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We’re rounding around week seven of the fantasy baseball season. I know it takes some time to settle in, but there is no time to waste. Fantasy baseball necessitates hyper-vigilance, especially in deeper leagues where the waiver wires are quickly stripped of talent. This weekly article will outline the upcoming schedule, two-start pitchers, and a few waiver targets that are rostered in less than 5% of leagues.
It’s good practice to maximize at-bats and starts. A quick look at upcoming schedules for the seventh week of the MLB season could end up giving you the edge in this week’s play. There are plenty of two-start pitchers this week who should end up providing great value.
This article will discuss some deeper-league fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for week seven, May 8 through May 14. Often, guys who make hot starts typically extend them until at least June, so even if it is just the seventh week of the season, the waiver wires are the hottest they’ll ever be. Rostered percentages can change quickly. So be quick to check your leagues for their availability. Key point - this list will focus on rostered players in less than 5% of Yahoo! leagues.
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Fantasy Baseball Schedule Outlook
This week has some great schedules to target for fantasy. We still haven’t gotten a team with eight games, and there are four teams with five games on the docket. Most teams are playing six games, but the few teams that are playing seven are great targets for at-bats this week.
In this week’s weather report: clear skies for most of the country. The Texas area will be pummeled by rain over the next week, but the Astros and Rangers are both on road trips for the next week.
- 7 Games- CWS, KC, NYY, OAK, TB, TEX, ARI, SF
- 6 Games - BAL, DET, LAA, MIN, MIA, STL, CLE, HOU, SEA, CIN, COL, LAD, MIL, PIT, WAS, NYM, CHC,
- 5 Games - BOS, TOR, ATL, PHI
Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers
With the season settling in, there are starting pitchers of varying quality in this week’s two-start list. For more insight, check out Justin Raffone’s article on this week’s two-start pitchers.
- Zac Gallen (vs. MIA, vs. SF)
- Brandon Pfaadt (vs. MIA, vs. SF)
- Marcus Stroman (vs. STL, @ MIN)
- Luke Weaver (vs. NYM, @ MIA)
- Kyle Freeland (@ PIT, vs. PHI)
- Noah Syndergaard (@ MIL, vs. SD)
- Braxton Garrett (@ ARI, vs. CIN)
- Freddy Peralta (vs. LAD, vs. KC)
- Max Scherzer (@ CIN, @ WAS)
- Mitch Keller (vs. COL, @ BAL)
- Michael Wacha (@ MIN, @ LAD)
- Anthony DeSclafani (vs. WAS, @ ARI)
- Logan Webb (vs. WAS, @ ARI)
- Miles Mikolas (@ CHC, @ BOS)
- Kyle Gibson (vs. TB, vs. PIT)
- Tanner Bibee (vs. DET, vs. LAA)
- Dylan Cease (@ KC, vs. HOU)
- Lucas Giolito (@ KC, vs. HOU)
- Michael Lorenzen (@ CLE, vs. SEA)
- Joey Wentz (@ CLE, vs. SEA)
- Hunter Brown (@ LAA, @ CWS)
- Framber Valdez (@ LAA, @ CWS)
- Zack Greinke (vs. CWS, @ MIL)
- Jordan Lyles (vs. CWS, @ MIL)
- Patrick Sandoval (vs. HOU, @ CLE)
- Louie Varland (vs. SD, vs. CHC)
- Nestor Cortes (vs. OAK, vs. TB)
- Clarke Schmidt (vs. OAK, vs. TB)
- JP Sears (@ NYY, vs. TEX)
- Drew Rucinski (@ NYY, vs. TEX)
- Logan Gilbert (vs. TEX, @ DET)
- Shane McClanahan (@ BAL, @ NYY)
- Zach Eflin (@ BAL, @ NYY)
- Jon Gray (@ SEA, @ OAK)
- Andrew Heaney (@ SEA, @ OAK)
Deeper Infield Waiver Wire Pickups
Endy Rodriguez (C), Pittsburgh Pirates
3% Rostered
Pirates catching prospect Endy Rodriguez returned from a forearm injury last week, and he is now looking to make the jump to the big leagues.
The 22-year-old jumped to the upper tier of prospects after a 2022 season where he slashed .323/.407/.590 with 25 home runs and 95 RBI across 125 games at the High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels. Through 17 games with Triple-A Indianapolis, he is slashing .279/.363/.441 with just a 12.5% K rate.
A 💎 in @MLBTheShow and a ⭐️ at Triple-A!
