Points League Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 13

June 21, 2021

Nicklaus Gaut's H2H points league waiver wire pickups for Week 13 of the 2021 fantasy baseball season, identifying free agents to add and pitchers to stream.

We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues 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 fits. We know points league players get neglected and we're here to help.

These waiver-wire adds are for the week of June 21 - June 27, looking at players below 50% rostered for ESPN and Yahoo! Stats and rankings are calculated using games through Friday, June 19.

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Know Your System

If you've read me even a little, you likely know what I'm going to say...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 between Ronald Acuna Jr. being a top-five hitter versus top-20.

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 only 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" calls. IE. If everything is the same except for HBP (or something similar), you're probably fine.

Waiver Wire Leaderboards

In addition to our overall waiver wire leaderboards, we're deep enough into the season that we'll also start doing a 14-day leaderboard (21 days for pitchers), as well, giving us a window into recent production. The charts are updated prior to Saturday's games, on stats and ownerships. All leaderboards, overall and 14-day, are sorted according to the player's APR*, and clicking on a chart will open a new page with a magnified version.

*APR = Average Platform Ranking - the average platform ranking between ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, and Fantrax (standard point settings)

First Base

Must Adds

• Joey Votto, CIN - Sigh. You know what? I'm not even going to say anything...Double-sigh. Yes I am. Votto has a 32 APR over the last two weeks, even though he only returned from the IL on June 8. He's hit three home runs since returning, with a .388 wOBA and .891 OPS. You should consider picking him up.
• C.J. Cron, COL - It may have taken a little while to get warmed up but it's officially Cron-time. He has a 75 APR over the last two weeks, with seven hits and three home runs in his last five games.
• Brandon Belt, SF - Belt is back, baby! Since returning from the IL on June 8, Belt is slashing .325/.426/.650 with a .451 wOBA and 192 wRC+, running a 41 APR over the last two weeks. He's also available in over 70% of leagues. You should also consider picking him up.

Can Adds

• Bobby Bradley, CLE
• Christian Walker, ARI

Desperate Adds

• You know the drill by now, right? Loads of part-timers and platoons who will mostly only be useful in daily move leagues. And even then, it will be limited.

Notable IL

• Garrett Cooper, MIA

Second Base

Must Adds

Like the opposite of third base, there are plenty of good options available at the keystone. Dealer's choice.

• Cesar Hernandez, CLE - Why won't you love the Cesar? Hernandez may only be slashing .224/.310/.406 but that comes with 11 home runs and 43 runs scored, as his newfound power surge just keeps trucking, while the rebirth of Amed Rosario (and Jose Ramirez) have led to a lot of runs scored, even on a bad team. That and excellent plate-discipline is helping Hernandez to run a 62 APR for the season and a 19 APR over the last two weeks. So, I repeat...Why won't you love the Cesar?
• Ty France, SEA - France has been amazing since returning from the IL on May 24, slashing .323/.390/.484 over 105 PA, with just an 11.4% K%. He's hit two home runs in his last four games and over the last two weeks, has a 47 APR and .401 wOBA.
• Brendan Rodgers, COL - Rodgers keeps hitting and Colorado continues to fight all of their natural instincts and continue to let him play every day. Rodgers is slashing .304/.389/.565 in the month of June, with three home runs and a .405 wOBA.
• Jonathan India, CIN
• Kolten Wong, MIL - Might as well grab him before he goes back on the IL.

Can Adds

• Jed Lowrie, OAK
• Tony Kemp, OAK
• Josh Harrison, WSH
• Christian Arroyo, BOS - Arroyo is in the middle of a fantastic June, hitting four home runs, with 14 RBI, slashing .244/.320/.533 with a .365 wOBA. Unfortunately, he's still Christian Arroyo. Let's not get carried away here.
• Jon Berti, MIA - Miguel Rojas is back off of the IL but Garrett Cooper goes on it. Which means Berti should continue to play every day. Even batting down in the order, Berti has a solid profile for points, running a 21.6% K% and 13.2% BB%. Add that to a lot of speed and a little bit of power (4 SB and 3 HR in 190 PA) and you have a decent fill-in if you need it.

Desperate Adds

• Jurickson Profar, SD
• Wilmer Flores, SF

Notable IL

• Nick Madrigal, CHW
• Chris Owings, COL
• Tommy La Stella, SF
• David Bote, CHC
• Aledmys Diaz, HOU

Third Base

Woof. You see the size of that chart, right? And you see the names on it, right?

Must Adds

• See above.

Can Adds

• Jeimer Candelario, DET - Candelario is a borderline must-add, if you're in need but has only been back since June 15, going 4-for-18, with one run and one RBI.
• Yandy Diaz, TB
• Maikel Franco, BAL

Desperate Adds

• Everybody else.

