MLB

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: Week 8

John Stolnis  —  @johnstolnis May 23rd, 2016
Some players are taking advantage of injuries and hot streaks. Who should you add to your team?

Did you lose one of your starting pitchers for a stretch thanks to a disabled list stint? One of your best hitters struggling or not playing very much lately? Do you need a little boost for your season-long fantasy roster?

Then you've come to the right place, my friends.

Contained herein are five players you should consider adding to your team this week. All six have performed well as of late and should continue to get an opportunity to continue performing at a high level. And, at under 50% ownership in all ESPN leagues, there's a good chance they're all available in your league.

Colby Lewis - Texas Rangers (SP)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 33.0%

Over his last three starts (21.0 innings), Colby Lewis has a 1.71 ERA and a 2.83 fielding independent pitching (FIP), striking out 7.29 batters per nine and walking a scant 0.43. Kershaw joins Clayton Kershaw (9), Johnny Cueto (5) and Chris Sale (5) as the only MLB pitchers to pitch at least seven or more innings in five consecutive starts.


On the season, Lewis has a 2.75 ERA and a 4.44 FIP with 44 strikeouts and just 12 walks in 59.0 innings pitched. He's one of the best back-of-the-rotation starters in baseball and has proven to be a useful human in fantasy this year.

Leonys Martin - Seattle Mariners (OF)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 6.0%

Is this the season Leonys Martin finally puts it all together? The 28-year-old center fielder is hitting .252/.331/.467 so far this season. His 8 home runs tie a career high already, and he's scored 20 runs, knocked in 17, and added 7 stolen bases for good measure.

He's been particularly hot over the last week, with an MLB-best 0.9 fWAR over his last seven games in which he slashed .550/.640/1.050 with 3 dingers. And while he's striking out a lot (27.6%), his walk rate is at a career high this season (10.3%), perhaps an indication he's growing at the plate.

Cameron Maybin - Detroit Tigers (OF)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 25.1%

Detroit's Cameron Maybin has just made it back from the disabled list and has been red-hot since returning. In six games (24 plate appearances), Maybin is hitting .600/.652/.750 with a homer, 5 RBI, and 5 runs scored and already has 4 stolen bases on the season.

His identical strikeout and walk rates (12.5%) are outstanding, and if he continues to get on base, should steal about 25 to 30 bases this season and score a ton of runs in a stacked Tigers lineup. For now, he's hitting closer to the bottom of the order than the top, but that could all change if he continues to produce like this.

Rajai Davis - Cleveland Indians (OF)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 20.0%

So Rajai Davis has himself quite a week this week, batting .385/.515/.731 with 2 homers and 12 runs scored with 9 RBI and 2 stolen bases, putting him at .246/.312/.413 on the season, with 4 bombs, 22 runs, 20 RBI, and 10 steals.

Davis' batting average is nothing to get excited about, but he is scoring a lot of runs for a Cleveland offense that is better than most expected. And with Michael Brantley back to the disabled list, Davis is going to continue to see a lot of playing time in the outfield. He could be a good, cheap source of runs and steals going forward.

Alex Wood - Los Angeles Dodgers (SP)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 45.4%

The Dodgers really needed someone like Alex Wood to step up in their rotation, and so far this season, the young left-hander has done just that.


Wood struck out 13 batters in his last start and, over his last three outings, has a 1.96 ERA and a 1.65 FIP while striking out 13.25 batters per nine and walking just 1.96. On the season, in nine starts, Wood is 1-3 with a 4.03 ERA but a 3.03 FIP, averaging 9.64 strikeouts per nine innings while walking 2.81 per nine innings.