NL-Only and AL-Only Waiver Wire for Week 15

July 7, 2021

Matt Wallach outlines his favorite week 15 waiver wire pickups and adds for deep leagues, and AL-only or NL-only fantasy baseball leagues for the 2021 MLB season.

Welcome back to the NL-only and AL-only pickups column. Each week, I'll look at five players who are under 15% rostered in Yahoo! leagues and who can be considered as options to add in deep-league formats, such as 15-teamers or AL or NL-only leagues.

I'll also include a recommendation for what to do with each player on your roster. And lastly, I'll take a look at some of my picks from the previous week to see how they're performing.

Without further ado, let's get into it.

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Starlin Castro - 2B/3B, Nationals

9% rostered
Recommended move: Add for the long haul

After a slow start to the season, in which he had just a 76 wRC+ for the first two months of the season, Castro has started to right the ship and heat up at the plate. He's been one of the more productive hitters in the Nationals' lineup for the last few weeks, hitting .362/.431/.517 since June 19. His poor start turned off many, which led to him being largely ignored by fantasy managers, so he's probably under-rostered right now-- a good opportunity for those in deeper leagues to pick him up and enjoy this excellent run of form.

It is unlikely that Castro continues to hit at this pace, but he still has an intriguing fantasy profile, and it is good to see signs of life from him after a dreadful beginning to the season. In past seasons, Castro has been more of a do-it-all type of player, where he contributes just enough in each category (save for stolen bases), to end up being a productive fantasy player. He won't hurt much in any category, with a batting line that projects to be around league-average going forward, along with good counting stats elsewhere. He's been hitting in the middle of the Nationals' lineup for a while now, so the opportunities are definitely going to be there for him to drive runners in, and the team's lineup has been much better the last few weeks too, which makes those opportunities even more plentiful. Also as a plus, Castro has dual-eligibility, offering managers some additional flexibility. After a slow start in which Castro had very little fantasy relevance,  he looks to have inserted himself back into the conversation.

Jesus Sanchez - OF, Marlins

8% rostered
Recommended move: Add and stash

It's been a bit of a mixed bag for Sanchez since being recalled by the Marlins in mid-June, as the rookie still tries to get acclimated to Major League pitching. His overall .222/.279/.349 (79 wRC+) line isn't going to impress most, but he has shown flashes of success with two home runs in just 68 plate appearances. Sanchez is maybe more of a speculative option for fantasy purposes, but he does figure to get the majority of opportunities for the Marlins in the outfield going forward. He started five of the last six games for the team, and they're sticking with him even through his inconsistent play, so there should be a long leash for him.

The big issue for Sanchez so far has been his inability to get the ball off the ground. His current groundball rate of 59.1% is simply just too high. Going back to his minor league days, it's been something he's had in his profile for a while, as he consistently had groundball rates in the upper-40% range, and had a 47% ground ball rate during his stint in Triple-A this season. Still, that high groundball rate does figure to come down some as Sanchez starts to see more Major League pitching, which would be a plus because Sanchez has shown some good skills in terms of his batted-balls. He hits the ball hard with a 40.9% hard-hit rate this season (league average is 35%), and with a strong maximum exit velocity of 111.9 miles-per-hour, which places him in the 83rd percentile. The thinking is that if he gets more of those hard-hit balls off the ground, his results would be a whole lot better. Because of that, he may be worthy of a pickup in deep leagues to see if he can get it together.

Luis Torrens - C, Mariners

3% rostered
Recommended move: Add for the long haul 

Torrens looks to be an underrated catching option right now. Similar to the previously mentioned Castro, Torrens got off to a dreadful start this season, hitting just .184/.226/.310 (49 wRC+) through May 16th, which earned him a demotion to the minor leagues, and got him off of the fantasy radar.

Since being called back up to the Majors on June 15 though, Torrens has been on fire, hitting .273/.360/.773 (198 wRC+) in 50 plate appearances and looks to have re-taken the starting catching job in Seattle. He definitely won't be hitting this well going forward, but the upside he has shown in the power department is very encouraging. In that hot stretch, he's hit seven home runs, which has come off the back of a whopping 14.1% barrel rate. Even with a high 51% groundball rate, Torrens has made it work, by getting the most out of the balls he puts in the air. He has an average exit velocity of 95.6% miles-per-hour on his fly balls and line drives, which ranks extremely well compared to the rest of the league. He also set a new career-high in terms of maximum exit velocity this season, with a 109.2 miles-per-hour mark, up two ticks from his previous high.

Simply put, Torrens is just hitting way too well right now to be rostered at just 3%. He should probably be rostered everywhere, especially considering the landscape of the catching position. Competent hitting catchers are hard to find outside of the top couple studs, but Torrens has been doing a lot of things right at the plate recently, and he's a nice gem sitting readily available on the waiver wire.

