FAAB Frenzy and Waivers Wild: Week 26
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 25 Overview
Hitters
The Milwaukee Brewers led all teams with 52 runs scored and 13 home runs. They feasted on Cincinnati Reds pitching, scoring 33 of those runs in Friday’s and Saturday’s contests. William Contreras and Padres’ Jackson Merrill led all hitters with 12 RBI each. Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang led the field in runs (nine) and Chourio racked up the most hits (13). Chourio has been on fire over the last 30 days, batting .351 and leading the Majors in runs (28).
San Francisco Giants first baseman Rafael Devers had been scorching hot, batting .341 and leading the Majors in HR (eight) and RBI (20) over the last two weeks, but his season is over as he was placed on the 60-day IL and will undergo core muscle surgery.
The White Sox struggled mightily last week, managing a league-low 15 runs in their six games, running into trouble against two NL Central teams — the Pirates and the Cardinals.
Over the last 30 days, the Brewers have scored a league-high 170 runs (6.8 per game) and the Pirates rank last with 85 (3.5 per game).
The Nationals have stolen a league-best 31 stolen bases over this span and lead the Majors with 166. The Rays, Marlins, Padres are all tied for second (150), while the Astros are the only team with fewer than 50 stolen bases (45). Nationals infielder Nasim Nuñez maintains the league lead (45) over Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson (41). Bobby Witt Jr. and Jazz Chisholm Jr. (currently on the IL) both have 40 swipes. Pete Crow-Armstrong is four swipes away from a 40-40 season.
Two of last week’s most popular hitter acquisitions continued to perform in Week 25. Cardinals rookie catcher Leo Bernal hit two homers and drove in seven runs. Rays outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. batted .556 (10-for-18) with 3 HR and 2 SB. Mesa is not an advisable start this week since the Rays are expected to face five left-handed starters.
Pitchers
There were only 23 pitchers with two starts last week; 24 if we count Chase Burns whose outings were intentionally abbreviated. Four of the 23 starting pitchers earned two wins apiece: Freddy Peralta, Bubba Chandler, Cal Quantrill, and AL Cy Young favorite, Cam Schlittler. Schlittler and Jacob Misorowski are now tied for the best ERA (1.95) and have 14 wins each. Misorowski’s 0.80 ranks best, while Schlittler’s 0.90 ranks third-best (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 0.88 WHIP). Schlitter also led all pitchers in strikeouts (18) in Week 25.
Emmet Sheehan, last weekend’s top pitcher acquisition, stepped back into the Dodgers rotation and dominated at just the right time for his fantasy managers. Sheehan threw 11.2 innings in his two starts, earning a win, punching out 15, and posting lovely ratios: a 0.77 ERA and a .60 WHIP. Sheehan should finish the year strong, as he draws his last two starts against the Devers-less Giants — one at home and one in Oracle Park. Update: Sheehan was optioned to Triple-A today! We can’t start him this week.
Philadelphia’s Andrew Painter gave up a league-high 16 runs and six earned runs in his two starts; 10 hits and five earned runs to the Astros last Monday. Other pitchers who hurt their managers: Jacob Lopez (2 GS: 9 ER, 13 H, 4 BB), Eury Pérez (2 GS: 8 ER, 14 H, 5 BB) and one-start pitchers Foster Griffin (8 ER in 2.1 IP), Janson Junk (8 ER in 3 IP), and Brady Singer (8 ER, 5 BB in 4 IP).
Week 26 Most Added Players: NFBC Main Event, NFBC OC, and Fantrax
The two standout acquisitions this weekend were Dodgers top prospect, Josue De Paula and A’s slugging catcher, Shea Langeliers. With only one free agent bidding period remaining, competing managers made wise decisions to unload the balance on their budgets for two weeks of their services, spending over $20 on average. De Paula’s first career home run on Sunday likely help boost market confidence and his average winning bid amount. De Paula should continue to earn consistent playing time in the absence of Shohei Ohtani, as the Dodgers have quite the advantageous schedule for the remainder of the season: 4 at CIN, 3 vs. SD, 3 at SF. The Athletics are on the road for six this week then return for their final homestand in Sacramento: two games against the Angels and four hosting the Astros.
