJavier Baez (SS, DET) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 14
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 44% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Confession time: I have been playing fantasy baseball for the entirety of Javier Baez's career. Over the past five years, that's been five or six leagues per season. I do not recall ever having Baez on any of those teams. He strikes […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoEzequiel Tovar (SS, COL) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 14
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 29% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Ezequiel Tovar is no stranger to the waiver wire column, but this week we're moving him up a section as he needs to be rostered in most fantasy leagues, especially ahead of a full week of home games at Coors Field. Ezequiel […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year ago2B and SS Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 14
The All-Star Break is traditionally what breaks up the baseball season into the "first half" and the "second half," but that is a bit of a misnomer. The Midsummer Classic is weeks away, but the actual halfway point in the season will happen this week as teams play their 81st and 82nd games right as […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoOwen Miller (1B/2B/3B, MIL) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 13
BALLER MOVE: Add in 15+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 33% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Owen Miller is a batting average machine who has also been racking up the counting stats as he leads off versus lefties and bats cleanup versus righties. The 26-year-old is one of the best contact hitters in baseball, and it's led to a […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoEzequiel Tovar (SS, COL) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 13
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 29% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Writing up Ezequiel Tovar feels like a weekly endeavor, and I don't get it. The guy entered the season as the number-one-ranked prospect for the Colorado Rockies. He was all the rage during the draft season. Then he has one bad month […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoRoyce Lewis (SS, MIN) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 13
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 43% of Leagues ANALYSIS: The former top prospect for Minnesota is criminally under-rostered in fantasy, given all he's done is hit since he got to the Majors. Royce Lewis flashed elite upside in 12 games last season as he batted .300 with a .550 slugging percentage […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year ago2B and SS Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 13
It's Sunday, so that means it's time to hit the waiver wire. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there; let's try and find a gift on the waiver wire that's better than that tie your kids bought (Do dads still get ties on Father's Day?). In the spirit of the holiday, we're focussing […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoLuis Garcia (2B/SS, WAS) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 12
BALLER MOVE: Add in 15+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 18% of Leagues ANALYSIS: What more does Luis Garcia need to do for some respect in fantasy? Perhaps play for a team better than the Nationals? Alas, Garcia is in Washington, and if no one else is paying attention, there's a buying opportunity on the 23-year-old second […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoEzequiel Tovar (SS, COL) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 12
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 28% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Speaking of top prospects that have really picked things up, we have Ezequiel Tovar, who has hits in 17 of his last 20 games and includes eight doubles and a home run. Sure, playing in Coors Field helped those numbers, and the […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoMiguel Vargas (1B/2B, LAD) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 12
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 37% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Fantasy baseball managers love to chase the next big thing while easily giving up on the previous big thing. Case in point, Miguel Vargas was all the rage during the draft season but is now available in over 60% of fantasy leagues. The […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoOrlando Arcia (2B/SS/OF, ATL) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 12
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 47% of Leagues ANALYSIS: It feels like Orlando Arcia has been around forever, mostly because he broke in as a 21-year-old in 2016. For most of his major league career, he's been an afterthought in fantasy. Not this season; Arcia is finally getting everyday at-bats in an […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year ago2B and SS Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 12
Howdy folks, welcome to another week of middle infield waiver wire options. We're roughly one-third of the way through the fantasy baseball season and by now it should be apparent where your weaknesses are; if it's 2B or SS, you've come to the right place. Along those same lines, we also have a good sample […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoCasey Schmitt (SS/3B, SF) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 11
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 33% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Two weeks ago, Casey Schmitt's roster rate was near 50%, and it seemed he was well on his way to getting the respect he deserved among fantasy baseball enthusiasts. In those two weeks, Schmitt has nine RBI, five runs scored, two steals, […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoMichael Massey (2B, KC) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 11
BALLER MOVE: Add in 15+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 3% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Like Milwaukee Brewers infielder Owen Miller, Kansas City Royals second baseman Michael Massey got off to an atrocious start to the season but really turned things around in May. Through the season's first month, Massey was batting .167 and was a complete afterthought […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoOwen Miller (1B/2B/3B, MIL) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 11
BALLER MOVE: Add in 15+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 45% of Leagues ANALYSIS: In the intro, we mentioned how some players with overall numbers are being dragged down by a poor April. Exhibit A: Owen Miller. The Brewers second baseman led all qualified second basemen and shortstops with a .600 slugging percentage in May while collecting […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year ago2B and SS Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 11
The start of June is a great time to take stock of the baseball season. We're two months in, which gives us a decent sample size to split in half to see who cooled off after a hot start, and who really turned things around after a miserable April. A bad start may still be […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoEzequiel Tovar (SS, COL) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 10
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 24% of Leagues ANALYSIS: A week ago, we recommended Ezequiel Tovar as an add-in advance of a seven-game week at Coors Field, and the rookie delivered with a six-game hit streak. Unfortunately, the counting stats remained low as he's buried at ninth in the Colorado batting […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoCasey Schmitt (SS/3B, SF) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 10
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 39% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Casey Schmitt is somehow less rostered today than when this column came out last week, despite posting three more multi-hit games. The 24-year-old prospect continues to mash for the Giants as he's batting .343 and slugging .507 through his first 17 games. Oddly, […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year agoRonny Mauricio (2B/SS, NYM) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 10
BALLER MOVE: Add in 15+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 7% of Leagues ANALYSIS: There's a saying in football that the most popular player on a losing team is the backup quarterback. Well, that same principle applies to underachieving baseball teams, particularly when the team in question is running out of the largest payroll in MLB history. […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year ago2B/SS Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 10
Welcome to another week of Middle Infield waiver wire options, and Happy Memorial Day weekend to all. The unofficial start of summer is a great time to take stock of the baseball season, both on the real and virtual diamond. If your fantasy team isn't doing so hot, no worries, there's still plenty of season […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 1 year ago2B/SS Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 9
Some of the biggest stars in the sport – and biggest fantasy names– returned last week as Rangers shortstop Corey Seager, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, and of course, Cubs superstar second baseman Nico Hoerner made triumphant returns to the diamond. That doesn't mean we don't need waiver options, however, as there's always a demand for […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 2 years agoEzequiel Tovar (SS, COL) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 9
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 27% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Ezequiel Tovar was a hot commodity during draft season, but an early-season slump had many fantasy managers cast him aside. This was a mistake for two reasons. First, he's only 21 years old and will be prone to some rookie struggles. Second, […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 2 years agoBryson Stott (2B/SS, PHI) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 9
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 49% of Leagues ANALYSIS: In writing this column every week, I thought we were done with Bryson Stott, but his roster rate dipped under 50% so here we are. If Stott is available in your league, he should absolutely be added as the leadoff hitter for […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 2 years agoCasey Schmitt (SS/3B, SF) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 9
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 35% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Early this season, many top prospects have struggled, but don't tell that to Casey Schmitt, who has assaulted Major League pitching in the short time he's been in The Show. Through his first 10 games, the 24-year-old is batting .400 with a .650 […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 2 years agoCasey Schmitt (SS/3B, SF) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 8
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 35% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Keeping up with the theme of top prospects, the Giants called up their fourth-ranked prospect, 24-year-old Casey Schmitt. Schmitt is an interesting fantasy option as most of his prospect pedigree is derived from a 60-grade glove at third base. Another multi-hit night […]
Mike Schwarzenbach 2 years ago