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Hitters to add from the waiver wire and stream in Week 15 of the 2021 fantasy baseball season. Jon Mathisen analyzes the top batter streamers to pick up.
Welcome to the top hitter streamers column for Week 15 of the MLB season (7/5 through 7/11). This weekly piece should be helpful for anyone looking to gain an edge in their league. If you need a fill-in for an injured player or want to exploit some plus matchups in order to gain an edge on your opponent then you're in the right place. This article aims to keep you informed while helping you stay ahead of the competition so you can get an early jump on those waiver claims before your opponents.
Remember that this piece is forward-looking and a lot can happen over the course of a week. Potential pitching opponents, lineups, and projected number of at-bats are all subject to change so make sure you're following the @RotoBallerMLB account on Twitter to stay up to date! Nearly half of the league is playing seven games next week so we have plenty of streaming options to choose from.
Disclaimer: I am only highlighting players that are currently rostered in 50% or less of Yahoo! leagues, meaning you should have a decent chance of picking them up on the waiver wire. These recommendations should apply to most league settings and formats as I'm looking for players who can help you across a variety of scoring categories. If the following names aren't available, feel free to read our Waiver Wire Pickups piece that drops every Monday for more ideas. Alright, let's get after it.
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Bats to Stream and Start in Week 15
Seven Game Weeks:
CHC, CIN, CLE, DET, KC, LAD, MIA, MIL, MIN, NYM, PHI, PIT, SD, WSH
Stream of the Week
Akil Baddoo (OF, DET): 24% Rostered
Baddoo burst onto the scene at the beginning of the season, swatting four homers and driving in 11 runs over his first nine games in the majors. He then went through a prolonged slump over the next month and a half, hitting just .190/.316/.354 with one home run over a 25 game span. But Baddoo flipped a switch in June and hit .348 with a .889 OPS over 22 games last month. Overall, the 22-year-old rookie is slashing a healthy .279/.370/.488 with 13 doubles, four triples, five home runs, 23 RBI, 10 stolen bases, and 23 runs scored. He's sporting a disciplined 13% walk rate (86th percentile) to go along with a 10.4% barrel rate and a sprint speed that ranks in the 93rd percentile.
The Tigers hit the road next week for a three-game series against the Rangers followed by a four-game set versus the Twins. They're slated to face five right-handed starters in Dane Dunning, Kyle Gibson, Kenta Maeda, Bailey Ober, and Jose Berrios. Baddoo, who bats from the left side of the plate, is slashing .306/.395/.556 against right-handed pitching. Every single one of his extra-base hits this season (13 doubles, four triples, five home runs) has come against a righty as well.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch has moved him up to the leadoff spot amidst his recent hot streak so he should get all of the at-bats that he can handle next week. Giddy up. It's honestly surprising that he's available in 76% of Yahoo! leagues given his stellar play over the last month.
Akil Baddoo beats the shift and makes it 11 consecutive games with a hit! #DetroitRoots pic.twitter.com/LPWQq8JRdN
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) June 24, 2021
Catcher
Victor Caratini (C/1B, SD): 4% Rostered
Caratini checks a lot of the boxes that we're looking for in a streamer next week. The Padres play seven games, four against the Nationals and three versus the Rockies, all at home. Volume is important to every position when it comes to streaming but it matters more at catcher, a position where players routinely get days off. San Diego is slated to face three left-handed starters next week, which will benefit the switch-hitting Caratini. He's slashing .304/.304/.391 in 46 at-bats against southpaws and will face Jon Lester (4.49 ERA, 5.15 FIP), Patrick Corbin (5.33 ERA, 4.95 FIP), and Kyle Freeland (6.54 ERA, 6.71 FIP), who have all struggled this year.
Overall, the 27-year-old backstop is slashing .213/.310/.351 with six home runs, 28 RBI, and two stolen bases. He could hurt you in BA but he's above average in other statistics, particularly when it comes to power. He's sporting a 48.3% hard-hit rate (83rd percentile), 10.8% barrel rate (71st percentile), an average launch angle of 9.6 degrees, and a max exit velocity of 112.5 mph (86th percentile). He also has a career-high 11.6% walk rate.
