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Welcome back for another week of advice for points league waiver wire moves. This segment will include waiver wire adds, drops, and streaming pitchers for the upcoming week. This article will be geared specifically toward points leagues. Every points league is different, so keep that in mind. Walks and extra base hits are more valuable, whereas AVG and ERA are not important, so consider that as well.
Some players will be suggested as streamers (while they are hot), or as rest-of-season adds (ride them all year).
As always, feel free to follow and message me on Twitter @BlakeSullivanFF for any fantasy advice or for further reasoning with this segment. Without further ado, let's take a look at some players that you should either add or drop.
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Points League Players to Add
Mark Trumbo (OF/DH, BAL) - 26% owned
The Baltimore Orioles outfielder has been pretty hot lately. He continues his up and down year with a 12 game hitting streak that he's still riding. Trumbo has a season slash line of .265/.318/.464. He has a .336 wOBA. He's hitting .393 in August, and he has 11 RBI. Trumbo is the go to man in the Orioles offense, and he has been producing. His .28 BB/K won't get you very many points, but he's mostly known for his power numbers. Tumbo still has fairly low ownership given his recent success. Jump on the train while you can before someone claims him. He has a great opportunity to put up a high number of points in the coming weeks.
Aledmys Diaz (SS, TOR) - 15% owned
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Aledmys Diaz has been one of the best hitting shortstops lately. He has at least one hit in nine of his last 12 games. In that same span of games, he has five home runs and 10 runs. Diaz has a season slash line of .264/.297/.465. He has 14 home runs, 43 runs and 34 RBI this year. Diaz is hitting .379 in August. He has seven runs and five RBI also this month. Diaz has a low ownership, but has a lot of potential for the rest of the year. He should be picked up and started over most shortstops.
Hunter Renfroe (OF, SD) - 6% owned
San Diego Padres outfielder Hunter Renfroe has hit a home run in four of his last five games. He has gotten a hit in seven of his last eight games. He has a .250/.315/.491 slash line. His wOBA is .342. His season stats aren't all that impressive, but in August he's hitting .379 with 12 RBI. His ownership is extremely low at only six percent, but he has been one of the top scorers for the last week. You should add him while he continues his hot streak. I don't think he's going to be a great rest of season add, but he should at least be picked up for the next few weeks. Renfroe has a very high ceiling, which could help you get a little extra push for the playoffs.
Points League Pitchers to Stream
Trevor Cahill (SP, OAK) - Saturday 8/18/18 vs. HOU- 34% owned
Oakland A's starting pitcher Trevor Cahill hasn't lost a game since May 16th. His ERA is sitting at 3.12. He has a 9.00 K/9 with a 1.07 WHIP. He doesn't have a great matchup against the Houston Astros this week, but he has been very consistent with a high upside. He has won his last three games, and had 10 strikeouts in his last start. Cahill should be picked up to gear up for a playoff run. He has a high ceiling while maintaining a safe floor. Pick him up before he's gone because he's trending up very quickly.
Ryan Borucki (SP, TOR) - Tuesday 8/14/18 vs. KC - 11% owned
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Ryan Borucki has a favorable matchup against the Kansas City Royals. He also will have a second start this week, which makes him one of the best additions this week. Borucki has been far from perfect, but he has shown that he's capable of pitching deep into games. He only has a 6.00 K/9, but he is able to record a lot of outs while maintaining a 2.81 ERA. Borucki is a great addition to add depth to your rosters. He has two starts this week, which should give him quite a few points. He could help push you into the playoffs if you are on the bubble.
Mike Minor (SP, TEX) - Thursday 8/16/18 vs. LAA - 14% owned
Texas Rangers pitcher Mike Minor gets a favorable matchup on Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels will be without Mike Trout and Ian Kinsler. Minor has won his last three starts in a row. He does have an unimpressive 4.53 ERA this year, but he has a pretty good 1.16 WHIP. Minor has a 7.52 K/9 but a career high 1.99 BB/9. Minor could be a great addition with a high ceiling for your playoff run. Add him this week for a great matchup, but he should be great for the rest of the season.
Points League Players to Drop
Adam Duvall (OF/1B, ATL) - 25% owned
Outfielder Adam Duvall has not performed well since his trade from the Cincinnati Reds to the Atlanta Braves. Duvall is just 2-13 since the move. Not only has he not played well, but he started just three of the last eight games. It's hard to have someone on your roster during the fantasy playoffs when they don't play full time. Duvall has a slash line of .202/.284/.390. Duvall has a .34 BB/K which isn't terrible, but it likely won't get you many points given is number of plate appearances lately. With the amount of available outfielders, it would be wise to drop him.
C.J. Cron (1B/DH, TB) - 37% owned
Tampa Bay Rays first baseman has been cold as he is just five for his last 34 attempts. Cron is hitting just .091 in August. He has just two hits in his last eight games. Cron was hot in July, so his season stats are deceiving. He's playing far worse than his season long .245/.316/.466 slash line. He has a .335 wOBA this year. Don't expect Cron to heat back up to the level he was at. He has a .25 BB/K. There are better available options than Cron.
Greg Bird (1B, NYY) - 29% owned
Greg Bird has been stone cold for the New York Yankees at first base. His slash line for the season sits at .212/.303/.399. Bird has had a terrible start to August as he's hitting just .094. He has just three extra-base hits in his last 19 games. Without his extra-base hits he doesn't hold much value. He only has 18 runs and 27 RBI for the whole season. He did miss time in the beginning of the year with a foot injury, but he still hasn't produced enough for his current ownership. You should pursue other options at first base.
