After his dust-up with Joc Pederson, Reds OF is among Week 12 pickup options.
As we head into the weekend, don’t forget to put in your waiver claims! Here are a few players that look interesting and are available in most fantasy baseball leagues.
Hitters
Christian Bethancourt, C, Oakland A’s
There’s not a lot to get excited about in Oakland, but a catcher batting .269 with four home runs in June is awfully interesting. Bethancourt also has four stolen bases on the season, a max exit velocity in the top 8% of the league, a barrel rate in the top 7% of the league and an expected batting average of .294 according to Statcast. Yeah, you should be interested.
Jesus Aguilar, 1B, Miami Marlins
Aguilar may not be young and flashy, but he’s getting it done for fantasy managers that took him at the tail end of their drafts. He’s batting .261 with nine round-trippers this season. You can sit him vs. lefties, but he should be started when the Fish face a week of righties. He’s batting .282 with eight of his nine home runs coming vs. right-handed pitching.
Luis Garcia, 2B/SS, Washington Nationals
Garcia made this list last week, but it looks like not enough people were paying attention since he’s still available in 82% of fantasy leagues. Maybe you guys grabbed the wrong Luis Garcia? The rookie second baseman is now batting .329 with two homers and 10 RBI since being called up on June 1. He has hits in five of his last six games, plays everyday and has a max exit velocity in the top 85 of the league.
C.J. Abrams, SS, San Diego Padres
Abrams has yet to really impress at the big-league level, but the pedigree is there for the prospect who was batting .314 with seven homers and 10 stolen bases at Triple-A. With Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis both out, Abrams should get a few more chances to show what he can do.
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Jon Berti, 2B/3B/MI, Miami Marlins
If you haven’t been paying attention, there’s a new MLB stolen base leader: Jon Berti. Berti now sits atop the leaderboard with 21 steals–19 of those steals have come since May 27. He is playing every day at 3B, and he qualifies all over the infield. This is not a drill.
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Tommy Pham, OF, Cincinnati Reds
Questionable fantasy football decisions aside, Pham has looked pretty good in the month of June, hitting .296 with five homers, two stolen bases and a .935 OPS. Just don’t tell Joc Pederson you’re putting in a waivers claim.
A.J. Pollock, OF, Chicago White Sox
After a slow start, Pollock during the month of June has looked much more like the Pollock we expected. Many fantasy managers lost their patience, so be sure to check your waiver wire for the outfielder hitting .305 with an .808 OPS in June.
Alek Thomas, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
It’s easy to forget about Diamondbacks players, but don’t overlook what Thomas has been doing. Since his debut on May 8, Thomas is hitting .275 with six homers and four stolen bases. He’s the number one prospect for the D-Backs, and he looks like he’s heating up with the weather, as he’s batting .296 with five homers and 12 RBI for June.
Riley Greene, OF, Detroit Tigers
Greene has been gobbled up in 60% of fantasy leagues already, but there’s still 40% of you who can grab this top prospect for the Tigers. Greene has been as advertised since joining the bigs, hitting .375 across his first 16 major league at-bats. He was an early favorite for AL ROY at SISB before breaking his foot in spring training, and you can still get him at 40 to 1 odds if you’re not a Julio Rodrguez or Jeremy Pena fan.
Jarren Duran, OF, Boston Red Sox
This isn’t a power play, but Duran can offer you batting average and speed. Across 10 games in the majors this season, Duran is batting .297 with two stolen bases. He’s hitting leadoff for the surging Red Sox, and he’s available in 87% of fantasy leagues.
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Pitchers
Jon Gray, SP, Texas Rangers
After a disappointing start to the season, Gray seems to have settled in for the Rangers during the month of June. Gray owns a 2-1 record with a 2.64 ERA and 3.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio this month. The Rangers are heading into Friday night 4.5 games out of the Wild Card race. He has a tough matchup next week vs. the Mets, but there are plenty of games left in July vs. the Angels, Mariners and last-place Oakland A’s.
George Kirby, SP, Seattle Mariners
Kirby was one of the hottest pitchers on the wire when he was first called up in May. He had a brilliant debut, pitching six shutout innings with seven strikeouts vs. the Rays. Minus a couple of less than stellar starts at the end of May, Kirby has remained a reliable starting pitcher. On the season his ERA sits at 3.12 and for the month of June his ERA sits at 2.74. One interesting thing to note: Kirby’s strikeout-to-walk ratio is 13.0 at home vs. 5.25 on the road. Grab Kirby and rack up those fantasy points when he has a home start.
Andre Pallante, SP, St. Louis Cardinals
Heading into Friday night’s contest, Pallante has allowed two runs or fewer across three starts for the Cardinals. Can he keep this up? It’s hard to guess, but in deeper leagues he’s worth a look. He’s not going to rack up a lot of strikeouts, but he also doesn’t surrender the long ball.
David Peterson, SP, New York Mets
Peterson has a 4-1 record and a 3.18 ERA for the Metropolitans this season, including a 5⅓ shutout innings vs. the Marlins on Wednesday. He struck out seven in that start, generating 19 whiffs, plus he pitches for the Mets, so if you’re in a league that rewards wins, Peterson is an add.
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