FAAB Frenzy and Waivers Wild: Week 23

Every Monday, this column will break down the most popular waiver wire and free agent acquisitions from 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 22 Overview

Hitters

The Kansas City Royals have been on quite the heater, winning eight straight and leading all teams in scoring with 47 runs in Week 22. Bobby Witt Jr. leads all hitters with 14 runs over the last 14 days. Witt, Vinnie Pasquantino and Kyle Isbel all hit two home runs apiece last week. Pete Crow-Armstrong continues to separate from the pack after another strong week where he hit the most home runs (five), stole two bases, and hit .375 (9-for-24). He’s the top fantasy producer this season and the only player with at least 30 homers and 30 swipes. Fernando Tatis Jr. went 12-for-25 with 11 RBIs and had two two-homer games. Tatis hit nine of his 17 dingers in August. Nationals hitters CJ Abrams and James Wood rank fourth and sixth, respectively, on our 12-team Fantasy Player Rater despite being out of the lineup. Abrams has missed the last four contests, and Wood hasn’t played since August 3. The Nationals rode the Struggle Bus hard last week, only producing 12 runs in six games. The Chicago Cubs have overtaken them for most runs in the Majors with 684 (5.22 per game). The lowest-scoring team is the Mariners, averaging just 3.9 runs per game for 513 total.

Pitchers

Four-of-31 two-start pitchers earned two wins (13%) — they were Foster Griffin, Blake Snell, Michael Wacha and the amazing “Cy” Cal Quantrill. Quantrill had great matchups (Angels, Nationals) and took advantage of them, twirling 13 scoreless innings with 11 punchouts and no walks. Jack Leiter and Nathan Eovaldi are due to be activated soon, but Quantrill has been so stellar (2.90 ERA despite a 4.62 xFIP) that he is making it difficult for him to be ousted from the rotation. Eovaldi is a shoo-in, but Leiter is not guaranteed a spot. Obviously, Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, and MacKenzie Gore are locked in. Cody Bradford has pitched well enough to remain and Kumar Rocker is on the fringe, depending on how he pitches on Monday (at the White Sox) and possibly this weekend, if he draws next Sunday’s start in Milwaukee. Quantrill is penciled in to face the Brewers on Saturday, where a ratio-reckoning is possible, but far from guaranteed. Shout out to Phillies reliever Alex McFarlane who pulled off the ultra-rare three-win week. McFarlane earned his wins in one-inning performances against the Marlins (Tuesday) and against the Cardinals on Friday and Sunday. Shota Imanaga led all pitchers in strikeouts (14) despite only throwing two innings in Sunday’s start against the Mariners. Imanaga struggled in that start, getting pulled before recording an out in the third inning and throwing 72 pitches. He punched out 10 in six innings in his matchup with the White Sox earlier in the week. Houston’s Peter Lambert jolted the ratios in his Thursday start, getting blasted for nine runs by the Angels. Lambert had not allowed more than two runs in his previous nine starts. Affordable FAAB rookie acquisition Jackson Kent did not fare well in his two-start week, allowing eight runs in 8.1 innings and taking losses in both.

Most Added Players: NFBC Main Event, NFBC OC, and Fantrax

This weekend was all about Seattle Mariners rookie phenom, southpaw Kade Anderson. He made his debut in front of his home crowd, allowing three runs on five hits, with two walks and five strikeouts, in 5.2 innings against the Cubs. Though fantasy managers are all susceptible to recency bias, we all recognized that Anderson’s FAAB price would not go down no matter how poorly his first start went. Since folks were low on dough, his average entry prices were reasonable ($108 in 15-team Main Events, $104 in 12-team Online Championships), though plenty of managers came out of the woodworks to drop the FAAB hammer, regardless of if their team was still in the running. Anderson’s highest winning bid in Main Events was $313 and the lowest was $20. Props to “Harshed Mellows ME1” who won Anderson in his league, 203 to 202.

José Urquidy is back in our lives after a multi-year absence, last fantasy-relevant in the 2021 and 2022 seasons when he maintained a sub-4.00 ERA and a walk rate right around five percent over 48 starts. Urquidy had Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2024, missed most of 2025, and signed a one-year deal with the Pirates before the season. He pitched well over 17 games in the minors (3.66 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 73:18 K:BB in 83.2 innings) before the Pirates designated him for assignment, then traded him to the White Sox. Upon promotion, Urquidy struggled in several of his relief appearances, then surprised the fantasy world with six scoreless innings, two hits, no walks, and eight strikeouts following two innings from opener Sean Newcomb last Wednesday. Managers could always use WHIP help, which is Urquidy’s specialty. Hopefully, he helps folks out there with two strong starts this week — Monday against the Rangers and this weekend in Minneapolis against the Twins.

