RADIO
Welcome back for another week of advice for points league waiver wire moves. This segment will include waiver wire adds, drops, and streaming pitchers for the upcoming week. This article will be geared specifically toward points leagues. Every points league is different, so keep that in mind. Walks and extra base hits are more valuable, whereas AVG and ERA are not important, so consider that as well.
Some players will be suggested as streamers (while they are hot), or as rest-of-season adds (ride them all year).
As always, feel free to follow and message me on Twitter @BlakeSullivanFF for any fantasy advice or for further reasoning with this segment. Without further ado, let's take a look at some players that you should either add or drop.
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Points League Players to Add
Mitch Moreland (1B, BOS) - 20% owned
Mitch Moreland is going to be the beneficiary of Hanley Ramirez getting designated for assignment. Moreland has been playing well, but was losing some playing time to Ramirez mainly due to the size of contract Ramirez had. His line of .390/.612/1.001 is a career best, even at age 32. His 10 doubles and seven home runs offer a good value considering he hasn't played full time to this point, but he can add even more value getting RBI in the heart of a very dangerous order. He already has 22 RBI, but that can go up quickly if he's hitting between Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. His 14 BB are not overly impressive, but in his case they are lower due to pitchers having to be aggressive against him.
Jurickson Profar (SS/OF, TEX) - 24% owned
Jurickson Profar was viewed as a bust after a rough first couple years in the league, but he is still only 25 years old. He's getting into breakout/prime age for a hitter, and it is beginning to show with improved numbers. His 14 doubles are a career high as are his 26 RBI. Profar isn't a lights-out power hitter as far as home runs go, but he gets a lot of points off doubles and even triples. Over his last seven days he has three doubles, one home run, eight RBI and two stolen bases. His value isn't great as an outfielder, but it's pretty good for a shortstop.
Dustin Pedroia (2B, BOS) - 16% owned
Dustin Pedroia could make for a sneaky addition to your team. He isn't the top tier second baseman that he used to be, but he still offers a ton of upside for doubles and RBI. Many people have forgotten he even exists as he recovers from his knee surgery this off-season. He'll most likely share time with Eduardo Nunez when he first comes back, but eventually he should take the primary role. Pedroia has a career .300 AVG. He may be hitting toward the bottom of the order, but that might actually work in his favor. Pitchers have to be aggressive against the bottom of the Red Sox order to be able to be careful against Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. He's had exactly 6000 at-bats in his career, so he should hit better with pitches that are in the zone consistently.
Points League Pitchers to Stream
Seranthony Dominguez (SP/RP, PHI) - 19% owned
I usually wouldn't include relief pitchers in this section, but this is a great opportunity for owners in points leagues that need someone to put up solid points every week. We all have weeks with pitchers who have negative point weeks, and others that score a bunch. Dominguez offers a lot of points if your league factors holds, which many do. He has only given up one hit in nine innings pitched. That's a pretty great start to a career. He has five holds and a save in eight appearances. Dominguez isn't a stranger to the strikeout either. He's averaging one per inning of work in his small sample size. Even if you don't get points for holds you should pick him up in deeper leagues for strikeouts and his possibility of being the closer in the future.
Vince Velasquez (SP, PHI) - Monday 5/28/18 vs. LAD - 23% owned
Vince Velasquez will face a Los Angeles Dodgers team that is improving, but he also gets to face the team with the third most strikeouts, the San Francisco Giants. The two-start week for one of the more underappreciated starting pitchers in the league offers a steady source of points or this next week. He isn't the long term answer for your team due to a 4.18 ERA that often limits how deep he can go into games. However, he does have 64 strikeouts and will add quite a few to that total this week.
Dan Straily (SP, MIA) - Tuesday 5/29/18 vs. SD - 6% owned
Dan Straily is mainly a streaming option for this week because of his recent play, and his high ceiling. Straily will have a two-start week. His first matchup will be against the San Diego Padres in the pitcher-friendly park. His second start will be in Arizona. Both those teams are in the bottom six of runs scored this season. Straily has had success lately as well. His last three starts totaled 18 innings pitched in which he gave up only three runs and struck out 16 batters. Both opponents he'll face next week are in the top four in number of strikeouts which should help him score a ton of points.
Points League Players to Drop
Manuel Margot (OF, SD) - 22% owned
Manuel Margot is one of many players in a jammed outfield. Travis Jankowski and Franchy Corddero have played well, but they weren't even expected to be prominent players this year. Hunter Renfroe and Wil Myers will both be coming off the disabled list shortly, complicating things even more. Margot is getting most of his value from stealing bases and pinch hitting when he doesn't start. It may not be necessary to drop him today, but in the very near future he may not see much action. His .199 AVG and lack of power is holding him back from competing to be the everyday starter.
Orlando Arcia (SS, MIL) - 17% owned
Orlando Arcia is safe to drop as he got demoted to the minor leagues to work on his game. He may figure it out and be back in no time, but he isn't the caliber of player that you can wait on. There are plenty of better options than Arcia at this point. He has a .194 AVG and only 13 RBI. Seven walks and two stolen bases don't add much value either.
Carlos Gonzalez (OF, COL) - 17% owned
Carlos Gonzalez has not lived up to his expectations. He has a poor .216 AVG with four home runs and 16 RBI. Gonzalez has been losing playing time to Gerardo Parra and David Dahl. Charlie Blackmon is the mainstay in the Colorado Rockies outfield. He doesn't get enough everyday work to keep a high value. He should be monitored in case something happens to promote him as the third starting outfielder. He could still be useful in very deep leagues, but should be dropped in most leagues.
