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H2H Points League Pickups, Waiver Adds: Week 4

Nicklaus Gaut's H2H points leagues waiver wire pickups for Week 4 of the 2020 fantasy baseball season, identifying free agents to add and pitchers to stream.

Another wild and wacky week in MLB, though it was tamer than the week before. Any week that a new team doesn't disappear from the schedule after a COVID outbreak is a good week, right?

We're still at the point of the season where the waiver wire is littered with positional players who are excelling but whose performance is not yet believed by the fantasy community. Well, my fellow chuckleheads, don't look now but the regular season is 25% finished. There's no time to waste and no time to lose. You have to make moves now and scoop these possible flash-in-the-pans while you can.

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 4.

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 Leaderboard

Pretty ho-hum at the top of the first base leaderboard, with stalwarts like Freddie Freeman, Matt Olson, and Anthony Rizzo holding things down. Well, there is the fact that Renato Nunez is the top-scorer on all five platforms. Nunez had a .446 wOBA heading into the weekend, with five home runs and a .292 AVG in 55 plate-appearances. He's also somehow available in 64% of ESPN leagues and 46% of Yahoo leagues. Scoop that man...Scoop him up!

 

First Base Waiver Wire

  • Mitch Moreland has a 203 wRC+ through his first nine games and is a top-12 scorer on all five platforms. And shockingly, he's the #2-scorer in NFBC's Cutline scoring. The popular fantasy players on the Red Sox have been mighty disappointing but it might be time for players on all platforms to get on board with Moreland, who's less than 10%-owned on ESPN and Yahoo.
  • Like the leader at the position, Renato Nunez, Jesus Aguilar is playing on a team full of unknowns and getting ignored by much of the fantasy community. Aguilar has a .281 AVG and 151 wRC+, with a career-high 0.60 BB/K. He's also only carrying a 13.5% K-rate that's backed by a 5.7% SwStr%; both marks are career-lows by large margins. He also has a 51.3% F-Str%, which is a 10-point drop from 2020, and is making it seem like he's making a concerted effort to improving his approach.

 

Second Base Leaderboard

Another leaderboard, another Baltimore Oriole near the top of the list. Hanser Alberto is second in scoring across the board at the keystone, trailing only Whit Merrifield. Alberto doesn't walk but he also rarely strikes out, with just a 9.7% K-rate in 2019 and a 9.1% K-rate so far in 2020. You may want to take a stroll to the wire if you play on Yahoo (47%-owned), just in case he's available in your league.

 

Second Base Waiver Wire

  • Second base is seriously deep on the wire, with multiple players that I loved heading into the season. Wilmer Flores may be a limited contributor in roto but he's built for points play. Flores rarely strikes out (career 12.7% K-rate), makes a ton of contact (89.7% contact%), and seems to be locked into a regular gig for San Francisco, collecting 57 plate-appearances in 14 games.
  • Batting at the top of a Cleveland offense that's starting to click, Cesar Hernandez is a must-add in all leagues. Do it now, though, because he's at the cusp of graduating from this section of the leaderboard.
  • Jonathan Schoop has a career-high 29.8% K-rate this season, limiting his upside on most platforms. But with a swinging-strike rate that's in line with recent years, the strikeout-rate should start to decline.

 

Third Base Leaderboard

It's no surprise to see Cleveland All-Star Jose Ramirez near the top of the list. However, it's more than surprising to see Kyle Seager, Giovanny Urshela, Maikel Franco, and Colin Moran round out the rest of the top-five. At least everyone besides Franco has graduated from the waiver-wire leaderboard. And to everyone that drafted Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Kris Bryant? Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick...

 

Third Base Waiver Wire

  • Seeing that we've now already completed about 25% of the season, there's no time to doubt. Which means Maikel Franco is a must-add in all leagues. Franco is playing regularly in Kansas City and has a career-high 41.2% hard-hit rate and 7.8% Brl%. He's just as likely to go stone-cold over the next week and necessitate a cut but you have to ride him for now.
  • Remember was everyone was jazzed that maybe Travis Shaw wouldn't be terrible again? The good news is that he's no longer utterly useless on the diamond. Unfortunately, he's still utterly useless on your fantasy team, currently being outscored by Pablo Sandoval.

 

Shortstop Leaderboard

We knew shortstop was deep, with names like Tatis, Story, Bregman, and Lindor. But no one told David Fletcher, Donovan Solano, and J.P Crawford that this was an invitation-only affair. And that's saying nothing of the post-hype breakout brothers, Corey Seager and Dansby Swanson. The gate-crashers have arrived at shortstop and the incumbents are putting up little resistance.