Caratini will be most effective against the aforementioned lefties and it's worth noting that he's come clutch multiples times for the Friars this season. He's not a bad guy to have in your lineup if San Diego is playing in a tight game. Just saying.
Victor Caratini has six homers. Four of them have broken ties in the final three innings. Including that one. It's 3-2, Padres.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) June 24, 2021
Also Consider: Yan Gomes (C, WSH): 17% Rostered
Corner Infield
Christian Walker (1B, ARI): 23% Rostered
It's been a rough season for Walker and the Diamondbacks so far, you can't deny that. The 30-year-old first baseman battled an eye issue and multiple oblique injuries that required two separate IL stints. As a result, he wasn't able to get into any sort of rhythm over the first 36 games of the season. He slashed a paltry .194/.245/.295 with five doubles, two home runs, and 15 RBI over his first 129 at-bats. But he's gotten on the right track over the last 10 games with a .361/.395/.582 batting line to go along with a pair of doubles, two home runs, and three RBI. That gives him a .230/.277/.358 triple-slash line for the season, which obviously isn't great but it's an improvement on his early-season numbers. He's also sporting a .261 xBA, .302 xwOBA, and .390 xSLG so there's reason to think his season is starting to turn around.
The D-Backs host the Rockies for a three-game series next week before heading to Los Angeles for a three-game set against the Dodgers. Walker has career success against some of his prospective pitching opponents including Jon Gray (.908 OPS over 15 at-bats), Antonio Senzatela (1.471 OPS over 17 AB's), and Walker Buehler (.750 OPS in 16 AB's). He'll also get to face Chi Chi Gonzalez (5.81 ERA/5.17 FIP) and Tony Gonsolin, who's still getting stretched out. The schedule lines up well for Walker to continue his climb back to fantasy relevancy.
Christian Walker starting to turn things around after a brutal start to the year
Last 7 games: .407/.448/.704, 2 HR (27 AB's)
Last 15: .288/.339/.462, 8 RBI (52 AB's)
Battled multiple oblique injuries and eye issue earlier this year
He's a 2B machine when healthy#RattleOn
— Jon Mathisen (@EazyMath) June 30, 2021
LaMonte Wade Jr. (1B/OF, SF): 5 % Rostered
Wade Jr. has been a solid performer in his limited time with San Francisco this season. He's been recalled and optioned three separate times but not for underperformance. He's typically been the odd man out when the Giants needed to activate someone from the injured list but he's up for good right now with Brandon Belt (knee) on the shelf. Overall, he's slashing .268/.349/.505 with six home runs, 14 RBI, two stolen bases, and 16 runs scored over 97 at-bats.
The Giants play six home games next week, three against the Cardinals and three against the Nationals. Wade Jr. has been excellent against right-handed pitching this season, slashing .310/.383/.583 with all six of his home runs and 14 RBI coming against them. San Francisco will face three righties in Adam Wainwright, Johan Oviedo, and Joe Ross so Wade Jr. should get the starting nod against them. He's only logged 15 plate appearances against lefties as Darin Ruf (1B/OF, SF), who's available in 99% of Yahoo! leagues, typically starts at first base against southpaws. Both Wade Jr. and Ruf are in play as streamers next week, depending on the matchup, and both could be used in DFS as well.
Also Consider: Luis Urias (/2B/3B/SS, MIL): 27% Rostered; Jon Berti (2B/3B/SS/OF, MIA): 20% Rostered
Middle Infield
Luis Arraez (2B/3B/OF, MIN): 19% Rostered
We all know Arraez's M.O. by now. He's a virtual zero in the power and speed departments but he possesses elite contact skills as a hitter. On the year, he's slashing .283/.354/.369 with five doubles, four triples, one home run, 21 RBI, and 28 runs scored over 187 at-bats. He also has a solid 22:20 K/BB rate, supported by his elite 10.4% strikeout rate, which ranks in the 99th percentile in MLB, and 9.4% Walk Rate. He missed nearly a month of action earlier this season with a concussion and shoulder injury, both of which required stints on the injured list. He's healthy now and swinging a solid bat over the last 15 games with a .304 batting average and .779 OPS (56 at-bats).
