Points League Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 7

We'll be doing this roundup of point league happenings every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax.

Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform, so we'll make sure to highlight where players are the best and worst fits. We know points league players get neglected and we're here to help.

These waiver-wire adds are for the week of May 10 - 16, looking at players below 50% ownership for ESPN and Yahoo!

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Know Your System

If you've read me even a little, you likely know what I'm going to say...You must account for, as precisely as possible, how a player performs under your particular scoring system. Don't be fooled into believing you can just make rough adjustments in your head, bumping up guys with high on-base percentages and low strikeout rates. Every point, in every category, counts.

For example, ESPN and Fantrax are virtually identical in their scoring for hitters and roster size. The only difference is that stolen bases are worth one more point on Fantrax and ESPN subtracts one point per strikeout. That's the difference between Ronald Acuna Jr. being a top-five hitter versus top-25.

If your league uses standard settings, then great! Turn to page 94 and you can skip ahead to the leaderboards. If you play with custom settings, it'll still be fine. Go back to page 43 and look below at the scoring systems of the four major platforms. I bet there's a chance that you'll find that your league's scoring is very similar to one of the four (well, not Yahoo!'s), even if it's not the platform you actually play on.

For example, my home league started on a now-defunct platform before moving first to ESPN and is now at Fantrax. But our scoring is basically ESPN standard only with two points for stolen bases and a handful of other minor adjustments.

If you look above, you'll likely find a suitable mirror to your own system. While every point counts, as long as they aren't seismic changes you can get away with some "close enough" calls. IE. If everything is the same except for HBP (or something similar), you're probably fine.

Waiver Wire Leaderboards

In addition to our overall waiver wire leaderboards, we're deep enough into the season that we'll also start doing a 14-day leaderboard, as well, giving us a window into recent production. The charts are updated prior to Saturday's games, on stats and ownerships. All leaderboards, overall and 14-day, are sorted according to the player's APR*, and clicking on a chart will open a new page with a magnified version.

*APR = Average Platform Ranking - the average platform ranking between ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, and Fantrax (standard point settings)

14 Day Leaderboard

First Base

Must Adds

• Brandon Belt, SF - Old and boring continues to be the most exploitable margin in points, with Belt continuing to be a top-100 hitter by APR on the year and has been staying red-hot. He has a 60 APR over the last two weeks (96 APR for 2021), hitting four home runs, with 10 runs scored and 19 RBI. Granted, it helped to play some games in Colorado last week but Belt's ownership is just simply silly*.

*Since writing this, Brandon Belt has hit two more home runs and is still playing on Sunday.

• Christian Walker, ARI - Walker is back off of the IL and should be grabbed if available, given his point-friendly profile.

Can Adds

• Miguel Sano, MIN - Like Walker above, Sano is back from the IL and should be rostered in most formats. But unlike Walker, Sano lacks a point profile, particularly in leagues with a strikeout penalty. Rostering him is going to completely rely on your scoring system.
• Colin Moran, PIT - Moran's production has dried up, with no home runs, two runs scored, and four RBI in the last two weeks.
• Pavin Smith, ARI - Smith has been solid, with a 61 APR over the last two weeks but Christian Walker and Tim Locastro are both off the IL now, and playing time could continue to get squeezed, fighting for at-bats with David Peralta, Josh Rojas, and David Peralta.

Desperate Adds

• A bunch of players with questionable playing time, questionable skill, or both, like Mitch Moreland, Garrett Cooper, Josh Fuentes, and Bobby Dalbec. Good luck.

Notable IL

• Joey Votto (finger) - I'm a sa-aaaaad panda.
• Albert Pujols (contract albatross)

Second Base

Must Adds

• Josh Harrison, WSH - No, it's not 2014. Harrison has a 112 APR on the season and a 37 APR over the last two weeks, putting up a .398 wOBA and 151 wRC+. To show how just how good he's been on a point-per-PA basis, here is how Harrison compares on each platform to Whit Merrifield, both on the season and over the last two weeks:

• Kolten Wong, MIL - If you're in a league where he was dropped, pick him up immediately.

