Deeper Hitter Pickups for Fantasy Baseball: Waiver Wire Report for Week 15

We’re coming up on Week 15 of the fantasy baseball season. The heat gets turned up a bit in July, but you can't let the heat melt your brain. Fantasy baseball necessitates hyper-vigilance, especially in deeper leagues where the waiver wires are quickly stripped of talent. This weekly article will outline the upcoming schedule, two-start pitchers, and a few waiver targets rostered in less than 5% of leagues.

It’s good practice to maximize at-bats and starts. A quick look at upcoming schedules for the 15th week of the MLB season could end up giving you the edge in this week’s play. There are plenty of two-start pitchers this week who should end up providing great value.

This article will discuss some deeper-league fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 15, July 3 through July 9. While the season may have settled in, the waiver wires are still hot. Rostered percentages can change quickly. So be quick to check your leagues for their availability. Key point – this list will focus on rostered players in less than 5% of Yahoo leagues.

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Fantasy Baseball Schedule Outlook

This week has some great schedules to target for fantasy. There are only two teams with five games on their schedule. 14 teams have a full slate of games this week, so there are plenty of players who will provide extra at-bats this week.

In this week’s weather report: the Mid-Atlantic will get postponable amounts of rain on Thursday night. A downpour is coming near the rust belt in the middle of the week. It will continue to stay in the upper 110s in the Southwest, but a heat delay is rare. A few delays could occur, but it should be a cancellation-free week of baseball.

• Seven Games - BAL, CLE, HOU, KC, NYY, SEA, TEX, CHC, CIN, MIA, MIL, PIT, STL, WAS
• Six Games - PHI, TOR, OAK, TB, ARZ, ATL, BOS, MIN, SD, SF, LAD, CWS, DET, NYM
• Five Games - LAA, COL

Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers

With the season settled in, there are starting pitchers of varying quality in this week’s two-start list. For more insight, check out my article on this week’s two-start pitcher streamers.

• Zach Davies (vs. NYM, vs. PIT)
• Bryce Elder (@ CLE, @ TB)
• Drew Smyly (@ MIL, @ NYY)
• Kyle Hendricks (@ MIL, @ NYY)
• Luke Weaver (@ WAS, @ MIL)
• Alec Mills (@ WAS, @ MIL)
• Clayton Kershaw (vs. PIT, vs. LAA)
• Braxton Garrett (vs. STL, vs. PHI)
• Jesus Luzardo (vs. STL, vs. PHI)
• Julio Teheran (vs. CHC, vs. CIN)
• Kodai Senga (@ ARZ, @ SD)
• Aaron Nola (@ TB, @ MIA)
• Mitch Keller (@ LAD, @ ARZ)
• Luis L. Ortiz (@ LAD, @ ARZ)
• Blake Snell (vs. LAA, vs. NYM)
• Logan Webb (vs. SEA, vs. COL)
• Miles Mikolas (@ MIA, @ CWS)
• Adam Wainwright (@ MIA, @ CWS)
• Jake Irvin (vs. CIN, vs. TEX)
• Patrick Corbin (vs. CIN, vs. TEX)
• Tyler Wells (@ NYY, @ MIN)
• Kyle Gibson (@ NYY, @ MIN)
• Gavin Williams (vs. ATL, vs. KC)
• Lucas Giolito (vs. TOR, vs. STL)
• Cristian Javier (@ TEX, vs. SEA)
• J.P. France (vs. COL, vs. SEA)
• Zack Greinke (@ MIN, @ CLE)
• Austin Cox (@ MIN, @ CLE)
• Joe Ryan (vs. KC, vs. BAL)
• Domingo German (vs. BAL, vs. CHC)
• JP Sears (@ DET, @ BOS)
• Bryan Woo (@ SF, @ HOU)
• Logan Gilbert (@ SF, @ HOU)
• Zach Eflin (vs. PHI, vs. ATL)
• Martin Perez (vs. HOU, @ WAS)
• Dane Dunning (@ BOS, @ WAS)
• Trevor Richards (@ CWS, DET)

Deeper Infield Waiver Wire Pickups

Jake Rogers (C), Detroit Tigers - 1% Rostered

While shaving off his infamous Hulk Hogan mustache may seem like a hit to the aura of Jake Rogers, it completely turned around the catcher's season. Since he shaved the stache clean off on June 9, Jake Rogers is slashing .318/.412/.659 with four home runs, nine RBI, 11 runs, and a 57.1% hard-hit rate.

