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Baseball season is officially in full swing. If you have an interest or a need in tweaking with your team, then you have come to the right place. This FAAB fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups series will be looking at Week 5 -- April 22 through April 28 -- and will point out free agents to target and how much FAAB you should allocate for them.
Baseball is a long season, and your FAAB budget has to last you an awfully long time. For the next 23 weeks, we must carefully place bids and target players who will fill holes in our team. Pay close attention to this in category leagues and spend big on a player if you need a specific category filled urgently.
Below are a few players with ownership percentages under 50% in Yahoo leagues that could benefit your roster and provide you with an added boost in several categories. I will also include what percentage of your FAAB budget you should look to spend on each player. Let’s get started!
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Ryan Jeffers, C, Minnesota Twins
24% rostered
FAAB Bid: > 5% if needing a catcher, < 4% for others
Ryan Jeffers has quietly put together a solid start to the 2024 campaign. The Minnesota backstop has a .275/.351/.529 stat line with three home runs and 11 RBI.
Jeffers opened the season batting toward the bottom half of the Twins lineup, but that has begun to change. This past week, the 26-year-old has been slotted consistently in the two-hole against both right-handed and left-handed pitchers.
If you need a backup catcher, Jeffers is a valuable option worth placing some FAAB on. If he continues to bat this high in the lineup and put up substantial numbers, he will not be available much longer.
Get him at a discount now.
Ryan O'Hearn, 1B/OF, Baltimore Orioles
29% rostered
FAAB Bid: 3-5%
The Orioles first baseman/outfielder has been absolutely smashing the ball. O’Hearn is currently sporting a .319/.385/.660 line with four long balls.
RYAN O’HEARN IS A BAAAAD MANNN pic.twitter.com/IURUNtyzYH
— Zach Bollinger (@zachbollinger18) April 15, 2024
According to Statcast, Ryan O’Hearn is the best hitter in baseball in xSLG, xwOBA, and xBA. O’Hearn is also in the top 90% of all batters when it comes to average exit velocity, barrel rate, sweet spot rate, K rate, and chase rate.
With such a small sample size, these unreal Statcast numbers are going to decrease. It is very difficult to continue hitting the ball this hard and this consistently.
While O’Hearn is currently on the strong side of a platoon, his potential struggles and the presence of talented bats in the Orioles system, like Heston Kjerstad or Coby Mayo, waiting in the wings could pose a risk.
Despite his incredible numbers and potentially limited playing time, fantasy managers should still look to add O’Hearn in deeper leagues to serve as a corner infielder or fifth outfielder for the time being. O’Hearn should not be viewed as a permanent fix to a team but instead as a temporary solution.
Gabriel Arias, SS/1B/3B/OF, Cleveland Guardians
5% rostered
FAAB Bid: 1%
The 24-year-old super-utility man just made five consecutive starts after receiving limited playing time in the first two weeks of the season.
Arias is riding a solid .314/.333/.543 line with one home run, one swiped bag, and seven RBI. In those five consecutive starts, he has hit five extra-base hits.
Even though Arias will have limits on his playing time due to Brayan Rocchio usually handling shortstop and Tyler Freeman and Ramon Laureano handling right and center field, respectively. However, if Arias can continue to produce well at the plate, he could make a case for a starting role.
Arias should be considered in deeper leagues, especially if you lack positional flexibility, as he should have multiple positional eligibility on most websites.
Luis Garcia Jr., 2B, Washington Nationals
4% rostered
FAAB Bid: 1%
Another early-season Statcast darling, Luis Garcia is currently sporting a .549 xSLG, 17.1% barrel rate, and 53.7% hard-hit rate, placing him in the 90th, 95th, and 93rd percentiles among all qualified hitters, respectively. The power numbers are quite eye-catching for someone like Garcia, who has never cleared double-digit home runs in his career.
The 23-year-old has an overall .294/.321/.490 line with three stolen bases and one home run.
Luis Garcia turns a one-run lead into four! pic.twitter.com/3FE0nOk0te
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 16, 2024
His strong play has apparently impressed manager Dave Martinez, as he is now batting toward the top half of the lineup as of late. He began the season batting consistently in the eight-hole, so this is quite a jump up in the lineup.
Garcia, like Arias, is nothing more than a low-risk, low-investment option in deeper leagues that could provide a strong batting average with the potential for an unexpected power increase.
Orlando Arcia, SS, Atlanta Braves
23% rostered
FAAB Bid: 5-8%
A familiar name to readers of this series is still available in most leagues, and I do not know why. Since April 12, Arcia has batted .421/.409/.737 with four extra-base hits and six RBI.