| # | Player | Team | Position(s) | # of Lgs Added | AWB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josue De Paula | LAD | OF | 98% | $21 |
| 2 | Corbin Burnes | ARI | SP | 75% | $9 |
| 3 | Shea Langeliers | ATH | C | 70% | $23 |
| 4 | Emmanuel Rodriguez | MIN | OF | 58% | $6 |
| 5 | Dustin Harris | SD | OF | 57% | $4 |
| 6 | Ryan Johnson | LAA | SP | 42% | $6 |
| 7 | Kyle Karros | COL | 3B | 42% | $5 |
| 8 | Adael Amador | COL | 2B | 40% | $5 |
| 9 | Lazaro Montes | SEA | OF | 37% | $8 |
| 10 | Jack Perkins | ATH | SP | 35% | $5 |
| 11 | Dansby Swanson | CHC | SS | 33% | $7 |
| 12 | Josh Jung | TEX | 3B | 33% | $9 |
| 13 | Ryan O’Hearn | PIT | 1B,OF | 32% | $15 |
| 14 | Luis Campusano | SD | C | 32% | $4 |
| 15 | Maikel Garcia | KC | 3B | 27% | $5 |
AWB = Average Winning Bid (min: $4 AWB)
Folks hoping to take advantage of strong hitter matchups targeted players from the Padres, Rockies, and Mariners. The Padres are in Denver to play four against the Rockies, then will head home for three against the Marlins. Luis Campusano, Dustin Harris, and Jake Cronenworth (not listed above) were added for an AWB of $4 in NFBC Main Events. Cronenworth was only available in 11-of-60 leagues. I was one of three to acquire Samad Taylor. I got him for $2 and his AWB was $1.33. Taylor and Harris have been in the Padres quite frequently of late and could provide a boost in stolen bases. Harris went 4-for-9 with 3 R, 3 RBI and 1 SB over the weekend and batted second on Saturday (vs. a LHP) and Sunday (vs. a RHP). I preferred Harris, but lost a $2 tiebreaker, so I ended up with Taylor.
Kyle Karros and Adael Amador were nifty $5 additions with the Rockies slated for seven home games. The downside is that they will be facing some tough starting pitchers and may not provide what new managers are looking for. The Rockies are slated to face Padres starters Casey Mize, Walker Buehler, Robbie Ray, and Michael King, and Mariners starters Bryan Woo, Emerson Hancock and rookie southpaw, Kade Anderson. The Mariners have a nice setup (3 at LAA, 3 at COL; 3 vs. HOU, 3 vs. LAA), but not many of their hitters were available. Rookie slugger Lazaro Montes was added specifically with the three Coors Field RHPs in mind. J.P. Crawford was acquired in 30% of Main Events for an average of $2.61.
Twins outfielder prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez was promoted on Saturday, started both games over the weekend and hit his first major league homer. Rodriguez missed nearly three months in the middle of the season after suffering a torn UCL in his left thumb. Dansby Swanson is expected to be activated this Friday or Saturday. Maikel Garcia will be activated some time this week. Ryan O’Hearn was activated on Friday and Josh Jung was activated on Saturday.
The two most popular starting pitcher adds carry great risk. Ryan Johnson and Jack Perkins both line up for two-steps. They should be able to help in strikeouts, but ratio damage is always a huge possibility. Johnson has a 2.15 ERA over his last five starts, but his xFIP (5.08) over that span may portend to some good fortune that may come to a head this week. More concerning is a walk rate at almost 11 percent in 84.1 innings. Perkins draws his two starts away from Sutter Health Park, but his ERA splits (7.05 home, 5.82 road) don’t exactly fill us up with confidence. He does have filthy stuff and can rack up the punchouts. Perkins has a 25.2% strikeout rate over 103.1 innings.