Notable IL 

• Evan Longoria, SF
• Brian Anderson, MIA
• J.D. Davis, NYM

Shortstop

Must Adds

• J.P. Crawford, SEA - Crawford is still batting leadoff and still raking. Since moving to the top of the order on June 1, Crawford is slashing .382/.436/.588, with a .433 wOBA and 182 wRC+, collecting at least one hit in every game but three. He's currently on a six-game hitting streak, has a 23 APR over the last two weeks, and an 84 APR for the year. What are we waiting for here, folks?

Can Adds

• Miguel Rojas, MIA - Rojas returned from the IL (finger) on June 18 and is probably going right back to his spot in the must-adds soon. But let's let him get his sea legs under him first.
• Paul DeJong, STL
• Luis Urias, MIL
• Freddy Galvis, BAL
• Willy Adames, MIL

Desperate Adds

• Jose Iglesias, LAA
• Willi Castro, DET
• Elvis Andrus, OAK

Notable IL

• Nico Hoerner, CHC

Outfielder

Honestly, I'm just so happy that Justin Upton has finally left this list, that I don't know what to do with myself.

Must Adds

• Adam Duvall, MIA - When Duvall gets hot, he tends to go nuclear. He hit two home runs on Friday, two more as I'm writing this on Saturday, and has now hit seven home runs since June 9. Does this qualify as hot?
• Joc Pederson, LAD - Pederson is only a must-add if you're in a daily league, as he's been sitting versus lefties, as of late.
• Odubel Herrera, PHI - Herrera has been steady-eddie in 2021 but has really turned it on as of late, slashing .298/.333/.544 in June, with a .374 wOBA and 138 wRC+.

Can Adds

• Jorge Soler, KC - This is where he starts hitting, right? Ri-gghhhtt? He's not exactly going crazy, slashing .243/.417/.459 over the last two weeks, with two home runs but has a .389 wOBA, 147 wRC+, with a 108 APR.
• Manuel Margot, TB - Don't mind Margot, just quietly continuing to be a top-100 hitter. Ho-hum, ho-hum.
• Hunter Renfroe, BOS
• Myles Straw, HOU
• Taylor Ward, LAA - Ward has been red-hot, posting a 12 APR over the last two weeks. Since June 1, he's slashing .315/.403/.556, with three home runs, 11 runs scored, and 13 RBI.
• Willie Calhoun, TEX
• Steven Duggar, SF 
• Akil Baddoo, DET
• Andrew Vaughn, CHW
• Victor Robles, WSH
• Miguel Andujar, NYY
• LaMonte Wade Jr., SF - Wade has batted leadoff in 13 of the last 14 games that he's started and has a 17 APR over the last two weeks.
• Chas McCormick, HOU
• Jesus Sanchez, MIA

Desperate adds

• Trevor Larnach, MIN
• Max Kepler, MIN
• Alex Kirilloff, MIN - Kirilloff's hit-tool is still in order but his power has been sapped since returning from a wrist injury on May 21, hitting just one home run in 98 PA. He has a .286 AVG and excellent plate discipline but that average may stay empty until he gets further away from the injury.
• Gregory Polanco, PIT
• A.J. Pollock, LAD - Another outfielder who has struggled since returning from injury, slashing .200/.256/.300 since June 4, with one home run and a .249 wOBA.

Notable IL

• Kyle Lewis, SEA
• Lorenzo Cain, MIL
• Brandon Nimmo, NYM
• Nick Senzel, CIN
• Aaron Hicks, NYY
• Victor Reyes, DET
• Adam Eaton, CHW
• Kole Calhoun, ARI
• Alex Dickerson, SF
• Corey Dickerson, MIA
• David Dahl, TEX
• Harrison Bader, STL
• Jordan Luplow, CLE
• Darin Ruf, SF

Catcher

Must Adds

• Omar Narvaez, MIL - We know what we're getting here. Nothing exciting, just boring but predictable production at a position where those things are rare on the wire.
• Max Stassi, LAA - Since returning from the IL on June 1, Stassi has gone full turbo, slashing .357/.449/.738 with a .496 wOBA and 221 wRC+ over 49 PA. No, seriously; those are real numbers. Stassi has a 12 APR over the last two weeks and is rostered only slightly more than Eric Haase. But why?
• Ryan Jeffers, MIN - Playing most games since Mitch Garver went down for the count, Jeffers is slashing .279/.311/.651, with four home runs and a .401 wOBA since June 2. More importantly for points (especially if you have a strikeout penalty) is his 22.2% K% since then, a dramatic turnaround from the 48.6% K% that he ran over his 37 PA in April.

Can Adds

• Jacob Stallings, PIT
• Mike Zunino, TB
• Jorge Alfaro, MIA
• Whichever of the Reds duo is playing that day.

Desperate Adds

• All catcher adds are desperate adds.

