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If you have made it this far, congratulations! This is the championship week for most points leagues, so this will be my last of these articles for the season. I hope that I've helped you make it this far!
It's important to know your league's scoring. It will be harder to unearth the pitcher to swing your matchup in the next three days. Points league scoring vastly differs on ESPN, CBS, Yahoo!, and Fantrax. Most leagues also have start limits. Remember that when deciding whether to go after a streamer this week. For example, pitchers gain two points for a win on ESPN but also lose two points for a loss. Yahoo! gives eight points for a win, and losses don't count against you at all!
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There really is no tomorrow after this week! Let's go win that championship! Roster percentages and positions are taken from ESPN.
Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups - Points Leagues
Shallow Leagues
Nestor Cortes, NYY (49.3% Rostered)
Aside from a poor start against the Cardinals, the last five starts have been solid for Nestor. The Red Sox are striking out at an alarming 29.2% rate against LHP in the last month, which is third worst in the majors in that span.
He is not without risk since Cortes isn't an elite strikeout pitcher, but he does have a higher-than-normal strikeout upside tonight against the free-swinging Sox.
Michael Wacha, KC (35.8% Rostered)
Wacha has ramped up the strikeouts a bit of late. He has at least six strikeouts in four of his last six starts. He has an elite matchup against the Pirates on Saturday. The Bucs have slashed the strikeouts over the last month, but the .140 ISO isn't scaring anyone. It shouldn't scare you off either.
12-Team Leagues
Ryne Nelson, ARI (22.3% Rostered)
Ryne Nelson last 12 games (11 starts)
5-0
2.76 ERA
3.03 FIP
75 IP
75 Ks
14 BBs— Dbacks Nation (@DbacksNation98) September 4, 2024
Nelson got smacked by Houston last week, which caused him to be dropped in several leagues. He has a good matchup against Milwaukee on Sunday to end your week on a high note. The Brewers are striking out at a 24.6% clip against RHP in the last month. That should keep his strikeouts high enough to offset any runs he gives up.
JP Sears, OAK (18.9% Rostered)
Sears has been good in good matchups. The matchups don't get any better than his start against the White Sox on Sunday to end our season. The White Sox have "slashed" their strikeout rate to 25.4% against LHP, but the .030 ISO in the last month might be the lowest ever recorded.
I'm even considering benching Freddy Peralta to let Sears make my last start of the week. The matchup is that good.
Deep Leagues
Brant Hurter, DET (3.4% Rostered)
The rookie has been outstanding for the Tigers so far as a long reliever. He has won four straight appearances coming in after an opener and hasn't allowed more than three runs in any game.
Hurter last pitched over the weekend, so he should be in line for a long relief appearance against the Orioles this weekend. He's a great option, especially if your league has different slots for RP and SP.
Austin Gomber, COL (2.1% Rostered)
This one is not for the faint of heart, but we know the fireworks slow at Wrigley once fall sets in. Gomber hasn't had a bad start in over a month. The Cubs don't strike out a lot, but the .108 ISO against LHP in the last month is in the bottom third of the league. If you're desperate, Gomber should be able to get you a solid start tomorrow.
Also consider:
- Cristopher Sanchez, PHI (47.3% Rostered), Sunday vs. NYM
- Luis Severino, NYM (34.8% Rostered), Saturday at PHI
- Brayan Bello, BOS (28.2% Rostered), Saturday at NYY
- Aaron Civale, MIL (18.4% Rostered), Sunday at ARI
- Andrew Heaney, TEX (16.3% Rostered), should start one game this weekend vs. SEA
- Keider Montero, DET (1.6% Rostered), Sunday vs. BAL
Fantasy Baseball Catcher Waiver Wire Pickups - Points Leagues
Shallow Leagues
Francisco Alvarez, NYM (31.5% Rostered)
Alvarez has a modest three-game hitting streak going, but he did hit a home run last night. Alvarez gets most of the starts behind the plate for the Mets, so he'll sit one game at most this weekend when you need him the most.
12-Team Leagues
Austin Wells, NYY (15.8% Rostered)
Wells hits in one of the best lineups in the league and has driven in eight runs in just 18 at-bats over the last week. Wells still starts around five games per week, so expect him to start all but one game against Boston this weekend.
Deep Leagues
Joey Bart, PIT (6% Rostered)
Bart still hits in the middle of the Pittsburgh order. He has scored four runs in five games since his return from the IL last weekend. The homer and three RBI don't hurt either.
Also consider:
- Logan O'Hoppe, LAA (34.9% Rostered)
- Connor Wong, BOS (20.6% Rostered)
- Patrick Bailey, SF (3.7% Rostered)
Fantasy Baseball Infield Waiver Wire Pickups - Points Leagues
Shallow Leagues
Eugenio Suarez, 3B, ARI (44.8% Rostered)
Suarez should not be available in any league and that has been the case for more than a month. If he's out there...GRAB HIM! Suarez is still on a tear!
