X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Points League Pickups, Waiver Adds: Week 3

Nicklaus Gaut's H2H points leagues waiver wire pickups for Week 3 of the 2020 fantasy baseball season, identifying free agents to add and pitchers to stream.

Coming as a big surprise to no one, the season has been absolutely wild already. Whole teams are now disappearing from the schedule and leaving us high and dry when it comes to filling out our lineups.

The waiver-wire is more important than ever and with that in mind we're giving point players a one-shop stop for points play pickups. We now have position by position charts, with the best waiver-wire targets and their season stats, along with their current scoring on all five major platforms. One chart to guide us all.

We'll be doing this roundup of point league happenings every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver-wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform, so we'll make sure to highlight where players are the best and worst fit at. We know point players get neglected and we're here to help. Let's get to Week 3.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

Playing For Points Through a Pandemic

While the number of games has changed, the way that points are scored on each platform has not. You must account for, as precisely as possible, how a player performs under your particular scoring system. Don't be fooled into believing you can just make rough adjustments in your head, bumping up guys with high on-base percentages and low strikeout-rates. Every point, in every category, counts. For example, ESPN and Fantrax are virtually identical in their scoring for hitters and roster size. The only difference is that stolen bases are worth one more point on Fantrax and ESPN subtracts one point per strikeout. That's the difference over Ronald Acuna Jr. being a top-five batter versus a top-25 batter.

If your league uses standard settings, then great! Turn to page 94 and you can skip ahead to the leaderboards. If you play with custom settings, it'll still be fine. Go back to page 43 and look below at the scoring systems of the four major platforms. I bet there's a chance that you'll find that your league's scoring is very similar to one of the four (well, not Yahoo's), even if it's not the platform you actually play on. For example, my home league started on a now-defunct platform before moving first to ESPN and is now at Fantrax. But our scoring is basically ESPN standard but with two points for stolen bases and a handful of other minor adjustments.

If you look above, you'll likely find a suitable mirror to your own system. While every point counts, as long as they aren't seismic changes you can get away with some "close enough". IE. If everything is the same except for HBP (or something similar), you're probably fine.

All of the following charts are updated prior to Saturday's games, on stats and ownerships. Clicking on a chart will open a new page with a magnified version.

 

First Base

 

  • Is C.J. Cron really available in 57% of Yahoo leagues? If your league is one of those, then run to the wire and grab him as soon as possible. No dawdling. Cron has a .354 wOBA and is quickly justifying his preseason hype and is top-five first baseman on every platform besides ESPN.
  • This has to be the best start of Mitch Moreland's career, right? He's batting .357 with 3 runs and five RBI, providing one of Boston's very few bright spots. Use you why you can because eventually he'll turn back into a Mit
  • I live by a few simple rules. First, you should never put peanut butter on pancakes, even when your wife and children insist that you do. Second, always pick up any player who spent quarantine learning how to switch-hit and then promptly hits a home run from his new side of the plate. The people's hero, Ji-Man Choi.

 

Second Base

  • Recently on Twitter, a handsome, informed, and all-around high-caliber person, posted an interesting thought:

And I still don't. Schoop mashed dingers as a full-timer with Baltimore and he mashed dingers as a part-timer with Minnesota. Can you guess what's he's doing with a full-time job in Detroit? Mashing. Dingers.

  • It can be easy to overlook good players on bad teams but it's about time for Hanser Alberto to see a significant ownership rise. He's scored as a top-four first baseman on every platform and is carrying a .526 wOBA. I know he played for the dreadful Oriole but jeez, give the guy a break. It's not his fault.

 

Third Base

  • There are an absolute ton of points sitting on the waiver wire at third base. Keep in mind that the above positional ranks aren't just for the wire, they're overall. So yes, Kyle Seager, Colin Moran, and Maikel Franco are all top-five at the position. If you're in need, any of them can fill the role (*cough* Josh Donaldson owners *cough*) but Moran's stock is rising the fastest and he may not be around long. It seems he's truly unlocked some power and now has four home runs in his first eight games. It can't be understated enough...The time is always NOW in this shortened season. You have to pounce, just in case it lasts for another month and a half.

