There is one week left until the All-Star break. Before we take a few days to enjoy the events and not setting our lineups, there is one more push to make. It is also a great time to assess your team and the standings. Don’t stop evaluating your team and looking for ways to improve. As you continue working to improve your team, let’s take a look at some Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds for Week 16.
In doing our weekly diligence, the criteria for inclusion will generally be any player rostered in less than 50% of Fantrax leagues (as of 7/10). The popularity of Dynasty leagues on Fantrax does sway some of these percentages compared to other platforms, but these are players who should be on your radar.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Recommendations
Rece Hinds, 3B, Cincinnati Reds
Talk about making an impression. If he continues to hit like this, there’s no reason for Rece Hinds to come out of the lineup for Cincinnati. As the Reds deal with injuries in their outfield, Hinds was promoted on Monday. With home runs in each of his first two games, along with two doubles and a triple, Hinds wasted no time getting on the board. On Wednesday, Hinds followed that up with an RBI single.
Well he certainly caught our attention, and it was warranted, we do have to keep an eye on the strikeouts. Hinds consistently had strikeout rates in the 30% range throughout his minor league career, and that held him back. He did hit 13 home runs in Triple-A before his promotion with 38 RBI, but it also came with a .216 batting average.
Last year, Hinds had 23 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 107 games at Double-A while driving in 98 runs. He overcame the strikeouts to bat .269, and that bears a closer look.
Tyrone Taylor, OF, New York Mets
With Starling Marte sidelined, Tyrone Taylor has been receiving regular playing time in right field. The Mets lineup has been finding their groove as of late, and that benefit has trickled down to Taylor. When targeting options on the waiver wire, a strong lineup is a favorable characteristic, and regular playing time has worked well for the outfielder.
After tripling in back-to-back days, Taylor’s batting average is up to .232. Taylor has six stolen bases in 194 plate appearances, but his speed does present upside. With a solid 9.3% barrel rate, Taylor does make good contact and his .171 ISO does reflect some power. If you are looking to plug a hole in your outfield, Taylor is a short-term fix with upside.
Angel Martinez, SS, Cleveland Guardians
The fact that Angel Martinez is both a versatile and good defender is a big plus. Martinez has already seen action at four positions in nine games. Another favorable characteristic with Martinez is that he does a great job of putting the bat on the ball. Especially for today’s game, Martinez simply doesn’t strike out.
In 26 games at Triple-A this year, Martinez walked (13.2%) more than he struck out (12.3%). Martinez also hit .316 in that stretch, albeit with minimal power. Martinez is hitting .333 through nine games with just one home run, but he does have a .200 ISO. For now though, Martinez is receiving regular playing time and hitting for a good average. As a depth piece, that has value.
Matt Wallner, OF, Minnesota Twins
Entering the season, Matt Wallner was an interesting sleeper option. Early season struggles led to him being demoted to Triple-A after a few weeks. In 67 games, Wallner did as much as he could. The outfielder went deep 19 times while driving in 53 runs and hitting .259. After hitting 14 home runs in 76 games with Minnesota last year, that shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
Since his promotion, Wallner has gone deep twice. The power is real here, but Wallner does need to work on making contact more consistently. That will cause the batting average to be an issue at times, but the outfielder continues to have strong contact skills. The barrel and hard-hit rates are there, along with a strong launch angle. There is a lot to work here for Wallner as long as you can stomach the batting average. However, it is tough to ignore the power and run production upside.
Yiber Diaz, SP, Arizona Diamondacks
The Diamondbacks certainly didn’t make things easy on Yiber Diaz. His major league debut came against the Atlanta Braves, but Diaz proved to be ready for the challenge. In six innings of work, Diaz allowed just one run while scattering four hits and a walk. Diaz has at least one more start coming up, against Toronto, and his stay in the rotation should continue.
While Diaz had a 4.33 ERA in 11 starts in Double-A prior to his promotion, he did pitch better than that with a 3.50 FIP. He struggles with control, but strikeouts aren’t a problem as he had double-digit strikeouts per nine innings. Diaz is an exciting young arm who mostly uses a fastball/slider combination.
Jalen Beeks, RP, Colorado Rockies
We aren’t talking an ideal situation here but Jalen Beeks does have three saves over the past seven days, so deserves our attention. Yes, Beeks has a 5.40 ERA in that stretch, but there is truly a finite amount of saves available.
Beeks is an interesting closer as he has just 6.4 strikeouts per nine innings. His ERA sits at 4.40 on the season (4.02 FIP) to go along with eight saves, but his hold on the job is tenuous at best. While he holds it though, Beeks is worth a look.
AJ Puk, RP, Miami Marlins
With Tanner Scott likely headed elsewhere in a few weeks, someone needs to save games for the Marlins. Just because they won’t have many save opportunities in some weeks, it doesn’t mean that we should ignore them.
As the roster is currently set up, it would be AJ Puk who would step into that role. Last year, Puk saved 15 games, so he is no stranger to the ninth inning, and that plays a large factor here. Including four starts, Puk has a 4.97 ERA in 38 innings this year but his 3.82 xERA is certainly more attractive. We do have to keep an eye on Puk’s struggles with the walk this season, and his strikeouts did dip down to closer to a batter per inning, but opposing hitters aren’t squaring him up. With a barrel rate of just 3.5%, Puk is doing a great job of avoiding real damage.