David Peterson was the second most expensive starting pitcher acquired after Anderson, with an average winning bid of $10. Peterson has a 40:19 K:BB along with a 3.93 ERA (4.10 xFIP) in nine starts with the Cubs. He’s been mostly stellar outside of a 10-ER blowup at the hands (bats) of the Cardinals on July 3. Peterson is expected to draw the Reds this Friday, then take on the Brewers next week, both games at home. Angels rookie starter George Klassen has been stellar since being called up on August 7. In his start against the Astros last week, he allowed just one hit and punched out seven over seven scoreless innings. Klassen pitches on Monday against the Guardians but is not guaranteed to earn a second one this week if the Angels stick with their six-man rotation. Instead, he’d line up to face the Yankees (home) and Pirates (away) in Week 24.

Carlos Cortes, Tommy White and Max Muncy were streaming targets for an injury-ravaged Athletics offense that will play six games in Sacramento this week. With Jacob Wilson윌슨 now sidelined, Donovan Walton and Darell Hernaiz have been sharing the shortstop role and Muncy has been mixing into the lineup daily at DH, third base and left field. White has taken over for Nick Kurtz at first base. Cortes only starts against right-handed pitchers.

Welcome back, Justin Martinez! J-Mart underwent Tommy John surgery last summer, started his rehab assignment at the end of last month, and finally made his return to the big-league mound on August 18. Martinez should earn some save chances but won’t be pushed full throttle over these final five weeks. Assuming he maintains good health, he will be the clear favorite to close games for the Diamondbacks next season. Baltimore righty Rico Garcia has been mixing back in on high-leverage duties over the last week, earning a save on Friday and a win on Saturday. The Orioles closer committee includes Garcia, Andrew Kittredge, and Yennier Cano, though I’d bet on Garcia leading the team in saves from now until the end of the regular season. Garcia sports career-bests in swinging-strike rate (15.1%), barrel rate (6.4%), and hard-hit rate (34.3%).

Aaron Nola and Andrew Painter were the priciest starting pitcher acquisitions in 12-team OCs, going for $14 and $13, respectively. Nola has a 2.12 ERA (2.45 xFIP) and a 25:5 K:BB over his last three starts. Painter has a 26:10 K:BB in 27.1 innings since being recalled on July 31. His latest outing was his best — 7 IP – 5 H – 1 ER – 0 BB – 8 K — at home against the Cardinals. Painter lines up to face the Angels (away) on Friday and the Diamondbacks (away) next week. Nola pitches Tuesday at Seattle and should earn a two-step in Week 24, at ARZ, vs. ATL. Matthew Liberatore provides new managers with potential strikeout upside as he draws home starts against the Orioles and Pirates. Liberatore owns a 5.04 ERA with lower peripherals (4.06 xFIP, 4.04 SIERA) and has struck out 125 batters in 125 innings. No teams strike out at a higher clip against southpaws than the Pirates (25.9%) and the Orioles (25.7%). Andrew Alvarez has been fully stretched out for a few weeks now, pitching at least five innings in four straight starts. He has some control issues (10.6% BB), but has done a good job at limiting runs, allowing just two or fewer in five consecutive starts. Alvarez draws the Rockies and Marlins this week.

Mets high-leverage reliever Daniel Duarte isn’t a bad hedge since Kodai Senga has recently come back down to earth after a hot start, allowing runs in two of his last three appearances and taking a loss on Sunday. Duarte’s pristine cutter (33.6% usage) has elicited a meager five percent hard hit rate and a .273 slugging percentage. The 29-year-old has a 1.17 ERA and 0.65 WHIP with 23 strikeouts and five walks allowed over 23 innings.

The Tigers promoted outfielder Brett Callahan early last week and have been starting him against right-handed pitchers. The Tigers are without outfielders Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Wenceel Pérez, and Matt Vierling, so Callahan should continue getting work, at least until Greene is back from his rehab assignment. Callahan played the first 60 games of this season in Double-A and 36 in Triple-A, stealing 29 bases on 35 attempts in 416 plate appearances. Callahan has yet to attempt a steal in seven big-league contests. Since the Tigers will face a high number of lefties over the next two weeks, he is not an ideal streamer in any format.

Possibly Bad Drops of the Week

Eleven percent of NFBC OC managers dropped Abimelec Ortiz ahead of a seven-game week where the Washington Nationals will likely face six right-handed starters and have four games against the Colorado Rockies. Rosters may have been tight, as a few managers considered Vinnie Pasquantino as an upgrade, which I believe he is. I added Vinnie P on an OC where I have Ortiz, but the former will remain on the bench for the latter and these sweet matchups. Start Abi Ortiz if you are still rostering him.

Good Drops of the Week

There was a lot of attrition this week as several players went on the IL, some for the rest of the season, all of whom were viable drops: Ryan Weathers, Jacob Wilson, Andy Pages, Andre Pallante, Tyler Soderstrom, Michael Soroka, and Dansby Swanson. Two healthy players who were axed and very much deserved to be are starting pitchers Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller. Miller has allowed between four and six earned runs in four consecutive starts and apparently has been pitching through a minor right lat injury over the last month. Miller is still part of the Mariners six-man rotation and lines up to pitch on Sunday. Castillo may not deserve to stay in the White Sox rotation, but he won’t be moved. Bring some good roto karma to your rosters and set it free from Miller and Castillo if you can.