Ryan O'Hearn - 1B, Royals

1% rostered
Recommended move: Add for a few weeks 

Again, we have another player who got off to a slow start in O'Hearn. He was initially called up by the Royals in late April, where had just a 68 wRC+ in his first 57 plate appearances, which earned him another demotion to Triple-A. He was called back up on June 22nd though, and since then, he's been doing much better, with a 95 wRC+ in 49 plate appearances since coming back. His slash line in that span is an odd one--.265/.265/.469, meaning he has yet to walk in that stretch. That should change soon enough, but what stands out is that he's shown a decent enough batting average to go along with good power (.204 ISO), which could make him an interesting deep-league option for power.

His hard-hit and barrel rates look good at 44.9% and 10.1%, respectively. Both of which are better than league-average, and to go along with that, he's made solid contact (the next best quality-of-contact measure per Statcast) at an also high rate of 10.1%, so he's shown the ability to make plenty of good contact. He also doesn't hit many balls on the ground at all, with just a 33.3% groundball rate, which should pay off for him in terms of the power side of things.

An additional thing to keep in mind as well is that O'Hearn has been playing some outfield for the Royals this season. With four starts in the outfield, including two starts there last week, he should soon gain outfield eligibility, which would help add some flexibility for fantasy managers. Overall, if he can keep up those excellent rates of hard contact and keep balls off the ground, he should be a solid, if unspectacular power option.

Phil Gosselin - 1B/3B/OF, Angels

1% rostered
Recommended move: Add for this week

The final recommendation for this week is a streaming option in Gosselin. While he has been getting more playing time recently, starting five of the team's last six games, he would ideally only be in the lineup against left-handed pitching, since he's been hitting them much better this season. He has a 184 wRC+ against southpaws this year compared to just a 92 wRC+ mark against righties. He's hit better against lefties for his career too, so it should be clear that does have a significant platoon split.

With that being said, the Angels line up to face three lefty starters in their next four games before the All-Star break, which should not only mean that Gosselin is going to be in the lineup for those games but that he should also be expected to do well in them. His overall season slash line of .324/.378/.461 is likely inflated due to a .429 BABIP and mediocre Statcast metrics, so he's probably not a long-term fantasy option, and most of his value comes to those in deeper leagues with daily lineup changes to take advantage of the matchups. He is triple-eligible though, which is a plus, giving fantasy managers positional flexibility when deciding when and where to plug and play him.

Reviewing Last Week's Picks

At the end of each week's post, I'll review what happened with last week's picks and offer a suggestion for them in the future.

Yonathan Daza (OF, COL)

Last week: 10% rostered. This week: 7% rostered. 

Daza was recommended last week due to the Rockies playing all of their games in hitter-friendly Colorado. It seems like Daza didn't get the memo though, as he had just three hits all week, and didn't help fantasy managers all that much. The Rockies are on the road all week this week, and Daza has been rightly dropped by many. Do the same.

Current recommendation: Drop. 

Garrett Cooper (1B/OF, MIA)

Last week: 6% rostered. This week: 7% rostered. 

Playing time is becoming scarce for Cooper, as he started just three of five for the Marlins last week. It's frustrating because he continues to play well (251 wRC+ last week), but the team does want to play Sanchez (recommended this week), and Adam Duvall. The lack of a DH here is hurting Cooper's value. He is playing well though, and I would keep him around to see if he forces the team's hand going forward.

Current recommendation: Hold. 

Nicky Lopez (2B/SS, KCR)

Last week: 3% rostered. This week: 3% rostered. 

Lopez was true to his profile last week, with a .292 batting average, but showing little power (.083 ISO), few counting stats (just two runs scored, zero RBI), while contributing a single stolen base. It's a profile that may be hard to swallow, but he should still be a good average/speed option going forward. Overall, it's a .373/.439/.407 line since June 12th, so you're definitely holding.

Current recommendation: Hold. 

Eli White (OF, TEX)

Last week: 1% rostered. This week: 1% rostered. 

It was a mixed bag for White last week, as he was a sink in terms of batting average (.214), but he did provide a home run, six runs scored, four RBI, and a stolen base, so he actually may have been a positive last week for those rostering and starting him. Even with the return of David Dahl, White still is hitting at the top of the order for the team, including two starts at leadoff. The team clearly still thinks highly of him, and while he may not be the most exciting option, I would hold him.

Current recommendation: Hold. 

Lars Nootbaar (OF, STL)

Last week: 1% rostered. This week: 0% rostered. 

Nootbaar was recommended last week due to a favorable schedule, with the Cardinals on the road in both Arizona and Colorado. Nootbaar started three games in Arizona and went hitless though, and was sent back to AAA before getting an opportunity in Colorado, with Harrison Bader (ribs) returning from the injured list. This one was a dud, obviously. Easy drop.

Current recommendation: Drop. 

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