Fantasy Baseball Week 10: Top 5 Waiver Wire Adds
By Bill Pivetz
With nine weeks in the books, it’s time to take a look at Week 10. There are a lot of talented players on the waiver wire that are worth picking up.
Fantasy owners win a week or two with their draft. The waiver wire is where owners go to win a championship. It doesn’t serves you to keep your team in tact throughout the whole season, unless you are lucky enough to not draft a bust or have an injured player. There is a lot of talent widely available to add in Week 10.
The list of players will feature one corner infielder, one middle infielder, an outfielder, a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher. Fantasy owners can use help at all parts of their roster, so this list should help the majority.
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I will do my best to select players we’ve never written about, which could be hard since we have a waiver wire article for practically everyone. I will also try to write about players who are widely available, under 50 percent of leagues. While certain players may be owned in your league, depending on the structure, these players are available to the majority.
The players I write about here are on incredible hot streaks and are worth owning for the short-term. I have no idea how it will play out for the rest of the season, but that’s your decision to make after you add them. Though, I wouldn’t react too quickly if these players start to struggle, then you’ll be back in the same boat you are in now.
So, without further ado, here are my top 5 waiver wire adds for week 10.
Next: Starting Pitcher: Michael Fulmer
Michael Fulmer is the most-adding pitcher in all of ESPN leagues, up 29.5 percent over the last week. His recent performance is a perfect reason why he should be owned. He is 3-0 in his last three starts with 22.1 innings pitched, one earned run and 22 strikeouts.
His most recent outing against the Los Angeles Angels was amazing. He went 7.2 innings, striking out eight and allowed just two hits and two walks.
Fulmer’s next outing will be Monday at home against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays offense has been hit or miss recently, so Fulmer could easily dominate them like he has to the previous teams he’s faced.
He is posting a ridiculous 49.6 ground ball rate. He has allowed a few long balls already, five, but is limiting opposing baserunners. 1.22 WHIP and .239 batting average. Fulmer is also doing a good job getting batters to swing freely, 11.0 swinging strike and 57.8 first strike rates.
He is a two-start pitcher this week, ending week 10 against the New York Yankees on the road. If you don’t start him against the Blue Jays, you definitely need to start him against the Yankees.
Next: Relief Pitcher: Michael Feliz
No, this isn’t Neftali Feliz. Michael Feliz is pitching well out of the Houston Astros bullpen. While he may be a ways away from getting saves, he is someone keeping on your watch list.
The current Astros closer Luke Gregerson blew another save Saturday night, his fifth of the season. The team hasn’t turned to offseason acquisition Ken Giles or Will Harris to pick up saves, each has only one this season.
Feliz is a good long relief pitcher will closer potential. He has two holds with a 4-1 record. He has a 3.51 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 38 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. Over his last seven appearances, he hasn’t allowed an earned run and gave up two hits and two walks while striking out 18.
He did struggle early, nine earned runs in his first 5.1 innings of the season. He has settled down since and allowed just one run since then. The fact that he can go two or three innings makes him a valuable add for ERA and WHIP help.
The Astros have a lot of depth in the bullpen. If Feliz continues on this level of consistency, then he could be in line for a bigger role. If you are in a deep league and looking for relief pitching help, Feliz is the perfect guy to target. He’s owned in just 6.2 percent of leagues.
Next: Corner Infielder: Dae-ho Lee
Dae-Ho Lee is hitting well over the last week. He has four straight multi-hit games. Over his last six games, he has two home runs, seven RBI and a .550 batting average. His playing time is a little inconsistent, only 21 game started, but when he does get at bats, he’s making the most of them.
He has eight home runs, 20 RBI, 17 strikeouts and four walks in 97 ABs this season. The power is there, but the contact numbers are a little low.
The 33-year-old doesn’t have the best plate discipline, though. He has a 17.7 strikeout and 4.2 walk rate. He has a 31.3 O-Swing and 10.5 swinging strike percentage. If he can hold back on the amount of pitches he swings at, his on-base percentage would be higher than .354.
The Seattle Mariners are crushing the ball, leading the league with 81 home runs and fifth with a .334 OBP.
Lee is nothing more than a speculative add in the deepest of leagues. He’s owned in just 5.0 percent of leagues. As an off-day fill in, he is serviceable, but he needs more playing time to be more than that.
Next: Middle Infielder: Devon Travis
Devon Travis returned to the Blue Jays lineup on May 25 after recovering from a shoulder injury. He has hit safely in seven of his first nine games. He has one home run, five RBI and a .235 average.
He began as the No. 8 eight hitter, but has slowly worked his way up the lineup, hitting a couple of times fifth and sixth. The only negative is the amount of strikeouts for Travis. He already has eight strikeouts, 21.6 strikeout rate.
Travis stole his first base of the season Saturday night. He finished with just three last season, so if he can improve his OBP, then I don’t see why he can’t reach 10 steals.
With limited options on the waiver wire for a middle infielder, Travis is a starting second baseman on a great team. He is still catching up to the big-league speed. After another week, he should be back to normal.
Travis is currently owned in 35.5 percent of leagues. There are other high-performing middle infielders avaialble, but like I said in the beginning, Travis’ availability, and potential, is why I chose him.
Next: Outfielder: Hyun Soo Kim
Hyun Soo Kim‘s 2016 season got off to a weird start. He struggled in Spring Training, so he began the season in the minors. He was recalled after just a couple of days and made his MLB debut on April 10. He went 2-for-3 with a run scored. He played just six games in April.
The month of May was a little better, recording nine hits (one home run), two RBI, five walks and six strikeouts with a .257 average in 12 games. This month is looking even brighter.
He’s played in all four games so far, hitting safely in all of them. He has six hits, two doubles, one walk and one strikeout with a .444 average. He has a .382 average and .455 OBP this season.
Kim showed off his power in the Korean league, posting 28 home runs and 121 RBI in 141 games last year. He hasn’t shown his power to the American audience yet, but the Baltimore Orioles will take the hits and runs scored.
He is in a platoon in left field with Nolan Reimold and Joey Rickard, though Rickard is playing in right field, too. Kim needs to improve on the defensive side of the ball in order to gain a bigger role, but when he does play, he hits well.
Kim is owned in 6.5 percent of leagues, up 4.9 percent over the last week. He’s another player worth owning in a deeper league.
Next: Wrap Up
These five players are relatively unknown to most owners. Some get a little more recognition based on where they play, but unless you are clicking through pages and pages of the waiver wire, these players won’t be on your radar.
There have been a lot of injuries already this season. As a result, players that normally wouldn’t be owned are getting picked up. If you are dealing with multiple injuries to your team, these players should give you decent replacement value until your starter returns.
Next: White Sox Add James Shields
Fulmer is the top player of the five I would make a priority to add. I do think the hitters could help you, too, but finding a good, consistent starting pitcher is hard to find on the waiver wire.
Before making any drastic moves, just realize that it’s still only week 10. While there are still some players not reaching their potential, the season is only 58 games old.