Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: Week 5
With the 2022 baseball season getting revved up, nailing the waiver wire and the players available are critical to beating out your league-mates in season-long formats.
Each week we will take a look at players who are rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo leagues and can help out your season-long squads. Remember, if you aren’t scouring the waiver wire, you are falling behind.
Tyler Anderson, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster Percentage: 23%
Given how prolific the Los Angeles Dodgers offense is, owning any piece of their starting rotation is one that makes sense.
Tyler Anderson has grabbed a rotation spot (for who long, no one knows), and he's been very solid so far this year. In 12 2/3 innings pitched, he's whiffed nearly a batter per inning (12 strikeouts). He's been impressive to start 2022, posting a 0.87 WHIP this season.
Anderson has always been a strong ground-ball pitcher, and 2022 is no exception. He's logged a 54.5% ground-ball rate and hitters are having a tough time squaring him up (6.1% barrel rate).
If you need some pitching help, think about Anderson.
Eric Hosmer, 1B, San Diego Padres
Roster Percentage: 43%
Just like we all thought, Eric Hosmer would be leading major league baseball in batting average this season, right?
Yea, no way.
It's true though -- he's logged a .415 batting average on this season, including a whopping 1.072 OPS mark on the year.
While it seems unlikely that Hosmer is a long term investment, given the plethora of corner infielders at their disposal in Jake Cronenworth and Luke Voit in the mix, ride the hot streak while you can.
Nolan Gorman, 3B, St. Louis Cardinals
Roster Percentage: 26%
Before things start to get too wild, if you play in leagues where prospects can be stashed off the waiver wire, can I interest you in St. Louis Cardinals infielder Nolan Gorman?
While Cards manager Oli Marmol has said a promotion for the slugging infielder isn't imminent, he may force hi sway into the lineup, and soon. These numbers, flat out, are absurd. Gorman has crushed 10 home runs so far this year, which is actually more than the major league squad has bopped in totality since the minor league season began on April 10th.
Now where does Gorman fit in? Well, teammate Tommy Edman has been white hot at the plate, but the same cannot be said for the Redbird shortstops. Paul DeJong has posted a .242 wOBA with a 36.4% strikeout rate on the year, and backup Edmundo Sosa owns a putrid .230 wOBA with a 45.5% K rate.
Look for Gorman to be up quickly, and you want to grab him if you can.
Brandon Marsh, OF, Los Angeles Angels
Roster Percentage: 49%
While superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout garner the attention, and up-and-comer Taylor Ward has grabbed many of the headlines, is masher Brandon Marsh the real hitter we need to be focusing on?
His roster percentage seems far too low, but check out these numbers so far this season -- a .340 batting average, a .943 OPS, 2 homers, 3 steals, and 15 runs batted in this season.
Marsh has flashed solid pop numbers in the minors, but where he becomes a truly valuable fantasy asset is the speed. He hit double-digit steals in each minor league season from 2017 to 2019, and he nabbed 8 bags in the shortened COVID-19 slate.
Consider adding him if you need help in the outfield.
