FAAB Frenzy and Waivers Wild: Week 19

Every Monday, this column will break down the most popular waiver wire and free agent acquisitions of the weekend. I dig into the top adds on the ever-popular Fantrax and in the NFBC Online Championship (OC), a national mid-stakes contest with 240 total leagues of 12 and a six-figure grand prize. Reviewing player adds between the two should provide us with a well-rounded perspective and barometer of the fantasy baseball marketplace.

Week 18 Overview

Hitters

The CJ Abrams dream season went into full cloud mode. He slugged 1.346 with 6 HR, 12 RBI and 2 SB over six games. Only Abrams and Junior Caminero (7 HR in Week 14) have hit more than five home runs in a week this season. Fellow shortstop Jeremy Peña had an incredible week as well, batting .500 (13-for-26) with five home runs. Prior to Week 18, Peña only had six homers. The Arizona Diamondbacks took advantage of a seven-game week, leading all teams with 46 runs.

Catcher Gabriel Moreno led the way, driving in runs in five straight contests. Moreno is on fire, slashing .397/.462/.513 in July. Per a report over the weekend, the Diamondbacks are pursuing a long-term extension with him. The Miami Marlins have lost 12 straight games, dating back to the series with the Guardians before the All-Star break. They managed a meager 17 runs in six games, the fewest of Week 18.

Pitchers

Of the 33 two-start pitchers, three earned two wins — Cristopher Sánchez, Drew Rasmussen, and Nick Martinez. Martinez (2.45 ERA) continues to defy his estimators (4.67 xFIP, 4.85 SIERA, 4.33 xERA) and maintains an exceptional 4.2% walk rate. Rasmussen had a masterful performance against the Guardians on Sunday, a one-hitter over seven innings, with no runs, one walk, and nine punchouts. Dylan Cease threw a complete game shutout in Fenway Park against the Red Sox on Saturday. Cease led all pitchers with 19 strikeouts this week. My Jacob Misiorowski prediction from last week did not come to fruition. He got the double-digit strikeouts against the Rockies on Sunday, but only had six in his abbreviated, four-inning start last Monday. The Mix is currently the NL Cy Young favorite. Cease and Cam Schlittler are neck-and-neck in the American League.

Kyle Leahy owns a 1.15 ERA and a 29:8 K:BB over his last six starts. He was an under-the-radar free agent gem in 15-team leagues last month. His nine strikeouts against the Reds on Sunday was a career-high. For those who have yet to learn their lesson in NL-only or deeper formats, please drop Jameson Taillon if you haven’t already. Taillon served up five dingers and 11 runs in his two Week 19 starts. Taillon is tied for the second-most home runs allowed (25) despite spending a few weeks on the IL and pitching ~30 fewer innings than others in the range. Athletics lefty Jeffrey Springs leads the Majors with 27 homers allowed.

Top Average Winning Bids: NFBC Main Event, NFBC OC, and Fantrax

The most popular hitter acquisition in the NFBC streets was the Baltimore Orioles newest slugger, Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Known in the fantasy streets as “CES”, he first knocked down our doors as a rookie with the Reds back in 2023, showing much promise in the power department. That year he hit .270 with 13 HR in 241 plate appearances (63 games). He spent most of the last two seasons in the minors, and was acquired by the Orioles in April. Encarnacion-Strand has been crushing it since his promotion on July 18, with 3 HR, 9 RBI, 216 wRC+, and a .370/.414/.741 slash line. Most importantly for fantasy purposes, CES started in every contest last week — against both lefties and righties — and batted fifth, behind Gunnar Henderson and Taylor Ward, over the weekend. As we well know, his heater won’t continue at this level, but he should stick around and provide roto and points assistance for the most of the remainder of the season.

Esteury Ruiz snuck up on our 15-team radars over the weekend, stealing a couple of bases and recapturing our roto hearts. The allure of Ruiz and his massive impact on the stolen base category is known to all, but his roster rate in Main Events have remained reasonable due to the lack of playing time. It’s likely that Marlins manager Clayton McCullough may give Ruiz more opportunities to start going forward. This past week was a good sign as Ruiz started three of the last four while second-year outfielder Jakob Marsee rode the bench in two of the last four. Marsee had a strong rookie season, but one of our concerns this draft season was maintaining a plus batting average after his .292 was bolstered by a fortuitous .357 BABIP. With more consistent playing time, Ruiz could easily lead all hitters in stolen bases the rest of the way and provide fantasy managers the boost they may need.

With Curtis Mead traded to the Red Sox over the weekend, the Nationals recalled 23-year-old third baseman Brady House. A former first-round pick in 2021, House was optioned to Triple-A in mid-May, hit .301 with 8 HR in 50 games there, and was recalled before Sunday’s contest, where he returned in style, hitting two doubles. Let’s see what magic Nationals hitting coach Matt Borgschulte can conjur up with House.