Due to the injury of second baseman Ozzie Albies, Arcia has begun to climb up the lineup card, making him a better bet to tally counting stats in a great lineup. Arcia is well worth placing a bid for this weekend, as he should see five at-bats per game minimum and plenty of opportunities to score and bring runners in.
Andy Pages, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
15% rostered
FAAB Bid: < 5%
The Los Angeles Dodgers promoted their third-ranked prospect on Tuesday and should already be considered fantasy relevant.
Pages laced his first career hit on the first pitch he saw on Tuesday night against the Washington Nationals but went 0-3 in his second game on Wednesday.
One pitch, one hit. Welcome to The Show, Andy Pages! pic.twitter.com/XuEel0695J
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 17, 2024
The 23-year-old should be viewed as the primary option in right field, as both Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez have struggled to begin the season.
There is a reason the Dodgers promoted Pages. If Pages still needed time for development, he would have stayed in Triple-A for another month. However, he only played 16 games in total at Triple-A, signaling the Dodgers will like to keep him here for the long run.
The Dodgers know he is ready to compete on the major league level, and fantasy managers should act accordingly.
Sal Frelick, OF, Milwaukee Brewers
25% rostered
FAAB Bid: 6-9%
The Brewers' primary lead-off option, Sal Frelick, has been off to a strong start in his second major league season. After posting a mediocre .246 AVG last season, Frelick is currently riding a .308/.375/.338 line with three stolen bases.
Frelick was never a power hitter in the minors, so managers should view Frelick as a potential above-average contact hitter with speed.
The former Boston College Eagle has batted lead-off six times this season and twice this week, making him an excellent investment if your team lacks runs because William Contreras and Christian Yelich (when he is healthy) will often bat behind him.
From a speed perspective, seeing that he has already swiped three bags is a great sign. Frelick is currently in the 92nd percentile in sprint speed, suggesting he could run all summer.
Frelick is a solid fifth outfielder in deeper leagues to stabilize your hitting ratios and provide some speed.
Nelson Velazquez, OF, Kansas City Royals
21% rostered
FAAB Bid: 3-5%
Nelson Velazquez is almost the complete opposite of Sal Frelick.
The former Chicago Cub has done well in Kansas City for just over the past year. He is posting a .293/.349/.466 line with two home runs and seven RBI.
Nelson Velazquez drives in 2! pic.twitter.com/Yjpknyf1mn
— Royals Daily (@RoyalsDaily_) April 11, 2024
His Statcast page shows how capable of a power hitter he is with a strong .474 xSLG and 47.4% hard-hit rate; however, he has an ugly 31.7% K-rate, which could sink your batting average and weigh you down in points leagues.
Velazquez is the everyday designated hitter in Kansas City and should continue to see plenty of RBI opportunities batting behind Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino but beware of the strikeouts as they could come in bunches.
Jack Leiter, SP, Texas Rangers
40% rostered
FAAB Bid: 5-8%
The former No. 2 overall pick made his MLB debut on Thursday against the Detroit Tigers and unfortunately, it did not go as planned.
The 23-year-old tossed 3 ⅔ innings of seven-run ball with eight hits and three free passes. He struck out three.
While this outing was very disappointing for the fantasy manager who already slotted him into their lineup, it could benefit those who hope to place a FAAB bid on him this weekend.
Recency bias may come into play here, and you may be able to get him a discount that was not expected. Trust Leiter's prospect pedigree, as he should be able to bounce back in his next promotion to the big leagues, as he was recently optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Friday.
Trevor Rogers, SP, Miami Marlins
5% rostered
FAAB Bid: 2-5%
Trevor Rogers, who was named to the All-Star Game in 2021, was on his way to becoming a valuable pitcher in fantasy. Unfortunately, he then suffered several injuries that derailed his 2022 and 2023 seasons, which plummeted his fantasy stock. However, he came into spring training this year healthy, which made him an intriguing late-round target in deeper leagues.
Rogers struggled in his first three starts, posting a 4.80 ERA and 1.87 WHIP, which caused many managers to cut ties with him.
However, Rogers bounced back in a big way on Wednesday. He threw 5 ⅔ innings of one-run ball with four hits and six punchouts against the San Francisco Giants. He also racked up 14 whiffs in this start.
"You're finally pitching out there."
Marlins lefty Trevor Rogers likes how he is developing as a pitcher and learning multiple ways to get batters out. #MarlinsBeisbol pic.twitter.com/Nn5YcV3aaD
— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) April 17, 2024
He is slated to face the Atlanta Braves on Monday. Time will tell if this was a fluke, but if you want an upside starting pitcher for cheap, this is the week to get him. Another strong outing, and his FAAB price will skyrocket.
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