Can Adds

• Cesar Hernandez, CLE
• Jurickson Profar, SD
• Starlin Castro, WSH
• David Bote, CHC - He's starting with Nico Hoener on the IL.
• Wilmer Flores, SF - Just repeat from above but it's Donovan Solano and Tommy La Stella who are on the IL.
• Gavin Lux, LAD - I know he's the hot young thing and has been playing because of Dodger injuries but just wake me up when he's actually good in the majors. I'm not saying he won't be but he hasn't been yet.

Desperate Adds

• Jon Berti, MIA
• Jonathan Schoop, DET

Notable IL

• Enrique Hernandez, BOS (hamstring)
• Luis Arraez, MIN (concussion)
• Rougned Odor, NYY (knee)
• Brendan Rogers, COL (hamstring)
• Tommy La Stella, SF (hamstring)
• Donovan Solano, SF (calf)

Third Base

Must Adds

• Jeimer Candelario, DET - What are we waiting for here? Candelario has had a couple of cold stretches (including the first week of the season) but has an 89 APR in 2021 and is 84th over the last two weeks, with a .380 wOBA and 148 wRC+.

Can Adds

• Asdrubal Cabrera, ARI
• Evan Longoria, SF
• Matt Duffy, CHC - Over the last two weeks, Duffy has a .376 wOBA and 139 wRC+, with nine runs scored and three (!) st0len bases in 43 PA, clocking in at a 74 APR.
• Yandy Diaz - TB
• Travis Shaw, MIL
• Maikel Franco, BAL

Desperate Adds

• Philip Evans, PIT - Remember when everyone thought he was suddenly awesome? He's not. Evans has a .220 wOBA and 39 wRC+ in 39 PA over the last two weeks.

Notable IL

• Edwin Rios, LAD (shoulder)
• J.D. Davis, NYM (hand)

Shortstop

Must Adds

• Miguel Rojas, MIA - Rojas just refuses to stop hitting, slashing .291/.381/.447 in 118 PA, with a .363 wOBA and 135 wRC+ and currently sitting with a 52 APR. He's been just as good over the last two weeks, still coming in with a 52 APR but with an even better .397 wOBA and 156 wRC+. On the year, Rojas is the 10th-best shortstop by APR, just trailing Trea Turner and Javier Baez. Why exactly does he have such minuscule ownership?
• Jorge Polanco, MIN - He only has a .286 wOBA on the season but Polanco has finally started to come around, slashing .250/.349/.556 over the last two weeks, with a .379 wOBA and 148 wRC+ over 43 PA.

Can Adds

• Brandon Crawford, SF - Two of his three home runs in the last two weeks came at Colorado but Crawford continues to quietly produce. He has a 101 APR on the year (69th over the last two weeks), with three home runs and a .663 wOBA (.379 xwOBA).
• J. P. Crawford, SEA
• Luis Urias, MIL
• Jose Iglesias, LAA
• Niko Goodrum, DET

Desperate Adds

• Amed Rosario, CLE
• Willi Castro, DET

Outfield

Must Adds

• Austin Hays, BAL - Hays has been positively on fire, coming in as the ninth-best hitter by APR over the last two weeks, hitting four home runs, with 11 runs scored and 8 RBI. A 174 wRC+ and .416 wOBA over 57 PA means you shouldn't be at 15% rostered on Yahoo.
• Tyler O'Neill, STL - O'Neill has cooled down slightly, going hitless in his last three games but even with that still has a .399 wOBA (.399 xwOBA) and 156 wRC+ over the last two weeks, with a 14 APR.
• Willie Calhoun, TEX- The Groundkeeper is back, baby! Returning from injury with a flourish, Calhoun has a 23 APR in his 53 PA over the last two weeks, with three home runs and a .423 wOBA.
• Adolis Garcia, TEX - Garcia has an 83 APR over the last two weeks but because of his ugly 33% K% he only remains an option in leagues without a strikeout penalty.

Can Adds

• Robbie Grossman, OAK
• Adam Eaton, CHW
• Avisail Garcia, MIL 
• Manuel Margot, TB
• Corey Dickerson, MIA
• Clint Frazier, NYY
• Hunter Dozier, KC
• Ryan Mountcastle, BAL
• Josh Naylor, CLE
• Aaron Hicks, NYY
• Justin Upton, LAA

Desperate Adds

• Adam Duvall, MIA
• Nick Senzel, TEX
• Myles Straw, HOU
• Jake Marisnick, CHC

Notable IL

• Kole Calhoun, ARI (hamstring)
• Alex Dickerson, SF (shoulder)
• Gregory Polanco, PIT (COVID)

Catcher

Must Adds

• Sean Murphy, OAK
• Willians Astudillo, MIN - Behold! Your rotund god of points is here! You should probably play Astudillo in points any time he's getting regular playing time because his contact-heavy approach gives him per-PA scoring rates that tend to be in the top-three (at least) of catcher rates by platform. These things are known. Praise be to Astudillo.