| # | Player | Team | Position(s) | # of Lgs Added | AWB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josue De Paula | LAD | OF | 73% | $16 |
| 2 | Shea Langeliers | ATH | C | 62% | $16 |
| 3 | Quinn Mathews | STL | SP | 45% | $8 |
| 4 | Corbin Burnes | ARI | SP | 31% | $11 |
| 5 | Emmet Sheehan | LAD | SP | 30% | $16 |
| 6 | Cristian Javier | HOU | SP | 30% | $7 |
| 7 | Jonah Tong | NYM | SP | 27% | $6 |
| 8 | Ryan O’Hearn | PIT | 1B,OF | 26% | $9 |
| 9 | Leo Bernal | COL | C | 23% | $6 |
| 10 | Victor Mesa Jr. | TB | OF | 20% | $7 |
| 11 | Davis Martin | CHW | SP | 20% | $7 |
| 12 | Adael Amador | COL | 2B | 20% | $5 |
| 13 | Coby Mayo | BAL | 1B,3B | 18% | $12 |
AWB = Average Winning Bid (min: $5 AWB)
De Paula and Langeliers were the top acquisitions in 12-team OCs, both by volume and price. Emmet Sheehan went for $16 as well, though he was only added in 30% of leagues. Coby Mayo is playing almost every day for the Orioles and is up to 23 home runs. He went for $12 on average.
There were several coveted starting pitchers to target this weekend. Corbin Burnes made his first start of the season last Monday, throwing 57 pitches over three scoreless innings. He draws the Marlins at home on Monday. New managers may have lucked out with the fact that he may now draw three starts over these final two weeks instead of two. On Sunday, it appeared that Burnes would line up to face the Rockies at Coors Field in Week 27. On Monday, that switched to Burnes being penciled in to face the Yankees at home this Sunday (9/20) and then drawing the Padres (on the road) in the final weekend of the season.
Quinn Mathews, Cristian Javier, Jonah Tong, and Davis Martin were the other $5+ starting pitcher acquisitions of the weekend. Javier is the only one of the three slated for a single start (Wednesday vs. KC). He would then line up for two road starts against the Mariners and Athletics in Week 27. Mathews was my preferred addition among the three most added two-start pitchers. He lines up for two home starts against the Giants and Nationals. Mathews has allowed two or fewer runs in five of his six big-league starts. Only one of those starts were in his home park, and it was his best one: 5.2 IP – 5 H – 1 ER – 1 BB – 7 K, for his only win of the season. In Tong’s start in Miami on September 7, he gave up four runs on four hits and a walk, but punched out seven. He draws two home matchups against the Orioles and Phillies. In Tong’s eight starts at Triple-A before being promoted, he went 4-1 with a 2.20 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 41 innings, and had a complete game shutout.
Davis Martin was in full breakout mode over the first two months of the season (8-1, 2.00 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 27% K, 5.3% BB in 11 starts). He was quite terrible over his next 13 starts (1-5, 7.06 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, 15% K, 9.4% BB) before being placed on the IL for a blister on his finger in mid-August. He has made two starts since being activated (vs. PIT, at HOU) and pitched well, allowing just one run over those 10.2 innings. Martin has a good opportunity to finish the season strong with starts against the Guardians (road) and Tigers (home) this week and a home start against the Rockies in Week 27.
| # | Player | Team | Position | Ros | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victor Mesa Jr. | TB | OF | 27% | 14% |
| 2 | Emmet Sheehan | LAD | SP | 80% | 10% |
| 3 | Josue De Paula | LAD | OF | 66% | 10% |
| 4 | Cesar Perdomo | SF | SP | 18% | 8% |
| 5 | Adael Amador | COL | 2B | 29% | 7% |
| 6 | Ryan Johnson | LAA | SP | 28% | 7% |
| 7 | Anthony Volpe | NYY | SS | 45% | 7% |
| 8 | Anthony Molina | SF | RP | 19% | 7% |
| 9 | Cristian Javier | HOU | SP | 42% | 7% |
| 10 | Henry Bolte | ATH | OF | 62% | 6% |
| 11 | Javier Sanoja | MIA | 2B,3B,SS,OF | 56% | 6% |
| 12 | Cooper Hjerpe | STL | SP | 23% | 6% |
| 13 | Leo Bernal | STL | C | 27% | 5% |
(+/-) is the % of leagues the player was added to in the previous week
Anthony Volpe is back in our lives! He was recalled from Triple-A last Thursday, after Jazz Chisholm Jr. was placed on the injured list, and made four consecutive starts at second base. Volpe went 3-for-4 with a grand slam and five runs batted in against the Rockies on Thursday, and only earned one hit in 10 plate appearances in three games since. Volpe is moving up to the six-hole on Monday, as rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr. gets a day off and José Caballero draws the start at shortstop.