Eugenio Suarez’s turnaround this season has been insane
Through June 1st:
4 HR | .584 OPS | 62 wRC+ | -0.1 fWarAnd now:
26 HR | .785 OPS | 115 wRC+ | 3.3 fWar https://t.co/j1rHfBhuh2 pic.twitter.com/08PCkZKOLU— Addison (@YankeeWRLD) September 9, 2024
Tommy Edman, 2B/SS, LAD (26.5% Rostered)
Edman has four homers in the last two games...which are his only four homers of the season. At least he's getting hot at the right time!
Back-to-back 2 HR games for Tommy Edman 😳 pic.twitter.com/AA4Lb6cN3e
— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2024
12-Team Leagues
Zach Neto, SS, LAA (24.1% Rostered)
Neto is hitting .321 with a homer, four RBI, six runs scored, and three steals in the past week alone. The Angels have four games left this week, so Neto can be a nice addition when we're looking to pile on stats over the last four games of the season.
Spencer Horwitz, 1B/2B, TOR (15.6% Rostered)
Horwitz is hitting a blistering .563 over the last week with three homers, six RBI, and four runs scored. If you need someone to swap out at either 1B or 2B, Horwitz should finish your season strong.
Deep Leagues
Otto Lopez, 2B/SS, MIA (4.2% Rostered)
Former Blue Jays top prospect Otto Lopez has been playing some good baseball. Since Aug 1st: 1 HR, 11 RBI, 1.3 fWAR (23rd), 8 SB, 15 R...nice to see him find some footing!
— Sam Fosberg (@discussbaseball) September 9, 2024
Lopez is hitting .325 with a homer, six RBI, a steal, and five runs scored in the last 10 games. He has a nice six-game hitting streak in which he has 11 hits. Those numbers play well in points leagues.
Trey Sweeney, SS, DET (0.7% Rostered)
The rookie has taken off. Sweeney is 6-for-11 in his last three games with two homers, five RBI, four runs scored, and a steal. What has your shortstop done lately? That's what I thought. Swap him out for Sweeney for a chance to win your league.
Also consider:
- Justin Turner, 1B, SEA (27.3% Rostered)
- Nathaniel Lowe, 1B, TEX (17.1% Rostered)
- Carlos Santana, 1B, MIN (16% Rostered)
- Zack Gelof, 2B, OAK (11.9% Rostered)
- Andrew Vaughn, 1B, CWS (8.2% Rostered)
- Andres Chaparro, 1B/3B, WAS (3.3% Rostered)
- Kyle Farmer, 2B/SS/3B, MIN (0.4% Rostered)
- Niko Kavadas, 1B, LAA (0.1% Rostered)
Fantasy Baseball Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups - Points Leagues
Shallow Leagues
Taylor Ward, LAA (48.1% Rostered)
Ward has five homers in 10 September games. He has also scored a run in five straight and driven in seven runs this month. The team around him may be a disaster, but Ward is lighting it up from the leadoff spot.
Tyler O'Neill, BOS (44.5% Rostered)
O'Neill has three homers and nine RBI in the last five games alone. He also scored seven hits and seven runs in those five games. Fortunately for many of us, the teams out of the race stopped paying attention so O'Neill is still out there in (too) many leagues.
Tyler ONeill hit this baseball all the way to TD Garden #DirtyWater
— Tommy Bennett (@TJBennettt37) September 12, 2024
12-Team Leagues
TJ Friedl, CIN (29.1% Rostered)
Friedl is recording a lot of outs lately, but not a lot of strikeouts. That means he's not losing points. The power and speed are still there, but the low average will chase many off. This isn't a roto league. Friedl's outs won't count against us unless he strikes out.
Matt Vierling, DET (10.6% Rostered)
Vierling has a modest four-game hitting streak going with three runs scored and three RBI. He should keep the hits coming with a weekend series against the Orioles.
Deep Leagues
Parker Meadows, DET (5.6% Rostered)
Meadows has 12 of his 25 RBI on the season in the last 10 games. He has also homered a couple of times during that span and is leading off for the Tigers. He can help you over the last few days of your season.
Victor Robles, SEA (4.7% Rostered)
Robles is hitting .500 from the leadoff slot over the last week. Robles is hitting .420 over his last 18 games with 15 runs scored, seven extra-base hits, 11 RBI, and seven steals. He's putting up a lot of points at the top of the Mariners order.
Also consider:
- Lane Thomas, CLE (43.4% Rostered)
- Dylan Crews, WAS (18.8% Rostered)
- Tommy Pham, KC (2.8% Rostered)
- Luke Raley, SEA (2.6% Rostered)
- Matt Wallner, MIN (2.5% Rostered)
- Pavin Smith, ARI (1.2% Rostered)
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