 

Shortstop

  • If you thought third base had some talent laying around, get a load of shortstop. Already a deep position prior to the season finally starting, widely available players have started off the year hot. Leading all players is J.P. Crawford. No typo. Crawford has come out crushing and is seemingly locked into Seattle's leadoff spot. He had 10 RBI heading into the weekend with a .458 AVG. Don't forget that Crawford was a former "can't-miss" #1 prospect for the Phillies and is still only 25-years-old. Get him before he's gone.
  • So, we probably should stop ignoring Donavan Solano. After Saturday's game, Solano now leads baseball with 13 RBI and has a .448 AVG through 3o plate-appearances. His ownership is likely to see a monster bump.

 

Outfield

  • He may not be green and he definitely doesn't live in a trashcan but it's hard to deny that Teoscar's no slouch. After another two home run game, Hernandez now has four on the season and is a top-3 outfielder heading into the season. Hernandez loves to go double-dong; he had four such games in 2019 and two in 2020.
  • I don't know why Trent Grisham is still available in 30% of Yahoo leagues but it needs to be corrected, post-haste! That San Diego offense has already proved that it is young, powerful, and exciting; Grisham is right in the middle of it.

 

Catcher

  • There isn't usually much on the waiver wire at catcher but right now we have three players who are top-five players on most every platform. Max Stassi, James McCann, and Pedro Severino are all widely available and are prime candidates if you're streaming your catchers...Which you should be.

 

Starting Pitchers

 

Spencer Turnbull, DET - Average Platform Rank: #9 (15% ESPN, 15% Yahoo, 10% Fantrax) 

Maybe he'll struggle more once he faces someone besides the Reds but Turnbull has started off on fire by dominating Cincinnati in two consecutive starts. Turnbull gave up just three runs in 11 total innings, allowing six hits and striking out 14 Reds. Besides the obvious results, what's really interesting is how much improvement he showed versus left-handers.

Getting to face the Reds twice means getting a lot of lefties thrown at you, which wasn't good news for Turnbull last season - he allowed a .347 wOBA to them, compared to a .308 wOBA versus right-handers.  The difference this season might be an improved changeup that's getting 50% more drop on the vertical plane and 11% more horizontal movement than it did in 2018. For comparison, that's the same amount of break as Luis Castillo's changeup had in 2019 and one more inch of drop.

He's still a fastball/slider guy but the changeup usage went from 3% last season to 10% this year, with a subpar curveball taking the hit. If this changeup stays new and improved (and a weapon versus left-handers) then this could be the start of a breakout campaign. It's worth grabbing him now to find out, with starts against the Cardinals (assuming the schedule stays the same) and White Sox.

  • Speaking of pitchers who might be breaking out, best run to the wire to see if you can still grab Zach Plesac or Aaron Civale. Because the time to do so is likely running out after both youngsters took turns dominating the White Sox in their debuts. Plesac shut out Chicago for eight innings, allowing just three hits and striking out 11 batters, while Civale allowed two runs in six innings with nine strikeouts. Plesac has two starts in Week 3, going to Cincinnati for one and back to the White Sox for the second, with Civale also getting another crack at Chicago.
  • As I write this, I'm still basking in the glow of recommending Tyler Chatwood versus the Pirates this morning in our DFS value series - and also the glow of the little cash I'm going to win with my Chatwood-heavy lineups. He dominated the hapless Pirates on Saturday night, striking out 11 batters in 6 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and no runs, picking up the victory for the Cubs. That's right; I just willingly admitted to basking in some Chatwood glow. Usually not great. Never a strikeout guy, Chatwood has started with a new pitch mix, halving his four-seam usage while tripling that of his cutter, with more changeups and curveball thrown in, as well. I don't know if it's for real but you don't have time to wait in this short season. Grab him while you can before his matchup with the Royals on Thursday.
  • Poor Kevin Gausman. He's has a 5.40 ERA in his two starts but all of his ERA-evaluators think he was about two and a half runs unlucky. And now he's staring straight ahead at a start in Colorado and a one in Los Angeles versus the Dodgers. Poor Kevin Gausman.

