RADIO
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 17 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
Jesse Winker (OF, CIN) - 36% owned
Jesse Winker is more or less guaranteed to be the starting right fielder everyday for the foreseeable future. With Scott Schebler on the disabled list and Winker swinging a hot bat, he'll continue to play everyday, but it should be more of a sure thing now. He has plenty of value in redraft leagues, but his value could go through the roof soon in dynasty. At only 24 years old, this could be his best chance to either earn a spot in the starting lineup for good, or to land on a better team. He has already impressed with a .293/.404/.429 slash line. Winker has an above average .365 wOBA. He rode a 10 game hitting streak into the break, and looks to continue it. He had 35 runs and 42 RBI in the first half of the season.
Jake Bauers (1B/OF, TB) - 25% owned
Jake Bauers is another player with a ton of upside. At 22 years old he could be a great investment. However, it doesn't seem like you will have to wait for him to develop. In just his first 36 career games he has five home runs and 13 doubles. Those have helped lead to his 25 runs and 18 RBI. Bauers wont hit for average, which sits at .252 on the year. However, he has a .70 BB/K which is more important in points leagues. A power hitter that can get walks is the most important combination in points leagues, and those are the guys who put up lots of points very quickly and consistently. Bauers has a .372 wOBA which is really impressive for a rookie. He has only stolen two bases this year, but he stole 20 in Triple-A last season. He's a huge bargain in all leagues at such low ownership.
Maikel Franco (3B, PHI) - 32% owned
Maikel Franco had a rough start to the season. He only hit .269 in the first half, but in July he's hitting .326. Franco has had a pretty good season in the RBI category with 47 so far. He's been hot enough lately to think he could reach 100 RBI this year. His wOBA is an underwhelming .325, but he is still improving that number. His stats are worse looking than his play because he was so bad early on. He makes for a great addition due to his power and high RBI total. While people sleep on his season stats, you should jump on his recent success.
Points League Pitchers to Stream
Andrew Suarez (SP, SF) - Tuesday 7/24/18 vs. SEA - 25% owned
Andrew Suarez has a two-start week. His 3.94 ERA isn't great, but he hasn't had negative points in quite some time. Suarez has an 8.29 K/9. He has a 1.22 WHIP. He has a few extra days of rest going into this week, so he should be able to go fairly deep in both contests. Suarez can get pretty decent run support from the San Francisco Giants. His 3-6 record doesn't suggest much value, but he's consistent and has plenty of upside this week. He's a streaming option only at this point unless he gets hot.
Julio Teheran (SP, ATL) - Monday 7/23/18 vs. MIA - 57% owned
Julio Teheran is still pretty highly owned, but he has enough upside to be on this list anyway. He put together a couple of good starts before the break, and he looks to continue that in a two-start week. Teheran has a 4.00 ERA with a 8.35 K/9. He has a 7-6 record, but has one of the best offenses to provide run support. Miami has a pretty poor offense, so expect Teheran to put up some solid numbers. He should be a rest of season addition, but he's at least a solid play this week for his high upside.
Shane Bieber (SP, CLE) - Tuesday 7/24/18 vs. PIT - 46% owned
Shane Bieber is the final two-start pitcher that I feel comfortable picking up this week. Bieber is 5-1 in seven starts this year. He has a 3.53 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. Bieber has made it through 5 2/3 innings in all of his starts. Combine that with a 8.72 K/9, and you get a high potential for points. He has been able to get out of jams with a 77.2% left on base percentage. He has a fairly easy matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates this week. He has limited his walks with a 1.66 BB/9. All of these factors make him a great investment. He could play a huge part in winning your leagues toward the end of the year. He'll help provide solid points in the meantime.
Points League Players to Drop
Kurt Suzuki (C, ATL) - 50% owned
Kurt Suzuki is going to continue to only play a couple time a week and share time with Tyler Flowers. The Atlanta Braves have a great lineup, and this causes the catchers to bat at the bottom of the order. This makes his value even lower yet. With 30 runs and 32 RBI his only value comes in two catcher leagues. Suzuki has played in 66 games this year. At 34 years old, he doesn't hold much dynasty value. If you have extremely large rosters you may be fine with Suzuki, but he shouldn't be owned in as many leagues as he is. A player that is only playing three times a week is too risky to roster.
Jake Lamb (3B, ARI) - 51% owned
Jake Lamb has struggled this year. He has an awful .300 wOBA. His average is all the way down to .229. Power is the majority of his game, but he only has 14 extra-base hits this year. Lamb is 4-31 at the plate, and is in the worst slump of his career. His .41 K/9 wont save his poor hitting in points leagues. His speed isn't good enough to add any points. He doesn't hold much value at his current state, and he probably wont get claimed if you drop him anyway.
Austin Meadows (OF, PIT) - 20% owned
Austin Meadows had a wonderful start to his career, but he has slowed down lately. Meadows is only hitting .233 in the month of July. He has only one home run in his last 35 games. His low average, lack of power, and a .24 BB/K have lead to his demotion to Triple-A. It seems obvious to drop someone that is in Triple-A, but he should be back in the majors in a month or so. At this point he isn't worth holding onto in redraft leagues, because there isn't much promise that he can get things going when he returns. Meadows should be dropped in all redraft leagues, and held onto in dynasty leagues unless your team has injuries.