Second-ranked @Pirates prospect Endy Rodriguez mashes his first homer from the right side this year for the @indyindians: pic.twitter.com/EjWoZf7n1M
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 21, 2023
While there is an unexpected surplus of catching in Pittsburgh, he should still get the call-up soon. Jason Delay has been fantastic in a backup role, slashing .372/.417/.581 in 49 plate appearances, but despite that, he still hasn’t overtaken starter Austin Hedges. While Hedges is a great defender and quality game-caller, he has a .204 wOBA. One of Hedges or Delay should be out of the door well before the trade deadline to make room for Endy Rodriguez.
And even if that doesn’t happen, Rodriguez is athletic enough to field at most major league positions, spending chunks of time at second base and outfield in his minor league career. With a shallow pool of talent at the catching position, stash him if you can.
Harold Castro (1B), Colorado Rockies
1% Rostered
Harold Castro is the bane of every Rockies fan on the planet. The bottomfeeders of the NL West insist on trotting out veterans like Castro instead of their up-and-coming prospects. But despite that, he’ll still provide some decent fantasy value in the short term.
While a .511 OPS on the season looks terrible, Castro has been heating up lately. The 29-year-old is 6-for-12 in the last week with four RBI and only one strikeout in that span. His positive fielding presence has aided in his recent string of starts, and he appears to have taken the starting role at second base.
The only threats to Castro are Alan Trejo and Triple-A standout Coco Montes. Trejo had the bulk of starts at second for the first few weeks of the season, but the 26-year-old has effectively played himself out of the lineup with a .564 OPS to start the season. Montes has a .972 OPS with the Albuquerque Isotopes, but his omission from the 40-man roster means it’ll take more to crack the major league roster.
Harold Castro’s reign of terror will continue far longer than anyone hopes, but that’s no reason to leave a rosterable player on the wires.
Kyle Farmer (SS/3B), Minnesota Twins
3% Rostered
Only 31 at-bats into the season, Kyle Farmer was smacked in the jaw with a pitch from Lucas Giolito. Before that, he was slashing an uninspiring .226/.286/.355 with one home run.
But you can’t judge a player on his first 31 at-bats of the season. The 32-year-old has been a solid fantasy bat in the past. In 2022, he slashed .255/.315/.386 with 78 RBI and 14 home runs.
Willi Castro and Jose Miranda have been trading off starts at third in his absence – both players are batting under .215 on the season. Farmer will be back sometime next week, and when he returns, he’ll have a sizable share of starts at third waiting for him. Farmer is a solid infield pickup.
Deeper Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups
Gavin Sheets (OF/1B), Chicago White Sox
4% Rostered
With Oscar Colas now in Triple-A, it is the time for Gavin Sheets to solidify himself as a major-league outfielder. Through 22 games, the 27-year-old holds a career-low 83 wRC+. Despite that, he has made some strides at the plate that shouldn't be ignored. Sheets has increased his fly-ball percentage, lowered his chase rate, and upped his zone-contact rate. His barrel rate of 2% is crippling him, but the double-digit HR bat has shown the ability to barrel balls in the past.
On a White Sox team that is struggling to get much of anything going, give Sheets a longer leash.
Robbie Grossman (OF), Texas Rangers
5% Rostered
The Tigers effect is wearing off, and Robbie Grossman is back to the great hitting of his past.
The 11-year vet is slashing .250/.330/.393 on the season with a .986 OPS in the last two weeks. The 33-year-old has simply been hitting the ball a lot harder this season, with a 2.2 mph increase in average exit velocity and an eight-point increase in hard-hit percentage being the only notable differences in his hitting profile this year.
Act quickly and pick up Grossman before everyone else realizes he's no longer a Detroit Tiger.
Luke Raley (OF), Tampa Bay Rays
2% Rostered
Luke Raley has seven home runs and a wRC+ of 136 as a backup. A BACKUP!
💣x2 FOR LUKE RALEY!
Rays now lead late over the White Sox
(via @BallyRays)pic.twitter.com/z26Q4gfQDe
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 30, 2023
This Rays team is dangerously deep. He is competing with a red-hot Josh Lowe for reps in the outfield, but he's still picking up 4+ starts a week. While the competition with Josh Lowe and Harold Ramirez for playing time may never end, Raley is the only one of those three to have a rostered rate below 50%. The offensive production and playing time are on par with his competition, but there is a disparity in roster rates. It shouldn't be the case but look to profit before weeping.
Eddie Rosario (OF), Atlanta Braves
3% Rostered
I was rather restless when speaking about rostering Rosario a few weeks ago. There were good reasons; he had an expected batting average, wOBA, and SLG% much higher than his actual numbers. He was hitting the ball harder and barreling at a high rate, and he's still doing that. The results have been much better recently, with a .939 OPS in the past two weeks. Rosario is still a priority waiver wire pickup, but maybe you can walk this time.
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