It’s likely that Main Event managers would have ponied up a few more dollars for Ronel Blanco if his weekend start went splendidly. It did not. Blanco gave up five runs on four hits, including two homers, and issued three free passes against the White Sox. He still earned a $20 AWB as managers recognize the lack of dependable starting pitching in the free agent pool, possibly chalking up the rough start to rust since he hadn’t pitched in the majors in 14 months. Twenty percent of the field took the bait with Mitch Keller, hoping to get lucky for his two-start week against the Diamondbacks (home) and the Reds (away). Keller has been a workhorse, averaging 30 starts per season since 2022, but his ratios have been substandard. This season, they are worse than usual (4.90 ERA, 1.31 WHIP), as we mostly fear those dreaded disaster (5+ ER) starts.

There wasn’t much out there worth pursuing in terms of closers and saves on the open market. The Pirates will add a right-handed reliever before the deadline, but they may not necessarily become the team’s closer. Lefty Mason Montgomery earned their latest save and may be wresting opportunities away from veteran lefty, Gregory Soto. As of last weekend, Daniel Palencia was slated to return sometime in mid-August. This weekend, we heard that Palencia is close to beginning a rehab assignment. Assuming he has no setbacks, perhaps he is activated in the first week of August. Hogan Harris and Jordan Romano were the other two relievers scooped up on a significant number of teams, mostly to managers willing to take some ratio beatings to earn some saves.

NFBC OC managers are slower to warm to budding free agent assistance, mostly because the free agent pool has more options available than in 15-teamers. Zac Thornton was more affordable last week, but was still added for a reasonable $17 on average after his six scoreless innings against the Brewers last Tuesday. Thornton lines up for two home starts this week against the Braves and Marlins and should stick in the Mets rotation for the rest of the season, and beyond.

Keider Montero rocks impressive ratios (3.14 ERA, 0.98 WHIP) and an improved walk rate (5.3%) through 16 starts and six bulk relief appearances. The approximately a one-run differential between his ERA and higher estimators, but many managers need those strikeouts and wins and were willing to risk the possibility of Montero getting torched this weekend against the A’s in Sacramento. It’s worth noting that the A’s are without their two best hitters, Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers. Zack Gelof may return before the weekend.

Steven Kwan and Ty France joined Encarnacion-Strand as the most popular hitter acquisitions in 12-team Online Championships. They also happened to be my three highest-projected AWB hitters rostered in fewer than 70% of OCs, per my weekly Trust the Gut column at FTN. Kwan is batting .403 with four stolen bases this month, and is back to leading off for the Guardians. France is one of the hottest hitters over the past few weeks, rocking career-best power metrics (92.5 mph EV, 50% HH, 11.7% BRL). Jonah Heim, Tyler Stephenson and rookie catcher Joe Mack were the most popular acquisitions among backstops, especially in light of recent long-term injuries to Langeliers and Kyle Teel. Heim steps in as the primary backstop with the A’s lined up for seven games at home. Mack has three dingers in his last five games. Stephenson has been rumored in potential trade deadline deals. He’d sure look great in a Yankees uniform.

Brent Headrick stands out on the Fantrax list. He’s been one of the best relievers in the Majors this season, sporting a 1.38 ERA, 1,08 WHIP, 29.5% strikeout rate, and a 16.6% swinging-strike rate. He’s the top lefty in the Yankees bullpen and could help managers looking for some punchouts and ratio help as the Yankees continue on the road with seven games against the two Chicago squads. With the San Francisco Giants losing pitcher Trevor McDonald to an elbow injury, an opportunity in their rotation has opened for southpaw Carson Whisenhunt. He had a mediocre outing against the Angels on Sunday (5 IP – 5 H – 4 ER – 2 BB – 7 K) and is expected to make his next start against the Padres in San Diego this weekend. Since Hunter Dobbins pitched well against the Angels last week and the St. Louis Cardinals scheduled with 20 games in 20 days after the All-Star break, Dobbins earns another opportunity this week. Likely on Tuesday, at home against the Cubs.

Drop of the Week

We bid a heartfelt adieu to those Shea Langeliers shares. The mashing backstop known as Bangeliers has a torn meniscus in his right knee and may miss the rest of the season. Langeliers is one of 11 hitters with more than 80 dingers since the start of 2024.

Week 19 Predictions

The Athletics struggle to score more than 10 total runs in this four-game series against the Red Sox in Sacramento. The three lefties (Payton Tolle, Jake Bennett, Patrick Sandoval) collectively stymie the A’s offense. Nick Kurtz will throw his bat in frustration after a nasty strikeout at some point in the series.

Newest Red Sox hitter Curtis Mead makes a splash in his uniform, hitting a home run off A’s pitcher Jack Perkins.

Michael King whirls an absolute gem against the Rockies at home on Tuesday, but doesn’t make his weekend start for them because he will get traded.

Landen Roupp and Griffin Jax are top-five fantasy producers among pitchers.

Max Fried gets uncharacteristically blown up by one of the Chicago teams.

Dominic Canzone heats up again and hits four homers this week.

Max Scherzer has a good week and will be one of the top free agent targets in 15-team leagues this weekend.