The Twins have a full slate next week with three games against the White Sox and a four-game series with the Tigers. They're scheduled to face five right-handed starters between the two series and Arraez is slashing .304/.365/.391 in 156 plate appearances against righties this season. Matt Manning, Jose Urena, and Wily Peralta should be favorable matchups for Arraez and the Twins.
He gets an obvious bump in batting average (.298 xBA (94th percentile)) and OBP leagues as he should hit leadoff the majority of the time. While he may lack power, he can be counted on to make contact with his 92.1% Z-contact and 76% O-contact Rates. He should be a good source for batting average, on-base percentage, and runs scored next week.
Wilmer Flores (1B/2B/3B, SF): 19% Rostered
Wilmer Flores has done an excellent job filling in for the injured Evan Longoria (shoulder) since he was placed on the injured list back in early June. Over the last 19 games, Flores is slashing .313/.357/.594 with three doubles, five home runs, 11 RBI, and 11 runs scored. The recent hot streak has raised his season batting line to .265/.332/.444 to go along with eight home runs, 27 RBI, and 27 runs scored.
The Giants are facing three left-handed starters next week (Kwang Hyun Kim, Jon Lester, and Patrick Corbin) and three right-handers (Adam Wainwright, Johan Oviedo, and Joe Ross). Flores has fairly even splits with a .288 batting average and .727 OPS versus southpaws and a .250 BA/.806 OPS against righties.
Flores is known as a streaky hitter so streaming him at right time is crucial. On the upside, he doesn't strike out much with his 12.1% strikeout rate (96th percentile) and career-best 8.7% walk rate. He's played the majority of his games at the hot corner since Longo's injury but he's appeared in 21 games as a second baseman and 15 as a first baseman this season so he has triple-eligibility in most fantasy formats. He's hit as high as second and no lower than sixth in the batting order since June 6. He should see enough RBI and run-scoring opportunities for the first-place Giants to warrant a stream.
A no-doubter for Wilmer Flores ? pic.twitter.com/6t9u1234UE
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 2, 2021
Also Consider: Dylan Moore (2B/3B/SS/OF, SEA): 44% Rostered; Amed Rosario (SS/OF, CLE): 46% Rostered
Outfield
Hunter Renfroe (OF, BOS): 45% Rostered
Renfroe has been raking at the dish over the last 15 games, slashing .339/.391/.661 with three doubles, five home runs, and 16 RBI over 56 at-bats. After a slower start to the year, he's got his season batting line up to a respectable .272/.329/.476 to go along with 15 doubles, 12 home runs, 43 RBI, and 44 runs scored across 250 at-bats.
As good as he's been lately, there's still some room for growth per his underlying metrics. He's got a .364 xwOBA and .520 xSLG to go along with his .275xBA, which isn't far off his actual batting average. He's also rocking a 44% hard-hit rate, which is a career-best, to go along with a solid 13% barrel rate.
The Red Sox start the week with a three-game series against the Angels and finish with a three-gamer against the Phillies at home. They're slated to face three left-handed starters in Jose Suarez, Andrew Heaney, and Matt Moore. Renfroe is mashing southpaws this year with a .333/.438/.600 batting line in 89 plate appearances. He's also 5-for-11 (1.175 OPS) in his career against Aaron Nola, who is arguably the toughest pitcher the Sox will face next week. Renfroe's roster shares will continue to creep up over the coming days so you may need to snag him earlier than normal in order to stream him for next week.
Also Consider: Kike Hernandez (2B/SS/OF, BOS): 19% Rostered; Odubel Herrera (2B/OF, PHI): 16% Rostered
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