Points League Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 6

Nicklaus Gaut's H2H points league waiver wire pickups for Week 6 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 26 - May 2, 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.

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

Waiver Wire Leaderboards

First Base

Must Adds

• Joey Votto, CIN - Ho-hum, don't mind Joey Votto. He's only the #74 overall hitter by APR and is also one of the most consistent, coming in as #73 or #74 on all four platforms and currently outscoring the likes of Paul Goldschmidt and Pete Alonso.
• Christian Walker, ARI - He's dipped below 50% ownership but should be back from injury soon.

Can Adds

• Brandon Belt, SF
• Bobby Dalbec, BOS
• Pavin Smith, ARI

Desperate Adds

• Albert Pujols, LAA
• Mitch Moreland, SD
• Garrett Cooper, MIA

Second Base

Must Adds

• Adam Frazier, PIT - If Frazier is still laying around, snatch him up. He has seven hits in his past five games and has been a waiver-wire bright spot at a garbage position.

Can Adds

• Jurickson Profar, SD
• Cesar Hernandez, CLE
• Jon Berti, MIA
• Rougned Odor, NYY

Desperate Adds

• Josh Harrison, WSH
• Marwin Gonzalez, BOS

Third Base

Must Adds

• Evan Longoria, SF - Longoria has a 154 wRC+ and .397 wOBA (.443 xwOBA) in his first 23 games, with four home runs, 13 runs, and 12 RBI. Playing almost every day, batting in the middle of a decent Giants offense, and running an elite walk-rate (16.3%), Longoria is a high-floor compiler and is an easy plug-and-play.

Can Adds

• Asdrubal Cabrera, ARI
• Maikel Franco, BAL
• Travis Shaw, MIL
• Jeimer Candelario, DET

Desperate Adds

• Matt Duffy, CHC

Shortstop

Must Adds

• Nope

Can Adds

• Jorge Polanco, MIN
• Luis Urias, MIL
• Miguel Rojas, MIA

Desperate Adds

• Brandon Crawford, SF
• Freddy Galvis, BAL

Outfield

Must Adds

• Alexander Kirilloff, MIN - If he's somehow still available, the Minnesota rookie won't be for long after hitting three home runs in two games.
• Tyler O'Neil, STL
• Jordan Luplow, CLE - Luplow has a .383 xwOBA and has hit three home runs in the last 15 days, continuing to play every day for Cleveland. In his 46 PA over the last two weeks, he's posted a 20% K% and 20% BB%.
• Corey Dickerson, MIA - Dickerson has a .447 wOBA over the last 15 days, with a 188 wRC+.

Can Adds

• Justin Upton, LAA
• Myles Straw, HOU
• Gregory Polanco, PIT
• Adolis Garcia, TEX
• Robbie Grossman, OAK
• Willie Calhoun, TEX
• Michael A. Taylor, KC

Desperate Adds

• Jason Heyward, CHC
• Austin Slater, SF

Catcher

Must Adds

• Alejandro Kirk, TOR
• Dom Nunez, COL

*Update - Kirk was put on the IL on Sunday and should not be added.

Can Adds

• Wilson Ramos, DET
• Mike Zunino, TB
• Jacob Stallings, PIT

Desperate Adds

• All catcher adds are desperate adds

Starting Pitchers

Must Adds

• • Nick Pivetta, BOS - It's always a dangerous game to mess with someone who occasionally turns into the human torch but Pivetta has a solid two-step coming up. Baltimore's .275 wOBA versus RHP is the worst in baseball, while Detroit's .282 wOBA is third-worst.
  • Madison Bumgarner, ARI - I'm not sure if he's "back" but a matchup in Miami is definitely playable.
  • J.A. Happ, MIN - There is no excuse for Happ still being on some waiver wires. Not a lot of strikeouts but Happ has a 1.96 ERA through four starts and has yet to allow more than two earned runs in an outing. He has a great two-start week, facing Detroit and their .215 wOBA vs LHP (worst in baseball), as well as the Rangers' .279 wOBA vs LHP (4th-worst).
  • Jakob Junis, KC
  • Yusei Kikuchi, SEA - Next four likely starts: vs BAL (19th in wOBA vs LHP), vs CLE (23rd), vs DET (30th), and TEX (27th).
  • Chris Flexen, SEA - The curveball is for real.

* Update - Junis has been (annoyingly) moved back to the bullpen. No need to add.

Can Adds

• Dylan Cease, CHW - He's coming off of his best start of the year, striking out nine batters while allowing just three hits over seven shutout innings. But it was also against the woeful Detroit Tigers so how good of a barometer was it? It'll be a better test this week, as Cease's next start comes in Cincinnati against a Reds team running a .343 wOBA vs RHP, the second-highest in baseball.
• Mike Minor, KC
• Carlos Martinez, STL
• Domingo German, NYY
• Tyler Anderson, PIT
• Adam Wainwright, STL
• Ryan Weathers, SD
• Ryan Yarbrough, TB
• Michael Wacha, TB
• Taijuan Walker, NYM

Two-Start Options

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.

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.

Must Adds

• • • • Tejay Antone, CIN - Whether in long relief or at the back of games, at this point, Antone has been so good that his role doesn't matter. Over 14 innings, Antone has a 0.64 ERA and a 37.7% K% and picked up his first save on Saturday night, with the back of the Reds bullpen still chaotic. If Antone starts getting more cracks at saves, he could be a monster but even if not, his workload (and talent) will still make him rosterable in most formats.

Can Adds

• • • Giovanny Gallegos, STL - Alex Reyes is still the closer in St. Louis but Gallegos is would be the first man up if Reyes were to go down (as what happens in most seasons). And Gallegos might still be worth a spot considering how dominant he's been. He has a 2.30 ERA (2.39 FIP) over 15.2 IP, with a 36.2% K%.
    • Garrett Whitlock, BOS
    • Jose Alvarado, PHI

More Points Leagues Analysis