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 8 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
Brandon Crawford (SS, SFG) - 35% owned
Brandon Crawford is on an eight-game hitting streak. Over the last 14 days, Crawford has a .435 AVG and a slash line of .471/.630/1.101. He should still be available to most. Only having nine walks hurts his value some in points leagues, but he is getting on base multiple times every game. He makes for a streaming candidate while he's hot in all leagues.
Jesus Aguilar (1B, MIL) - 17% owned
Jesus Aguilar has homered in three straight games. Aguilar will get regular time while Eric Thames is on the DL. If he stays hot he could take some of the starts at first base from Thames. He makes a great streaming candidate, but could turn into a player with a more prominent role. He has a slash line of .395/.608/.1.003. He should be able to be streamed as long as he has a role. He has 20 R, 20 RBI, 11 BB and seven HR in just 102 at-bats.
Austin Meadows (OF, PIT) - 16% owned
It might be a little bit early to say that Austin Meadows is going to be a good addition to your team, but he's off to a hot start even if it's only a small sample size. He already has five hits in just three games. Meadows is great in point leagues because he has power and speed, but isn't dependent on homers and steals alone. Through just the three games he already has a home run and a stolen base. Austin Meadows is in a spot to be the starting center fielder for a few more days until Starling Marte comes back from the DL. He's a good addition in dynasty leagues, but he might be better used as a streaming player in redraft leagues.
Points League Pitchers to Stream
Tyson Ross (SP, SD) - Wednesday 5/23/18 vs. WSH - 39% owned
Tyson Ross doesn't have the ideal matchup this week, but he has a two - start week next week. It can be hard to add these guys right before the week starts, so this would be a chance to get three solid starts from a waiver wire pitcher. Ross has 55 K so far this season which provides a lot of value. He has thrown exactly six innings in seven of his nine starts, so he's a safe play that you know what to expect from.
Jordan Lyles (SP, SD) - Sunday 5/27/18 vs. LAD - 20% owned
Jordan Lyles will only be making his fourth start of the year as he started the season in the bullpen. He may be a more risky start than Tyson Ross this week, but he draws a more favorable matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lyles threw 7.1 IP against the Colorado Rockies and only gave up one hit with 10 strikeouts. He has a high upside but is a riskier play. My advice is to pick up Ross, then see how your fantasy score is. If you are trailing by a lot I would start Lyles and hope for something impressive. If you have a lead or a close score stick with someone solid that has more of a record this season.
Jack Flaherty (SP, STL) - Saturday 5/26/18 vs. PIT - 33% owned
Jack Flaherty finally got his first win after his fourth start this year. He has pitched pretty well, and he had 13 strikeouts in his win against the Philadelphia Phillies. Flaherty is only a streaming option until The rotation is set for good. Alex Reyes is only a week away from a return to the majors where he'll most likely begin in the bullpen. Carlos Martinez and Adam Wainwright are also both injured, so there will have to be some moves made to accommodate for all the arms. As a Cardinals fan, I expect Wainwright to take a bullpen role and then Reyes or Flaherty will take the fifth spot.
Points League Players to Drop
Byron Buxton (OF, MIN) - 59% owned
Byron Buxton has been riddled with injuries this year, and many people in redraft already dropped him. He's still owned in a lot of leagues though. He has played in 20 games and only has a .164 AVG. The majority of Buxton's points come from stealing bases. Having a fractured toe earlier in the year makes that a little scary. Their isn't an upside for HRs or RBI, so it is time to drop him if you haven't yet.
Joe Mauer (1B/DH, MIN) - 15% owned
Joe Mauer isn't having a terrible season, but there are a few factors leading to the decision to drop him. The most obvious reason is that he's on the 10-day DL. Although Mauer has a high BB total with 28, he only has one home run and 11 RBI. Another factor contributing to his loss of value is that there are plenty of other first basemen that are putting up more points than Mauer. Dynasty owners are losing value even faster because Mauer is 35 years old. His great career probably wont last much longer, and he's quickly starting to lose value.
Kurt Suzuki (C, ATL) - 40% owned
Kurt Suzuki has put up good enough numbers to be a starter, and has actually been one of the better hitting catchers, but he has to share time with Tyler Flowers. Until his role is to play every day, he should be dropped. It's hard to win fantasy championships with players that aren't in the lineup. If you are in a team that utilizes two catcher spots, he should be kept but in all other leagues he doesn't have enough value. Suzuki has nine BB and six HR.
