It's waiver time. One of the keys to any fantasy success is not only nailing your draft, but scouring that waiver wire for players who can give your team a boost. Even though fantasy baseball can be a really long season, it's key to scour those waivers and take it week-by-week to cement your fantasy status.
The four players below are all owned in fewer than 50% of Yahoo leagues and could give your team a lift as you start off the season. It's never too early to consider some adds and drops for your team.
Nick Pivetta - Philadelphia Phillies (SP)
Yahoo Ownership: 49%
Are we really jumping on the Nick Pivetta hype train again? It looks like we are after brilliant back-to-back starts from the right-hander. Can we trust him?
After 15 consecutive scoreless innings with 15 strikeouts in that span, Pivetta is looking like a mighty juicy add for fantasy rosters. And the advanced metrics bear out that this could be the real deal. He hasn't walked a single batter in either start, and he recorded swinging-strike rates of 17.1% and 13.3% in those two outings.
This could go south, as it has before with Pivetta, but his swing-and-miss upside is tough to ignore. He'll likely be a very popular add this week and is worth looking into.
Howie Kendrick - Washington Nationals (1B/2B/3B/OF)
Yahoo Ownership: 50%
Boring wins in fantasy, and Howie Kendrick of the Washington Nationals fits the bill of boring. But if you are looking to win, as I'm guessing you are, Kendrick needs to be on your radar.
Over 171 plate appearances this year, Kendrick is excelling, logging a .386 wOBA with 10 home runs. His 10 homers are his most in a single season dating back to 2013 (13). While he won't maintain quite that long-ball pace, this isn't completely a smoke-and-mirrors act.
He has made a notable change in his profile. While his 43.6% hard-hit rate, a career-best, is something we can gladly anchor to, he's also posted a career-best 31.6% fly-ball rate. His 9.9% barrel rate, per Baseball Savant, ranks him 26th in all of his baseball.
He's not the newest shiny prospect, but Kendrick is a multi-positional asset who should be on your roster.
Pablo Lopez - Miami Marlins (SP)
Yahoo Ownership: 22%
Raise your hand if you thought the Miami Marlins would be one of baseball's best teams over the last two weeks? Yeah, me neither.
The strength of that resurgence for Miami has been built on starting pitching, and Pablo Lopez has been a big part of that. Despite a rough turn against the Washington Nationals, in three of his last four starts, Lopez has allowed a single earned run, spanning 19 innings, and he's whiffed 19 batters over those innings, as well.
If you are unfamiliar with Lopez's body of work, he's an extreme ground-ball pitcher, which always bodes well for success. He's got a 49.4% ground-ball rate in 2019, right in line with his career mark of 49.7%. He pitches in a pitchers park, and if you need pitching help, go grab him.
Colin Moran - Pittsburgh Pirates (3B)
Yahoo Ownership: 6%
Each week we try to cover at least one player who is available in nearly all leagues, and that guy this week is Colin Moran of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Moran provides solid pop at the dish. Over 185 plate appearances, he's up to 9 long balls this season, and his .207 isolated power (ISO) is a career-best clip. Like Kendrick, he's also made a notable shift in his hitting profile, recording a 38.2% hard-hit rate (a career-high mark) while upping his fly-ball rate to 33.6%.
Now, make no mistake about it -- his home park ranks fourth-worst in home run factor over the last three seasons, so that won't help his cause. But Moran is showcasing some significant improvement at the dish and can help solidify your third base or corner infield slot.