More Points Leagues Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Alec Bohm

Phillies Reinstate Alec Bohm on Friday
Matthew Coronato

Expected to Make a Big Impact This Season
Johnathan Kovacevic

Out Indefinitely
Evan Engram

Ruled Out for Week 3
Kevin Hayes

to Be Re-Evaluated in About a Month
Brock Purdy

"Highly Unlikely" to Start in Week 3
Evgeni Malkin

Not Thinking About Retirement
Jauan Jennings

Officially Questionable for Week 3
UTA

Alex Kerfoot Out Week-to-Week
Zeev Buium

Misses Practice With Upper-Body Injury
Artemi Panarin

Sustains Lower-Body Injury in Training Camp
Xavier Worthy

Officially Questionable for Week 3
Tucker Kraft

Questionable for Week 3
Yordan Alvarez

Astros Put Yordan Alvarez on Injured List With Ankle Sprain
Zach Charbonnet

Tagged as Doubtful for Week 3
Kyle Finnegan

Set to Return on Friday
Dallas Goedert

Cleared for Week 3
Tyler Warren

Questionable to Play in Week 3
D'Andre Swift

Questionable to Play in Week 3
Isaac Paredes

to Return on Friday
Chris Godwin

Ruled Out for Week 3
Jayden Daniels

Officially Out for Week 3
Emeka Egbuka

Officially Questionable for Week 3
Zach Charbonnet

Kenneth Walker III, Zach Charbonnet in True Backfield Split
Brooklyn Nets

Yuri Collins Headed to Brooklyn
Charlotte Hornets

Hornets Sign Keyontae Johnson
Dennis Smith Jr.

Agrees to One-Year Deal With Mavericks
Tyler Herro

Undergoing Foot/Ankle Surgery
James Cook

Tallies 118 All-Purpose Yards on Thursday Night Football
William Eklund

Back at 100 Percent in Training Camp
Macklin Celebrini

Battling an Illness
Kevin Hayes

Evaluated for Upper-Body Injury
Zach Hyman

Out Until November
Stefan Noesen

Nursing a Groin Injury
Laurent Brossoit

Out Long-Term After Hip Surgery
Pierre Engvall

Out for 2-3 Weeks
Kirill Kaprizov

Focused on Having a Good Season
Mats Zuccarello

Likely Out for Start of Season
Jack Eichel

Suffers "Little Tweak" in Training Camp
Roman Josi

Feeling "100 Percent" in Training Camp
Jake Neighbours

Absent From Training Camp for Personal Reasons
Anze Kopitar

to Retire After 2025-26
Alex Ovechkin

Evaluated for Lower-Body Injury
CFB

LaNorris Sellers Upgraded to Probable for Saturday's Tilt Against Missouri
Jaylen Waddle

Good to Go For Thursday Night Football
Tucker Kraft

Suffers "Little Knee Tweak," Checks Out OK
Jaylen Waddle

Expected to Play and be a "Big Factor" on Thursday Night
Tucker Kraft

Suffers Knee Injury During Thursday's Practice
Clayton Kershaw

Will Retire at the End of the Season
Malcolm Brogdon

Landry Shamet and Malcolm Brogdon Both Staying with the Knicks?
Detroit Pistons

Charles Bediako Agrees to a Training Camp Deal with Detroit
Anthony Davis

Recovering From Eye Surgery, Uncertain for Training Camp
Charlotte Hornets

DaQuan Jeffries Waived by the Hornets
CFB

Eric Singleton Jr. Questionable For Saturday
NBA

Trevelin Queen Joins Chinese Team
Damian Lillard

Not Rushing His Return
Brooklyn Nets

Keon Johnson Waived by Nets
Justin Verlander

Plans to Pitch in 2026
Junior Caminero

Day-to-Day With Back Tightness
Will Smith

Won't Return When First Eligible
Tyler Soderstrom

Returns to A's Lineup
Tyler Warren

Sidelined on Wednesday with Toe Injury
Jaylen Waddle

Questionable for Week 3 Against Buffalo
Joe Burrow

Bengals Not Closing the Door on Joe Burrow Returning This Year
CFB

LaNorris Sellers to Play Against Missouri?
Kyle Tucker

Progress has "Plateaued"
Isaac Paredes

has "Outside Chance" to Return This Weekend
CFB

Kaidon Salter Expected To Start for Colorado on Saturday
Willson Contreras

Goes on 10-Day Injured List, Done for Season
Trey Jemison III

Joins Knicks on Two-Way Contract
Kevin McCullar Jr.

