It seems just when the fantasy baseball landscape has settled there’s another key injury or important milestone. That’s the case this week with the approaching trade deadline coming up. No position is impacted more in deep fantasy baseball leagues by trades than closers, oftentimes erasing all of the player’s value when moved. At the same time, previously not rostered players can become must-adds when a new opening for a key role emerges after a trade. We take all of these scenarios and more into account with this week’s deep league fantasy baseball waiver wire targets.
Deep League Waiver Wire Targets for Week 18
15-Team Mixed League Targets
1. Victor Robles, OF, Mariners
If you’re new to fantasy baseball in the last few years you’d likely find it hard to believe that Victor Robles was once viewed as a more promising prospect than Juan Soto by the Nationals. In fact, even with Soto’s surprising star emergence, as only a teenager, it was Robles who took fantasy baseball by storm with his 17-HR and 28-SB season in 2019. However, Robles never built on his breakout season and completely fell off the fantasy baseball radar over time. While injuries played a factor, it was largely the exposed holes in his swing that led to his struggles. Though, now with the Mariners, we’re finally seeing flashes of Robles from his early career success. Since gaining a full-time role he is hitting .394 with seven steals and an OBP near .500! Robles will surely come back to earth considerably moving forward, but if he can continue to get on base at a decent clip, the steals will follow. This would make him a valuable asset for the remainder of the season.
in 25 games as a Mariner:
Victor Robles is slashing .390//.468//.585 with a 204 wRC+
He's been a huge midseason acquisition and probably our best hitter in July. pic.twitter.com/3p1n72ynAu
— Steve (@MarinersSteve) July 22, 2024
2. Jeffrey Springs, SP, Rays
We’re seeing many notable pitchers making their return from prolonged injury absences with Robbie Ray, Kodai Senga, and Clayton Kershaw in late July. One lesser-known name is the formerly up-and-coming Rays pitcher Jeffrey Springs, who went out early last season with elbow surgery. In just 16 innings at the start of last season Springs held an astonishing 0.56 ERA and a 0.50 WHIP. This was the much-anticipated breakout season fantasy analysts had predicted, coming off his impressive second-half finish to the 2022 season. Now, finally healthy again, Springs will be inserted into the Rays starting rotation and could provide meaningful contributions down the stretch for deep league fantasy managers.
A great value ADP grab in 2023 is Jeffrey Springs. (165 ADP)
The lefty posted a 2.46 ERA/.231 xBA/26 K% in 2022.
All three of his main pitches (FB,CH,SL) posted a negative run value which is extremely impressive. His changeup was his money pitch with a -12 run value (!!). Buy🤑 pic.twitter.com/5PH9QpTLo1
— Andrew DeCeglie (@Andrew_FBB) February 21, 2023
AL-Only League Targets
1. Ben Joyce, RP, Angels
No pitcher has turned more heads, figuratively and literally, than Angels’ flamethrowing reliever Ben Joyce this season. Not only have his max velocity pitches gone viral with baseball fans, see example below, but his hitter opponents have often watched in awe as his pitches have zipped by them. With a similar flamethrower profile as Jhoan Duran of the Twins, it seems Joyce could be destined to be the next big closer breakout. That is, however, if he can maintain improved control of his pitches which has prevented him from having an immediate fantasy impact or save chances. As of late, he has kept the walks in check with no runs allowed over his last 13 appearances. Potential trades by the Angels could clear the way for Joyce to get into the saves mix sooner rather than later. That’s why we feel it warrants a speculative add in AL-only leagues before the deadline.
BEN JOYCE 104.5 MPH MY GOODNESS
🔥⛽️🔥⛽️🔥⛽️🔥⛽️🔥⛽️🔥⛽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/nVrG4WpQXT— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 13, 2024
2. Bligh Madris, 1B, Tigers
Each week we feature a newly emerged call-up who is far off the radar to give our readers the nudge to act quickly on a speculative waiver wire addition. Many of those recommendations have actualized into meaningful fantasy contributors, like Wenceel Perez, Tyler Freeman, Max Scheumann, and others. This week we present to our AL-only audience Bligh Madris, first baseman for the Tigers who is three games into his latest call-up. While results in past stints have been moderately interesting, he’s quickly raised eyebrows with a three-hit game. While he isn’t a consistent on-base threat, Madris offers decent speed for a first baseman to go along with his power stroke. So far in AAA this season he had hit 14 home runs and stolen 17 bases in just 263 at-bats. That put him on pace for a 30/40 season, which clearly has caught the attention of the Tigers. Consider a low-risk and high-reward potential addition with Madris this week if you have roster space to spare.
Three-hit day for Bligh Madris 👏 pic.twitter.com/g2jFuLrjUw
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) July 25, 2024
NL-Only League Targets
1. River Ryan, SP, Dodgers
Once again the Dodgers have an easy case as the team that has been hit the hardest with pitching injuries. The silver lining to the perpetual cycle of injury news is that several of their many talented minor league arms are finally getting their call to the majors. The most recent benefactor is River Ryan, a top-five prospect in the Dodger’s system on most outlet rankings. Ryan had been thriving in AAA where he held a 2.76 ERA over his five starts at that level. His 1.16 WHIP signaled a sustainable pace of his sub-3.00 ERA as well as his 10.67 K/9 ratio. In his first start with the Dodgers, the ratios carried over as he only allowed four hits across 5.1 innings with no runs allowed. The only thing holding Ryan back from must-add in all formats status is the uncertainty of staying in the rotation. However, if history repeats itself there may be a decent chance a spot stays open for the long-term.
An outstanding debut for River Ryan. pic.twitter.com/eqh3mQRzuL
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 23, 2024
2. Calvin Faucher, RP, Marlins
Recent comments from the Marlins front office have made it almost certain that at least one key reliever will be traded at the deadline. That promise was met yesterday with the trade of AJ Puk. Surprisingly, it was the current closer, Tanner Scott, that seemed destined for a new location, and still probably could be this week. This is where Calvin Faucher enters as an immediate sneaky add in NL-only leagues as he could likely get in the mix for a least a partial closer role. Based on his performance this season it seems a safe be that Faucher would succeed in that role, given the stable career ERA and WHIP.
Calvin Faucher 3-pitch K of Julio Rodríguez to keep this game tied pic.twitter.com/Q4Z4JVY1Ko
— Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) June 22, 2024
Got a few deep league waiver wire targets of your own? Don’t be greedy! Drop some names in the comments below.