He should cool off a bit, but his .455 SLG on the season means he will put up enough power production ROS to stick in your lineup.

Paul DeJong (SS), St. Louis Cardinals - 5% Rostered

While Paul DeJong has cooled off considerably since putting up a 1.071 OPS in April, he has still provided surprisingly good value in fantasy. DeJong has regained the power stroke of his prime with 12 home runs this season (10 in the past two months). While the 30.4% strikeout rate is concerning, DeJong is poised to continue providing solid power numbers.

Brice Turang (2B/SS), Milwaukee Brewers - 3% Rostered

The 2018 first-round pick disappointed many with his performance this season, slashing an abysmal .205/.254/.307 with a 27.1% strikeout rate in his first 57 games. The Brewers demoted the rookie on June 6, and he responded with a .926 OPS in 15 games with Triple-A Nashville.

He earned a recall and has hit the ball much harder since returning to the major-league squad on June 28. Of his 13 BBE since his return, eight of them had exit velocities greater than 90 mph. While he has only collected three hits since then, the hard hits will start falling eventually. For example, he nearly knocked in his fourth home run of the season on Saturday but ended up with a 400-foot flyout on a BBE with a .780 xBA.

Turang's 29.4 ft/sec spring speed and nine stolen bases this season are enough to warrant rostering him, but if Turang keeps getting hard contact, he'll eventually become a pleasure to roster.

Deeper Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups

Will Benson (OF), Cincinnati Reds - 5% Rostered

While Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain have been in the spotlight, the Will Benson revival warrants just as much attention.

In 22 games in June, Will Benson slashed .350/.473/.600 with three home runs, 13 runs, seven RBI, and six stolen bases. He is limited to a strong-side platoon role, but legitimate five-category contributors are hard to come by.

Benson has always been uber-talented, but he has failed to put it together in his pro career. With all the parts in place, Benson is one of the best strong-side platoon options in fantasy baseball.

Will Brennan (OF), Cleveland Guardians - 3% Rostered

It was a good June for Will B's. Cleveland's everyday right fielder slashed .333/.363/.529 with three home runs, 14 RBI, and six runs in 24 games. With a strikeout rate in the 89th percentile and an xBA five points higher than his season mark, Brennan should continue his hitting success for the rest of the season.

Jason Heyward (OF), Los Angeles Dodgers - 1% Rostered

Will Benson is playing well, Paul DeJong has a double-digit home run total in June, and Jason Heyward holds a 1.374 OPS in his past seven games... are we in 2019? With his recent hot stretch, Heyward has boosted his season line to .264/.357/.491 with eight home runs, 20 RBI, 32 runs, and two stolen bases in 63 games.

While Heyward is stuck in a strong-side platoon role, there is no shame in platooning a guy with a 131 wRC+ this season. It is only time before people start catching on; invest in Heyward ASAP.

Corey Julks (OF), Houston Astros - 2% Rostered

In June, Corey Julks slashed .260/.341/.425 with three home runs, 11 RBI, 12 runs, and six stolen bases in 22 games. With his playing time coming in random bursts, many have been wary of rostering him in fantasy baseball.

It is obviously not in the best interest of any fantasy player to hold onto someone with inconsistent playing time, but with GM Dana Brown's recent admission to Ken Rosenthal that the Astros are interested in moving an outfield piece, Julks is poised to become a regular player later this month.

Until then, Julks will still provide five-category value, albeit at a lower magnitude than he will when the Astros clear the glut in the outfield.

More Waiver Wire Pickups and Streamers