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Blake Sullivan dives into weekly Points League strategy for your fantasy baseball leagues and looks at MLB players to target on the waiver wire or drop in week 13 of the 2018 season.
Welcome back for another week of advice for points league waiver wire moves. This segment will include waiver wire adds, drops, and streaming pitchers for the upcoming week. This article will be geared specifically toward points leagues. Every points league is different, so keep that in mind. Walks and extra base hits are more valuable, whereas AVG and ERA are not important, so consider that as well.
Some players will be suggested as streamers (while they are hot), or as rest-of-season adds (ride them all year).
As always, feel free to follow and message me on Twitter @BlakeSullivanFF for any fantasy advice or for further reasoning with this segment. Without further ado, let's take a look at some players that you should either add or drop.
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Points League Players to Add
Jon Jay (OF, ARI) - 34% owned
Jon Jay has been heating up lately, and not just because he plays in Arizona now. His wOBA sits at .401 in the month of June, and .342 on the season. There may be some issues fitting Jay into the lineup once A.J. Pollock returns, but that is still a ways out. Jay has probably already proven himself enough to see regular time, however. His consistency makes him a candidate as a rest of season addition, but he at least makes a great streaming option. The Diamondbacks are 13th in runs scored this year, but Paul Goldschmidt is just now getting hot, and Pollock has been hurt. Jay should continue to produce runs in that lineup. He has already scored 43 times this year. Although he has only stolen three bases this year, he does have a decent speed upside. Jay is 17 for his last 38 at-bats. Look for him to continue to heat up.
Yan Gomes (C, CLE) - 16% owned
One strategy I like to use with catchers is to draft them later. The top three or four catchers are valued extremely high and go way too early in the drafts. Catchers often times will only play five days a week, so they aren't scoring you points all the time anyway. Yan Gomes is a perfect example of what I do. I actually owned Francisco Cervelli, who is on my drop list, and picked up the hot-hitting Gomes. Basically, I use catchers as streamers, and that's what I recommend doing here. Yan Gomes doesn't have bad numbers on the year, but he has just been on a roll lately. In June, Gomes has a .40 BB/K meaning he's seeing the ball better and has better discipline. That has also helped give him a June slash line of .407/.660/1.067. Gomes now has both 24 runs and RBI this year. He has nine home runs, and three of them have come in his last 10 games.
Randal Grichuk (OF, TOR) - 7% owned
Randal Grichuk is definitely a streaming option and not a rest of season option. He has a history of being very streaky. He has a terrible cold spells, but usually has respectable numbers at the end of the year due to times that he gets scorching hot. Grichuk isn't necessarily scorching right now, but he's available in almost all leagues and has a lot of upside. His month of June sports a .316 AVG that is 210 points better than his average before June. In those 16 games, he has six home runs and five doubles. While he won't get many points for walks, he does have four walks over that period of time. His 15 RBI and 12 runs in only 16 games give him a higher value. Grichuk is available in almost all leagues despite slashing .371/.719/1.090 this month.
Points League Pitchers to Stream
Domingo German (SP, NYY) - Saturday 6/30/18 vs. BOS - 26% owned
Domingo German will draw a tough matchup against the Boston Red Sox, but he has done well against formidable opponents such as the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians. He has 28 strikeouts in his last three games. His K/9 on the season is an amazing 10.74. The one problem that German has had this year is giving up home runs. His HR/9 is 1.49. German could be a great find in dynasty leagues as he has already shown what he can do at only 25 years old. His high strikeout capability is what really gives him value, but he plays for the New York Yankees, so he should have enough run support to win plenty of games. He's more of a long-term option, but if he has a good game it may be hard to get a hold of him.
Freddy Peralta (SP, MIL) - Tuesday 6/26/18 vs. KC - 16% owned
Freddy Peralta has only made three starts this year, but he's red hot. He won two of the three contests. He struggled in his second game by giving up six walks, but otherwise he has been very impressive. His K/9 is an outstanding 14.36. Peralta is very young at only 22 years of age, so if he's available in dynasty formats this could be one of the best moves you make this year. The Milwaukee Brewers look like they may be around awhile, so if Peralta can stay in that rotation he should get lots of run support and have a good bullpen behind him. It's still early, but he has a nice 2.30 ERA to start off. He gets two starts this week, so he should give you a lot of points.
Lance Lynn (SP, MIN) - Tuesday 6/26/18 vs. CWS - 31% owned
Lance Lynn has been one of the most solid pitchers of late, and he has two starts this week. He gets a favorable matchup against the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs. Lance Lynn has a 5-5 record. He has had some issues with command, as he has a 5.62 BB/9. Lynn has a 51.7% ground ball rate which helps him get out of trouble. Lynn isn't going to put up a ton of points every time he pitches, but he is one of the more steady options available. He has a 4.64 ERA which isn't great, but he has an 8.97 K/9. Lynn is a good streaming option for this week, but he may not be a great long-term option. Ride him while he stays consistent.
Points League Players to Drop
Francisco Cervelli (C, PIT) - 69% owned
Francisco Cervelli only has three hits in the last 13 days. Cervelli has had a good season to this point, but catchers are easily replaceable. Cervelli has just been way too cold to roster, and he has even been sacrificing playing time. He has 36 RBI on the season. Most of his points come from walks or home runs. He has nine home runs on the year. He has 31 walks. If you are in a two-catcher league or an extremely large league he should be held onto. In normal leagues that are 10 or 12 team leagues, he's worth dropping for a catcher that's hot or playing more often. His batting average in June is a terrible .162.
Eduardo Nunez (2B/3B/OF, BOS) - 61% owned
The most frightening stat about Eduardo Nunez in points leagues is his .20 BB/K ratio. His slash line is also not very impressive at only .277/.348/.625. He has recently been losing some of his playing time to Brock Holt who has been playing much better. Nunez has the benefit of being eligible at multiple positions, but he isn't likely going to do much at the plate to get you fantasy points. His wOBA is only .270 this season. His overall productions has seen an overall decrease as the season has gone on. With Dustin Pedroia, Brock Holt, and Rafael Devers all eating into Nunez's time, it's time for him to be dropped.
Ben Zobrist (2B/OF, CHC) - 42% owned
At 37 years of age, Ben Zobrist is finally starting to see his production decrease. Most of his loss in production is due to loss of power and at-bats. Zobrist only has nine doubles and four home runs. Zobrist plays almost every day, but it's sometimes as a pinch hitter or he often platoons games with other players giving him only one or two chances at the plate each game. He doesn't offer enough upside to keep him on your team. He isn't going to be producing much more efficiently then he is right now. If a major injury were to happen in Chicago his value would rise back up due to volume, so keep an eye on him. His .375/.403/.778 slash line doesn't offer enough value at the moment to hold onto him.