Can Adds

• Wilson Ramos, DET
• Omar Narvaez, MIL
• Jacob Stallings, PIT
• Mitch Garver, MIN

Desperate Adds

• All catcher adds are desperate adds

Notable IL

• Alejandro Kirk, TOR (hip)
• Jorge Alfaro, MIA (hamstring)
• Francisco Mejia, TB (ribs)

Starting Pitchers

Two-Start Options

14 Day Leaderboard

Must Add

• Taijuan Walker, NYM - Save for a four-run outing against the Phillies on May 1, Walker has been tremendous, not allowing more than two earned runs in any of his other five starts. He has a 2.38 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over 34 innings and six starts, posting a career-high 25.7% K% along the way.
• Wade Miley, CIN - And not just because of his recent no-hitter! Miley's only had one bad start in 2021 (4 ER in 5 IP vs CLE) and gets a juicy matchup with the Pirates in his next time out.
• Domingo German, NYY - After getting hit for seven combined runs in his first two starts (7 IP), German has now lowered his ERA to 4.06 after allowing two runs in 6.1 IP to the Orioles on Sunday. He's now setup to face these same Orioles in his next start.
• Ryan Yarbrough, TB - Yarbrough has been wildly inconsistent, allowing a combined 17 earned runs in three of his starts but only two total runs in his other four starts. Succeeding in a New York two-step this week would be a great way to get himself back in the good graces of fantasy players (me) everywhere.
• Brady Singer, KC - Singer allowed three earned runs in 5.2 IP to Cleveland but still has a 3.41 ERA and is striking out a batter per inning. He'll get two manageable starts in Week 7, going on the road to Detroit and Chicago.
• Adbert Alzolay, CHC - Alzolay has a ho-hum 4.50 ERA but has paired it with a 0.88 WHIP and 30% K%. After starting the year off by facing the Brewers for three starts in a row, Alzolay has put up two pretty good starts against much better opponents in Atlanta and the Dodgers. He'll get much better matchups in Week 7, getting two starts against Cleveland and Detroit.

Can Add

• J.A. Happ, MIN - Happ has two starts this week but be careful. Oakland has the 10th-highest wOBA facing LHP and the White Sox have the highest. Shaky, shaky; eggs and bake-ee.
• Shane McClanahan, TB - vs NYM
• Robbie Ray, TOR - @ATL, vs. PHI
• Yusei Kikuchi, SEA - vs CLE
• Nick Pivetta, BOS - vs LAA
• John Gant, STL - @MIL
• Chris Flexen, SEA - vs CLE
• Merrill Kelly, ARI - vs MIA
• Martin Perez, BOS - @BAL, vs LAA
• Joe Ross, WSH - @ARI

Desperate Adds

• Jon Gray, COL - Gray lines up for two starts at *checking schedule*...Colorado. Just kidding!

Relief Pitchers

Keep in mind that with relievers, points scored can be deceiving. Most scoring systems make it pretty difficult for even the best non-closers to score elite points, making them very reliant on unpredictable wins. You simply need the save points to really do damage. AKA, when you see totally rando names hit the leaderboard (particularly the 14-Day one), it's probably because they happened to get a few wins and/or a lot of usage. If a reliever doesn't have an established role, tread carefully.

One note about ownership; because ESPN uses nine open pitching slots, as opposed to dedicated slots for RP/SP, relievers tend to be lighter owned than on other sites.

14 Day Leaderboard

Must Add

• Jordan Romano, TOR - With Rafael Dolis out with a grade-1 calf strain, Romano is the favorite for saves in Toronto.

Can Add

We have a whole mess of guys in part-time closing roles that will have limited value until (unless) they seize the job. This includes players like Pete Fairbanks, Jake Diekman, and Tejay Antone. If you're desperate for an RP, the charts above wish you good luck! Things are dire.

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