RADIO
We made it, folks! It's the final week of the marathon that is the 2024 MLB season. If you're here, you're likely competing for a championship this week; congratulations on making it this far, let's bring home the hardware.
In this, the season's final week, playing matchups can be tough as playoff teams try and set up their starting rotations for the postseason and eliminated teams try and get younger players some game action. Luckily for us, the schedule is fairly balanced this week, with all teams playing six or seven games, so the 2B and SS recommendations below should get plenty of chances to help your fantasy squad.
As a reminder, we'll be looking at pickups for shallow leagues (30-49% rostered) and deeper formats (10-29%), as well as highlighting players in the single digits who deserve a spot on your watch list at the very least. These are your second base and shortstop fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 27 -- September 23 through September 29.
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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Brendan Rodgers, 2B, Colorado Rockies (23% rostered)
Brendan Rodgers' roster rate implies he could be in the "deep league" section, but whenever the Rockies have a full week of home games, Rodgers is a viable starter in all fantasy leagues. All Rockies hitters are better at home thanks to the friendly hitting environment that is Coors Field, but Rodgers takes things to the extreme:
| Brendan Rodgers | BA | HR | wOBA | OPS |
| Away | .213 | 4 | .247 | .569 |
| Home | .328 | 9 | .383 | .884 |
As we can see from the chart above, Rodgers is a borderline elite hitter at home. On the road, not so much, but we needn't worry about that until next season. As far as 2024 is concerned, Rodgers is a .884 OPS hitter which would rank him up with some of the best second basemen in the game. Start him in any league if you need an upgrade at the keystone, he's the top-ranked streamer for Week 27.
Josh Smith, SS/3B/OF, Texas Rangers (40% rostered)
It's been a disappointing title defense season for the Rangers, but one positive from the 2024 season has been the emergence of Josh Smith, who has posted quality numbers when called upon. The 27-year-old utility man is batting .260 with 12 homers, 63 runs, 57 RBI, and 10 steals through 142 games in this, his first season with over 100 games played.
Smith has been in and out of the starting lineup for Texas, but with Corey Seager (hip) on the IL, Smith has been starting most days at shortstop and batting near the top of the order for the Rangers. Smith isn't the sexiest name in fantasy, but he's got great plate discipline, good speed, multi-positional eligibility, and should be in the lineup every day. He's a solid fantasy option for the final week of the season.
Also Consider:Brandon Lowe, 2B, Tampa Bay Rays (37% rostered) & Masyn Winn, SS, St. Louis Cardinals (39% rostered)
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Jose Iglesias, 2B/SS/3B, New York Mets (6% rostered)
Speaking of hot hitters, we've got Jose Iglesias, who has been instrumental to the Mets' charge into playoff contention. Entering the final week of the season, New York has a slim lead for the final playoff spot in the National League, so we know their hottest hitter will be in the lineup as they try and hold off the Braves as those two teams begin a critical three-game set Tuesday in Atlanta.
Iglesias is batting .310 through 44 games in the second half and has been even better lately as he's batting .375 in September. This hot streak hasn't been just an empty batting average, however, as Iglesias has a sturdy .872 OPS this month as he's been on base constantly, scoring 14 runs in his past 18 games. This is the time when fantasy baseball legends are made, and Iglesias has been a hero for fantasy managers in the most critical time of the season.
Ernie Clement, 2B/SS/3B, Toronto Blue Jays (19% rostered)
Like Smith above, Clement spent the past few seasons as a utility man off the bench but is getting a chance at everyday at-bats down the stretch this season. Clement has had a solid season overall as he's batting .261 with 11 homers, 46 runs, 48 RBI and 12 steals through 131 games played.
More importantly for our purposes, he's been red-hot lately with seven multi-hit efforts through 17 games thus far in September. Clement has settled into the two-hole in the Toronto batting order and has been getting on base plenty ahead of the big bats for the Blue Jays., as evidenced by the nine runs he's scored this month.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Watch List
Jose Tena, SS/3B, Washington Nationals (17% rostered)
Obviously, at this point in the season, we can't watch list prospects anymore. So let's put Nationals 3B Jose Tena here, and check your league if he also has shortstop eligibility. He has SS eligibility on Yahoo! and some other sites, so if you need a plug-and-play replacement at SS, Tena may be a viable option.
The 23-year-old has been good to start his MLB career, as he's batting .284 with three homers and 28 runs-plus-RBI through his first 35 career starts. Better yet, he's made great contact thus far as he's sporting a 51.2% hard-hit rate, a 91.4 MPH average exit velocity, and already set a 109.4 MPH max exit velocity.
Best of all, he should be in the lineup every day for a Nats team that is trying to see what they have in the rookie as the team has sights on the 2025 season.
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