Javier Sanoja has been somewhat of a roto rockstar since the All-Star break. In these 53 games (195 plate appearances), Sanoja is slashing .315/.354/.489 with a .174 ISO and 129 wRC+. His barrel rate improved only slightly from the first half (1.4% to 2.9%) and his hard-hit rate has remained the same (31.6% vs. 31.8%), but he has cranked five homers since the All-Star break. The Marlins rest-of-season schedule is somewhat difficult (3 at ARI, 3 at SD, 3 at CHC, 3 v ATL) but Sanoja should continue to earn everyday at-bats and will be on deeper-league draft radars next spring.
The Giants added 24-year-old rookie southpaw Cesar Perdomo when rosters expanded at the beginning of the month. He pitched four innings against the Pirates that day (September 1), allowing three hits, one run, one walk and striking out four. On September 6, he drew his first official start, against the Mets, which went well: 6 IP – 3 H – 0 ER – 1 BB – 4 K. Over the weekend, he drew the Padres for his first home start. It didn’t go as well: 4.2 IP – 10 H – 5 ER – 2 BB – 3 K. Perdomo was added in eight percent of Fantrax leagues ahead of a tough start in Dodger Stadium, likely this Friday. His final start of the season should take place at home, against the Twins. There may be another rotation spot opening if Logan Webb is shut down for the season, as has been rumored.
Drop of the Week
Folks who dropped Rafael Devers and Braxton Ashcraft on Sunday had to have been thankful for their fantasy contributions. Others said toodle-oo to Bryce Elder. Most appreciated the highs of his roto roller coaster ride and might even be convinced to take him for another spin next draft season. But there’s no sting like the one for managers who surreptitiously sighed and said sayonara to their first overall pick, Shohei Ohtani. He hit the 15-day IL due to right biceps inflammation and is also dealing with knee and neck pain. Ohtani is eligible to return next Saturday, which is the second to last day of the season, so it made sense to let him go. If he doesn’t return in the regular season, then these are his final roto stat lines:
Hitting: .277 AVG, 89 R, 30 HR, 80 RBI, 11 SB
Pitching: 8 Wins, 95 Ks (85.2 IP), 1.79 ERA, 0.95 WHIP
Bold Predictions for Week 26
Rookie Josue De Paula will steal at least six bases over the final two weeks. The Dodgers have phenomenal matchup sets for bag-snipers. The Reds (x4) are tied with the Blue Jays for the most stolen bases allowed per game (.91) and the Giants (x6) allow the third-most, at .86 per game.
Griffin Jax (vs. ATH, vs. BOS) and Quinn Mathews (vs. SF, vs. WAS) are two of the top-eight roto starting pitchers this week.
Max Scherzer bounces back from his latest poor outing and hurls a gem against the Tigers: at least eight strikeouts and just one earned run allowed.
Dustin Harris and Ty France will perform well in this four-game series at Coors Field. Harris will hit .300+ with at least one home run and two stolen bases. France will hit two home runs in one game.
Vlad writes for RotoGraphs and is the head of fantasy baseball content at FTN Fantasy. He is a Tout Wars Expert League champ, member of the CDM Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and has been nominated for FSWA writing awards six times. Vlad has been playing fantasy baseball since 1995, winning 42 NFBC leagues since 2012 and ranking in the top percentile in NFBC’s Online Championship contest (33% win rate, 52% cash rate; 64 leagues). Much to the chagrin of his colleagues and most baseball aficionados, Vlad is a lifelong Dodgers fan who claims his first gut call at age 9 was Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series home run. You can follow him on X and BlueSky @RotoGut.
Sheehan was just optioned – looks like that was wasted FAAB