Notable IL

• Mitch Garver, MIN
• Travis d'Arnaud, ATL
• Austin Nola, SD
• Alejandro Kirk, TOR
• Roberto Perez, CLE
• Danny Jansen, TOR

Starting Pitchers

Two Start Weeks

Check back later today for more pitching analysis! It is Father's Day, after all ; )

Must Add

• Patrick Sandoval, LAA (@ TB) - Sandoval has been excellent since joining the rotation, posting a 3.13 ERA and 24.7% K% over six starts. Coming off of a smackdown against Detroit, striking out nine in 5.2 IP (though he did get run out after giving up a pair of home runs late), Sandoval now goes on the road to face the Rays. Don't be fooled; Tampa Bay is pretty bad versus LHP. Since May 1, the Rays have just a .283 wOBA (28th) and 83 wRC+ (27th), with a 27.8% K% (2nd).
• Mike Minor, KC (@ TEX) - A good strategy is just to attack Texas. See below.
• Tarik Skubal, DET (vs STL, vs HOU) - Skubal is a must-add on talent but be very careful if you need to start him this week. Houston's .356 wOBA is the 2nd-highest in the league vs LHP, while St. Louis has .320 wOBA that is 12th. But also, why is Skubal even available? He shouldn't be.
• James Kaprielian, OAK (@ TEX) - The Rangers are a bottom-five offense vs RHP and Kaprielian has been cruising as of late. Through his first seven starts, he has a 2.84 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, with a 26.8% K%.
• Ross Stripling, TOR - Stripling has really turned it around over his last five starts, posting a 2.45 ERA and 25.4% K%, and has a nice little two-step versus two substandard offenses in Week 13.

Can Add

• Jordan Montgomery, NYY (@ BOS)
• JT Brubaker, PIT (@ STL) - It's never that fun streaming a Pirate but the thing about St. Louis is that they're probably worse vs RHP than you think. As in, pretty terrible. Since May 1, they have a .282 wOBA vs RHP (28th), and a 79 wRC+ (26th).
• Cole Irvin, OAK (@ TEX, @ SF)
• Chris Flexen, SEA (vs. COL) - Flexen is coming off his best start of the season, striking out eight over eight shutout innings against the Twins. He'll face Colorado at home, who have just a .293 wOBA vs RHP, with a league-worst 70 wRC+ since the start of May.
• Brady Singer, KC (@ NYY, @ TEX) - I don't want anything to do with him going to New York but a matchup with Texas is quite enticing. The Rangers have a 23.3% K% vs RHP and are in the bottom-five in wOBA, OPS, and wRC+ since May 1.
• Jameson Taillon, NYY (vs. KC)
• Kwang-Hyun Kim, STL (vs. PIT)
• Shane McClanahan, TB
• Jake Odorizzi, HOU (@ BAL, @ DET)
• Johan Oviedo, STL (vs. PIT, @ DET)
• Jon Lester, WSH (@ MIA) - Lester's not very good but Miami is in a dead-heat with Detroit for the title of worst team in baseball versus LHP.
• Matt Manning, DET (vs. STL)

Desperate Adds

• Alex Cobb, LAA (@ TB) - Tampa Bay's .335 wOBA vs RHP is in the top-five but their 27.1% K% against righties is the worst in baseball.
• Brad Keller, KC (@ TEX) - I mean, if you have to. It is Texas, after all.
• Kris Bubic, KC (@ TEX) - See above.
• J.A. Happ, MIN (vs. CIN, vs. CLE) - I'm personally think Happ is washed but desperation can be a stinky cologne.

Notable IL

• Spencer Turnbull, DET
• Matthew Boyd, DET
• Huascar Ynoa, ATL
• Logan Webb, SF
• Michael Pineda, MIN
• Jon Gray, COL
• Madison Bumgarner, ARI
• Bruce Zimmerman, BAL
• Justin Dunn, SEA
• Trevor Williams, CHC
• Joey Lucchesi, NYM
• Taylor Widener, ARI
• Aaron Sanchez, SF
• Tucker Davidson, ATL
• Jose Quintana, LAA
• Elieser Hernandez, MIA

Relief Pitchers

Keep in mind that with relievers, points scored can be deceiving. Most scoring systems make it pretty difficult for even the best non-closers to score elite points, making them very reliant on unpredictable wins. You simply need the save points to really do damage. AKA, when you see totally random names hit the leaderboard (particularly the 21-Day one), it's probably because they happened to get a few wins and/or a lot of usage. If a reliever doesn't have an established role, tread carefully.

One note about ownership; because ESPN uses nine open pitching slots, as opposed to dedicated slots for RP/SP, relievers tend to be lighter owned than on other sites.

Notable IL

• Tejay Antone, CIN
• Daniel Hudson, WSH
• Drew Pomeranz, SD

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