Five-time high-stakes champ Shawn Childs helps you at the waiver wire to bolster your fantasy squad
Fantasy Baseball Weekly Waiver Wire Report - Week of June 21
Catcher
Luis Torrens
Heading into Saturday night, Seattle turned to Torrens as the lead catcher in three of their past four matchups. He responded with six hits in 13 at-bats with three runs, two home runs, and four RBI. His attraction and upside come from a successful 2019 season at AA (.300 over 350 at-bats with 15 home runs and 62 RBI). Torrens fails into the hot catching play of the week in deep leagues.
Dalton Varsho
It’s getting to be where I fall into the stalker category in my support for Varsho in 2021. His bat has been on fire over his last four games in the minors (10-for-21 with eight runs, five home runs, and 13 RBI), pushing his AAA resume to .313 with 18 runs, nine home runs, 25 RBI, and two steals over 80 at-bats. The Diamondbacks are out of contention, so it makes sense for them to play their young upside players over the second half of the year.
First Base
Jake Bauers
Cleveland traded Bauers to the Mariners 10 days ago after a dismal start to the year (.190 over 100 at-bats with two home runs, six RBI, and 27 RBI). The change of scenery led to a seven-game hitting steak (11-for-28 with five runs, one home run, and three RBI). Bauers showed the most upside between AA and AAA in 2016 and 2017 (.269 with 158 runs, 27 home runs, 141 RBI, and 30 stolen bases over 979 at-bats). Worth a bench flier this week in deep leagues due to weakness in the free-agent pool at first base.
Second Base
Tony Kemp
The A’s gave Kemp the starting call in seven of their eight previous games, leading to eight hits in 27 at-bats with 10 runs, two home runs, and six RBI. His bat has been an asset over the past three weeks (.304 with 15 runs, two home runs, and 13 RBI over 56 at-bats). Oakland moved him up in the batting order, which adds value to his ability to score runs. The key to playing Kemp is a return of his minor league stolen bases (144 over 2,191 at-bats). His only playable value comes in deep leagues.
Wilmer Flores
Over the past 10 days, Flores has an eight-game hitting streak (8-for-23 with four runs, one home run, and four RBI). His approach (18 walks and 22 strikeouts over 176 plate appearances) grades well while owning more underlying power (82 home runs and 280 RBI over 1,975 at-bats) from 2015 to 2020. Flores should be in the lineup on most nights until Evan Longoria returns from his injury.
Shortstop
Andres Gimenez
Over the first two and half months, Gimenez has been a disappointment in the majors (.179 over 78 at-bats with two home runs, five RBI, and four steals) and AAA (18-for-80 with one home run, four RBI, and 18 strikeouts). His bat picked up the pace over his last five contests (7-for-22 with seven runs, five home runs, nine RBI, and one steal). Cleveland may call him up this week if Jose Ramirez lands on the injured list with a foot injury.
Third Base
Josh Jung
The Rangers continue to wheel out subpar bats at third base. Their future at the position is Josh Jung, who missed the first six weeks of the minor league season with a foot issue. In his first three games at AA, Jung went 5-for-12 with one home run and four RBI. For now, he is just a player to follow.
Outfield
Taylor Ward
The fantasy radar is now firming shinning on Ward after extending his hitting streak to eight games (12-for-32 with six runs, one home run, and nine RBI). Since the Mike Trout injury, he hit .268 with 23 runs, seven home runs, and 27 RBI over 127 at-bats, which is more than worthy of playable value in 12 and 15 team formats.
Jesus Sanchez
An injury Corey Dickerson led to the Marlins calling up Sanchez over the last week. His bat played well at AAA this year (.349 with nine home runs and 28 RBI over 129 at-bats). Over his first 38 at-bats in the majors, he only has three hits with two RBI and a high number of strikeouts (17). There is upside in Sanchez bat, but he needs to prove that he belongs in the majors. For now, only a week-to-week flier in deep leagues.
Drew Waters
After losing Marcell Ozuna, Atlanta hasn’t found the right player to seize their left field job. Waters played well from May 30th to June 10th at AAA (13-for-37 with five runs, three RBI, and three steals), but a thumb issue pushed him to the injured list with a thumb injury. He has a balanced skill set with the potential to help in batting average. Water is a player to follow over the next couple of weeks in deep formats.
Starting Pitching
Shane Baz
Tampa may be forced to call up Baz after the injury to Tyler Glasnow. Over his first eight appearances between AA and AAA, he posted a 2.45 ERA with three walks and 54 strikeouts over 36.2 innings. Baz brings a high 90s fastball with a plus slider. His arm is on the move, with impactful innings expected in the majors.
Kyle Muller
The Braves may turn to Muller to start on Monday after losing Tucker Davidson with a forearm issue. He has a below-par ERA (4.60) and WHIP (1.51) at AAA over seven starts, but Muller pitched much better over his last 24.1 innings (2.59 ERA and 31 strikeouts). Only a risk/reward play in deep formats.
Matthew Liberatore
St. Louis remains in need of starting pitching, giving Liberatore a chance of getting the next call up from the minors. Over his four seasons on the farm, he has a 2.96 ERA and 141 strikeouts over 142.2 innings. His season started with struggles over his first four starts at AAA (5.48 ERA) before shifting to the Olympic team. Liberatore pitched much better in his last two starts (two runs and 12 baserunners over 10.1 innings with nine strikeouts.
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