6 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 6
All the peeps who say that patience is a virtue never played season-long fantasy baseball. If homie's in a slump, then homie's going to get dumped. It's just kind of how things go.
Despite this, there are still advantages to exhibiting patience at times. It can help you snatch guys who will provide future value even if they can't do the same right now. The waiver wire is the perfect place from which to snatch said duders.
The list below is guys who should be able to provide some value to you in the future, even if they may require a degree of patience. I tried to pick guys who were owned in 30 percent or fewer of ESPN leagues as of Sunday night. Let's get to this week's hot commodities!
Noah Syndergaard, SP, New York Mets
He's got the strikeouts. He's got the 6'5" frame. He's got the tasty Triple-A ERA. And now Noah Syndergaard's got the call-up. I'm not even trying to contain my excitement any more.
Syndergaard slurped the silly sauce prior to his promotion, posting a 1.82 ERA through his first five starts. That was coupled with 34 strikeouts in 29.2 innings compared to only 8 walks. Brudduh earned this.
Not only is he a sweet season-long option but Syndergaard also happens to be a two-start pitcher this week. If you would like to try him on to see what the madness is all about, you can do so and squeeze a pair of starts out of him right away. Me thinks you'll like what you see.
Carlos Rodon, SP, Chicago White Sox
This is not Carlos Rodon's maiden voyage on this list. However, when he was in the bullpen for a bit, many lost patience and ended up purging Rodon from their rosters. Well, friends, if you are in one of the almost 80 percent of ESPN leagues in which Rodon is available, you don't have to worry about that expulsion to the pen any longer.
Last year's number-three overall pick struck out eight over six innings in his first career start on Saturday against the Reds. He walked four guys, which is disappointing, but outside of that, he was effective.
Although Robin Ventura wouldn't fully commit to keeping Rodon in the rotation, you'd have to assume he is. When your choice is one of the game's top prospects or Hector Noesi, the decision shouldn't really be that hard. Roll with Rodon and bless the eyes of America with his nastiness.
David Peralta, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
Owning a player who's in a heavy platoon in fantasy baseball is tough. I get that. But if you are in a league that allows you to rotate rosters daily, David Peralta could put a big ol' smile on your face.
In his 72 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, Peralta has a .302/.361/.603 slash with four bombs out of his 10 extra-base hits. That's almost enough production to make up for a lack of volume in weekly leagues.
The positive here is that Peralta faces the right-handed pitchers, meaning he'll be starting 80 percent of the time. If you can afford to have a guy on your bench for a decent chunk of the games played, then this could be a worthwhile endeavor, especially in leagues which emphasize rate statistics.
Jung-ho Kang, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
Speaking of low-volume legends, Jung-ho Kang is starting to turn into one himself. In 53 plate appearances, he has a .333/.377/.521 slash with a pair of bombs and five doubles. And the volume is starting to increase.
With the Pirates' offense struggling, they've started to turn to Kang on a more regular basis recently. He has at least made an appearance in nine of the last 11 games after playing in only 11 of the first 20. If he were to continue on this trend towards every-day playing status, he would carry a good chunk of value.
The question for Kang is whether or not you can afford to wait and see when his volume will increase. If you can't wait and need the volume now, then he's not for you. However, Jordy Mercer's slash presently sits at .194/.255/.226 through 103 plate appearances. If that doesn't go up, you'd have to assume that Kang would be slotted in the order more often. If you can get his current production at a higher volume out of your shortstop position, you're just swimming in daisies, mis amigos.
Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas Rangers
Obviously, there's a decent degree of risk involved with this. Josh Hamilton is coming off of shoulder surgery, he had a brutal offseason, and he's 33 years old. What's not to love, right? But he does provide a decent chunk of potential if he can even come close to his old self.
With Hamilton, you will have to have patience. He just started his rehab assignment yesterday, so it's not as though he'll magically pop into Arlington this week. It does set a limit as to when you'll see him back in the Majors, though, as his max stay is 20 days.
I will add this in, though, just as a note of caution. numberFire's preseason projections were for a .242/.310/.389 slash out of Hamilton. That would be unownable in most fantasy leagues. But if you've got a bench spot to burn and time to kill, there's the potential that Hamilton could help your team out down the stretch run.
Kyle Blanks, 1B/OF, Texas Rangers
For those of you not in a position to wait for Hamilton, your patch could be on the very same roster. Ever since his most recent call-up, Kyle Blanks has been fairly studly. He is slashing .302/.348/.558 through his first 46 plate appearances for a .391 wOBA. This is a significant chunk above his preseason numberFire projection of .256/.325/.435 -- so buyer beware -- but there's no reason he can't at least chip in on your squad.
With Blanks, you're mostly paying up for what you hope is extra-base potential. When he has been in the Majors the past few years, he has been able to produce at least that, even if it has been in scattered opportunities.
I'm not super sold that Blanks' nice start is sustainable because he strikes out a ton and doesn't have a track record anywhere near this. If you're desperate, though, he can provide at least a competent patch at either first base or in the outfield.