 

Shortstop Waiver Wire

  • There's not really anyone on the above leaderboard that screams "we'll be together forever!", with the wire a fairly homogeneous mix of players that can help you if you're in a pinch but aren't likely to be a long-term solution. I'm still really bullish on Niko Goodrum (who also hit a home run and double on Saturday night), not only for the skills but also for the multi-position eligibility. But a 42.9% K-rate means he'll never be viable on ESPN and CBS.
  • You don't want to run him out there all of the time but if Chris Taylor is facing a sinkerballer, he's worth a spot-start. Taylor has crushed sinkers his entire career and that hasn't stopped in 2020.

 

Outfielder Leaderboard

Nick Castellanos is having his official coming-out party and Aaron Judge apparently is no longer bothered by his ribs. The success of those two was expected, to a certain extent. But Mike Yastrzemski has arrived and doesn't appear to be a fluke. He's not a top-10 outfielder, by any stretch, but Yastrzemski is now slashing .321/.449/.679 with four home runs and a .467 wOBA through his first 69 plate appearances. And making him a particular darling in point leagues is his 18.8% walk-rate and 23.2% K-rate. He may slow down but the dude appears to be for real.

 

Outfielder Waiver Wire

  • The waiver-wire for outfielders is just littered with rosterable players. JaCoby Jones and Anthony Santander are both top-20 scorers on all platforms and are still at minuscule ownership. At least Jones is getting near 50%-ownership but Santander is still hovering below 15% on ESPN and Yahoo.
  • Brandon Nimmo continues to put up solid points with consistent performances, scoring as a top-20 outfielder on three of the five platforms. He only has a .217 average but is walking at a 21% clip and is consequentially running a career-high .419 OBP.

 

 

Catcher Leaderboard

Exactly what everyone expected going into this season at catcher. An elite group of stars ready to put up big numbers in 2020. Or, a motley crew of backstops trying to prove who's the least not-bad. When many of your fantasy team's prospects at the catcher position hinge on Austin Nola picking up eligibility (**cough-cough**), you're probably in trouble.

 

Catcher Waiver Wire

  • This gets ugly but lets wade in anyway. The aforementioned Nola is a solid pickup, as he's taken over the catching position in Seattle following the injury to Tom Murphy. Nola has a .324 AVG through his first 38 plate-appearances, with a 179 wRC+.
  • Max Stassi is a top-five catcher on all platforms and is a top-two catcher on three of the five. Max. Stassi. And why shouldn't he be? Stassi has six home runs in his first 10 games, with a .333 AVG and .494 wOBA. He's highest owned on ESPN, at 39%. No time to wait, he'll be gone soon.

 

Reliever Leaderboard

From the makers of "Catcher is a dumpster fire", fantasy baseball now presents, "Wait until you see relievers". Just looking at the above leaderboard makes me sad. Joakim Soria and Zack Britton are at #2 and #3? Jonathan Hernandez and Chad Green? JOSH? Tomlin! If you heavily invested in relievers as part of your 2020 strategy, it's fair to say that you're not impressed with the above leaderboard.

 

Reliever Waiver Wire

  • I find that, more than any other position, ownable relievers stay on the wire for far too long in point leagues. For example, Joakim Soria should absolutely be owned, even if he's not regularly in a position to get saves. What he is getting is consistent work, having already pitched eight innings in 2020, with an outrageous 41.9% K-rate and 0.00 ERA.
  • You can basically say the same thing about Jonathan Hernandez, as I said about Soria above. Hernandez is getting regular work for the Rangers and has a 2.25 ERA over his first eight innings, with a 40.6% K-rate. They're not sexy but you can rack up tons of points by paying attention to usage and cycling in guys like Soria and Hernandez.

 

Starting Pitcher Leaderboard

I've been telling you for a while; my sweet Dylan is coming for all of your souls. Dylan Bundy has been released from his shackles in Baltimore, where former GM Dan Duquette infamously did not believe a cutter was a real pitch and subsequentially would not let Bundy throw his best offering for extended periods of time. Now Bundy is out of the Baltimore bandbox and has fine-tuned his pitch mix in Anaheim by making the radical step to throw his bad pitches less and his good pitches more. That means the cutter/slider hybrid that Bundy throws is on the table and he's carving fools like a Thanksgiving Day turkey. Protect your necks, turkeys...And your souls.