Signs New Two-Way Deal With Knicks
Matt Ryan

Returns to Knicks on Exhibit 10 Contract
New York Knicks

Alex Len Signs Exhibit 9 Deal With Knicks
Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Expected to Take on Larger Offensive Role With Hawks
Thomas Sorber

Undergoes Surgery
Dominic Canzone

Has Five-Hit, Three-Homer Game Tuesday
Cal Raleigh

Sets Single-Season Home Run Record for a Switch-Hitter
Bo Bichette

to Miss Rest of Regular Season
Zach Neto

Placed on 10-Day Injured List With Hand Injury
Yordan Alvarez

Out on Tuesday, Dealing With "Significant" Ankle Sprain
CFB

Diego Pavia Refutes Report of Seeking Seventh Collegiate Season
CFB

Diego Pavia Seeking Another Year of Eligibility
Tarik Skubal

on Track to Start Thursday
CFB

Kevorian Barnes Questionable Against SMU
Bo Bichette

has Short-Term Knee Injury, Could Return for Postseason
Tosan Evbuomwan

Joins Knicks
NBA

Kai Jones Links Up With EuroLeague Team
Bismack Biyombo

Returns to Spurs
Bones Hyland

Rejoins Timberwolves
Trey Yesavage

Sets Franchise Strikeout Record On Monday
Yordan Alvarez

To Receive MRI For Sprained Left Ankle On Tuesday
Jean Silva

Gets Finished For The First Time In His Career
Diego Lopes

Returns To The Win Column
Rob Font

Outclassed In The Noche UFC 3 Co-Main Event
David Martinez

Wins His Second UFC Fight
Jared Gordon

Suffers Brutal TKO Loss At Noche UFC 3
Rafa Garcia

Wins Back-To-Back Fights
Dustin Stoltzfus

Drops A Decision At Noche UFC 3
Kelvin Gastelum

Gets Back In The Win Column
Diego Ferreira

Suffers Second-Round TKO
Alexander Hernandez

Extends His Win Streak With A Brutal TKO
Quang Le

Suffers First-Round Knockout
Santiago Luna

Shines In His UFC Debut
Christopher Bell

Earns his First Bristol Cup Series Victory
Alex Bowman

Falls Short of Advancing Through Cup Series Playoffs
Chase Briscoe

Collects his Third Top-10 Finish at Bristol
Ryan Blaney

Strong Top-Five Bristol Performance Advances him to the Playoffs
Corey Heim

Earns his First Career Cup Series Top-10 Finish at Bristol
CFB

Indiana's Lee Beebe Jr. Out for Season with Knee Injury
Ty Gibbs

Has Arguably his Best Career Drive, but Only Finishes 10th
Chase Elliott

Despite Crashing Out at Bristol, Chase Elliott Advances to Round of 12
Austin Dillon

Misses Round of 12 After Extremely Mediocre Bristol Run
Shane Van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen Fails to Advance to Round of 12
Josh Berry

Finishes Last in All Three Round of 16 Races to Fail to Advance
CFB

Ryan Williams Explodes In Return To Field
CFB

Drew Allar Plays Mediocre Game In Blowout Win
CFB

LaNorris Sellers Exits Game In Blowout Loss
CFB

DJ Lagway Tosses Five Interceptions In Loss
CFB

Garrett Nussmeier Plays Game Manager in Saturday's Win
CFB

CJ Carr Remains Poised In Narrow Loss
CFB

John Mateer Leads Oklahoma In Rout
CFB

Arch Manning Struggles Against UTEP
CFB

Jeremiah Smith Impresses In Win
CFB

Sam Leavitt Shines As Arizona State Rebounds From Week 2 Loss

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP