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What's up, RotoBallers? We're closing in on the season's final month, and every move you make could be the difference between the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat for your fantasy team. Fortunately, we're here to help with this week's buy and sell recommendations.
After you’ve checked them out, head over to our Waiver Wire Rankings Wizard tool for more advice and insight.
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Week 21 Buy Candidates
Keon Broxton, OF, Milwaukee Brewers
Speed has been a tough commodity to find on the wire this season. In recent weeks, though, several players have begun swiping bags like their lives depend on it. Some players, like Travis Jankowski or Raul Mondesi, need to run in order to provide value. Broxton, on the other hand, has supplemented his 11 swipes in the last month with a robust .313/.427/.588 line and five home runs. The rookie showed flashes of power throughout the minors and was always a threat on the bases, but he also struck out a ton. That hasn’t changed as he’s run a 36.4% strikeout rate since joining the Brewers, but he’s provided enough category juice to look the other way.
Alex Gordon, OF, Kansas City Royals
The first year of Gordon’s $72 million extension hasn’t gone as he or the Royals would have hoped, but he’s finally started hitting again recently. In his last 12 games, the veteran has slashed .381/.469/.786 with five homers and 21 R+RBI. That production has helped the defending champions force their way back into the wild-card race. The odds are still stacked against them, but Gordon maintaining this pace would certainly help.
Tyler Anderson, SP, Colorado Rockies
As any fantasy owner knows, Rockies pitchers who can be trusted are like unicorns. Anderson has acquitted himself well since breaking into the majors in June, pitching to a 3.69 ERA and 1.20 WHIP despite throwing 70 percent of his innings at Coors Field. Any pitcher who’s going to succeed at that house of horrors needs to post excellent strikeout and walk numbers, and a high ground ball rate is ideal. Anderson checks all the boxes. His 74 ERA- (a metric that adjusts for park and league, where 100 is average) compares favorably to top-tier arms like Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, and Jacob deGrom. That’s not a scoring category in your league, sure, but it speaks to how well the rookie has performed in an unforgiving environment.
Week 21 Sell Candidates
When Bruce was traded by the Reds at the deadline, a certain handsome fantasy writer suggested that owners might be well served to deal him off themselves. Bruce’s pedestrian career numbers outside of Great American Ball Park and last year’s second half collapse were potential red flags. Sure enough, Bruce’s first month in Queens has been a disaster. He’s hitting a putrid .169/.256/.286 with just two home runs for the Mets, whose hopes of defending their National League grow dimmer by the day.
Adam Wainwright, SP, St. Louis Cardinals
On July 21, Wainwright tossed six innings of two-run ball against the Padres, striking out eight and walking none. It was his eighth quality start in nine outings, and lowered his ERA to a season-best 4.09. Fantasy owners breathed a sigh of relief, as it appeared that Wainwright had rounded into form after a difficult start to the year. But baseball, like life, rarely follows such neat and convenient narratives. The former ace has fallen back on hard times since that game, going winless in six starts and posting ugly ratios (7.04 ERA, 1.89 WHIP) in the process. While this is partly attributable to bad luck on BABIP and strand rates, Wainwright’s strikeout, walk, and home run rates have all moved in the wrong direction during this rough patch. He now sports a 4.67 ERA and 1.38 WHIP on the season.
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