 

Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire

 

Top-10 Scorers Week Four Schedule

Antonio Senzaleta (RHP), COL - Wednesday: vs. ARI

Marco Gonzales (LHP), SEA - Tuesday: @ TEX

Randy Dobnak (RHP), MIN - Monday: @ MIL, Sunday: vs. KC

Zach Davies (RHP), SD - Wednesday: @ LAD

Alec Mills (RHP), CHC - Wednesday: @ CLE

Alex Cobb (RHP), BAL - Tuesday: @ PHI, Sunday: vs. WSN

Tommy Milone (LHP), BAL - Thursday: @ PHI

Adrian Houser (RHP), MIL - Monday: vs. MIN, Saturday @ CHC

Spencer Turnbull (RHP), DET - Friday: vs. CLE

Martin Perez (LHP), BOS - Tuesday: vs. TB, Sunday: @ NYY

 

More Points Leagues Analysis




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REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

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 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
Braden Schneider

Limited in Training Camp
Lars Eller

Recovering From Abdominal Procedure
Nick Jensen

in Danger of Missing Start of Season
Brandon Montour

to Miss Two Weeks After Ankle Surgery
Gabriel Landeskog

a "Full Go" for the Season
Samuel Girard

Avalanche Hope to Have Samuel Girard Available for Start of Season
Mackenzie Blackwood

Out Week-to-Week
Alex Tuch

Day-to-Day With Undisclosed Injury
Jordan Greenway

to Sit Out Training Camp
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Considered Day-to-Day
Simon Edvinsson

to Miss a Couple of Weeks
Mikael Backlund

Signs Two-Year Extension
Connor Ingram

to Be Waived by Mammoth
Zach Hyman

Misses Start of Training Camp
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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
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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
Justin Fields

Ruled Out for Week 3 Due to Concussion
Jayden Reed

Out Indefinitely After Foot and Shoulder Surgery
Washington Commanders

Preston Smith Signs With Commanders
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
Jayden Reed

Undergoes Clavicle and Foot Surgeries, Out for Foreseeable Future
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
Aaron Jones Sr.

Vikings Place Aaron Jones Sr. on Injured Reserve With Hamstring Injury
CFB

Diego Pavia Refutes Report of Seeking Seventh Collegiate Season
Christian Kirk

Expected to Return in Week 3
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
Kobe Bufkin

Moves to Brooklyn
Trey Yesavage

Sets Franchise Strikeout Record On Monday
Yordan Alvarez

To Receive MRI For Sprained Left Ankle On Tuesday
Willson Contreras

Exits Early Monday With Right-Biceps Tightness
Yordan Alvarez

Exits With Ankle Sprain
Brock Bowers

Officially Active on Monday Night
Jauan Jennings

Day-to-Day With Ankle Injury
Logan O'Hoppe

Activated Off Seven-Day Injured List
Jose Altuve

Returns Against Rangers
J.J. McCarthy

Expected to Miss 2-4 Weeks With High-Ankle Sprain
J.J. McCarthy

Likely Out for Week 3 With High-Ankle Sprain
Jean Silva

Gets Finished For The First Time In His Career
Aaron Jones Sr.

Unlikely to Play in Week 3 Due to Hamstring Injury
Diego Lopes

Returns To The Win Column
Jayden Daniels

' Week 3 Status in Doubt
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
Brian Thomas Jr.

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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
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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
Giannis Antetokounmpo

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Alperen Sengün

Alperen Sengun Drops 28 Points in EuroBasket Finals
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Indiana's Lee Beebe Jr. Out for Season with Knee Injury
Dennis Schröder

Dennis Schroder Named EuroBasket MVP
Kenneth Walker III

Bounces Back with Big Week 2 Performance
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
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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
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Ryan Williams Explodes In Return To Field
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Drew Allar Plays Mediocre Game In Blowout Win
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LaNorris Sellers Exits Game In Blowout Loss
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DJ Lagway Tosses Five Interceptions In Loss
CFB

Garrett Nussmeier Plays Game Manager in Saturday's Win
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CJ Carr Remains Poised In Narrow Loss
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John Mateer Leads Oklahoma In Rout
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Arch Manning Struggles Against UTEP
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Jeremiah Smith Impresses In Win
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Sam Leavitt Shines As Arizona State Rebounds From Week 2 Loss
Chris Buescher

May have Another Solid Run at Bristol
Kyle Busch

Should DFS Managers Roster Kyle Busch at Bristol?
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Is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Too Risky to Consider Rostering at Bristol?
Michael McDowell

Could be A Solid Value Option For Bristol DFS Lineups
Chase Elliott

Probably Won't Factor in for Bristol Win
NASCAR

Bubba Wallace Not as Strong at Bristol as Other Short Tracks
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Needs to Win to Make Round of 12
Ross Chastain

has Never Led at Bristol but Has Been Pretty Consistent
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Richmond Speed Unlikely to Carry Over to Bristol
Josh Berry

Might Run Well at Bristol, but Almost Certainly Won't Win to Advance
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Bristol One of Justin Haley's Few Recent Bright Spots
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Austin Simmons Listed As Game-Time Decision Against Arkansas
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Nico Iamaleava Struggles In Fourth Straight Loss

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