Points League Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 4

Nicklaus Gaut's H2H points league waiver wire pickups for Week 4 of the 2021 fantasy baseball season, identifying free agents to add and pitchers to stream.

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 fits. We know points league players get neglected and we're here to help.

These waiver-wire adds are for the week of April 12th-April 18th, looking at players below 50% ownership for ESPN and Yahoo!

• Fantasy baseball trade analyzer
• BvP matchups data (Batter vs. Pitcher)
• PvB matchups data (Pitcher vs. Batter)
• Who should I start? Fantasy baseball comparisons
• Daily MLB starting lineups
• Fantasy baseball closer depth charts
• Fantasy Baseball live scoreboard
• Fantasy baseball injury reports

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-25.

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.

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. Players are ordered by their average points scored across the four platforms.

Waiver Wire Leaderboards

First Base

Must Adds

• Colin Moran, PIT
• Jeimer Candelario, DET
• Joey Votto, CIN

Can Adds

• Travis Shaw, MIL
• Asdrubal Cabrera, ARI
• Jesus Aguilar, MIA

Desperate Adds

• Yandy Diaz, TB
• Garrett Cooper, MIA

Second Base

Must Adds

• Jazz Chisholm, MIA
• Jed Lowrie, OAK
• Adam Frazier, PIT - It's easy to overlook Pirates, but Frazier has really been piling up points. He has a 144 wRC+ on the year and over the last week is slashing .357/.441/.571 with six runs and six RBI.

Can Adds

• Luis Arraez, MIN
• Jurickson Profar, SD
• Joey Wendle, TB

Desperate Adds

• Freddy Galvis, BAL
• Jorge Polanco, MIN
• Andres Gimenez, CLE

Third Base

Must Adds

• Phillip Evans, PIT - Evans has a .435 wOBA (top-10%) and 173 wRC+ over his first 50 PA. Evans should continue to be viable as long as he's playing every day.
• Evan Longoria, SF
• Jed Lowrie, OAK
• Jeimer Candelario, DET

Can Adds

• Maikel Franco, BAL
• Brian Anderson, MIA
• Joey Wendle, TB

Desperate Adds

• Yandy Diaz, TB
• Luis Urias, MIL
• Andres Gimenez, CLE

Shortstop

Must Adds

• Jazz Chisholm, MIA - The electric Marlins rookie is on fire and I doubt he'll be on this list next week. If he happens to still be available in your league, stop reading this and grab him now. Chisholm has three home runs in his past six games and is slashing .294/.405/.706 with a .456 wOBA and 191 wRC+ over his first 42 PA.

Can Adds

• Joey Wendle, TB
• Miguel Rojas, DET

Desperate Adds

• Brandon Crawford, SF
• Luis Urias, MIL

Outfield

Must Adds

• Adam Frazier, PIT
• Zach McKinstry - McKinstry looks to be assured of consistent playing time for now and continues to rake. He's slashing .326/.348/.651f, with three HR and a .434 wOBA, which ranks in the top-10% of baseball.
• Avisail Garcia, MIL - Garcia is absolutely smashing lasers in 2021, with a 17.6% Brl% that's in the top-10% and a 94.4 average EV that's in the top-7%.
• Bryan Reynolds, PIT

Can Adds

• David Peralta, ARI
• Jesse Winker, CIN
• Jurickson Profar, SD
• Adam Duvall, MIA
• Nick Senzel, TEX
• Lorenzo Cain, MIL
• Aaron Hicks, NYY
• Robbie Grossman, OAK
• Raimel Tapia, COL
• Tim Locastro, ARI
• Michael A. Taylor, KC
• Manuel Margot, TB

Desperate Adds

• Hunter Renfroe, BOS
• DJ Stewart, BAL
• Jon Berti, MIA

Catcher

Must Adds

• Wilson Ramos, DET - Ramos just won't stop hitting home runs. In his first 49 PA, he has six HR, with a .426 wOBA and 174 wRC+. In the perpetual dumpster fire that is catcher, Ramos needs to be 100% rostered.

Can Adds

• Buster Posey, SF
• Jacob Stallings, PIT
• Carson Kelly, ARI

Desperate Adds

• All catcher adds are desperate adds.

Starting Pitchers

Two-Start Options

Relief Pitchers

Keep in mind that with relievers, points scored can be deceiving. If you look at the above list, I doubt you'll be scrambling to pick up the likes of Connor Brogdon, Wandy Peralta, or John Curtiss. 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.

Must Adds

• • • Kendall Graveman, SEA - Graveman looks to have the closer's role for now in Seattle, picking up the Mariners' last two saves. He has yet to allow a run in his first six innings, posting a 28.6% K% and 0.50 WHIP. Must add.
    • Yimi Garcia, MIA - Garcia also looks to have locked down the closing gig in Miami, picking up his third save last Friday. His walk- and K-rates are both worse than last season, but a 1.08 ERA and 0.72 WHIP makes him good enough to roster as long as he has the job.
    • Lou Trivino, OAK - One more new closer, as Trivino is the man in Oakland, picking up his second save in a row on Friday. Through 9.2 innings already on the year, he has a 0.93 ERA and hasn't allowed a run since the second game of the year.

Can Adds

• • • Jose Alvarado, PHI
    • Bryan Garcia, DET
    • Gregory Soto, DET
    • Scott Barlow, KC

More Points Leagues Analysis