In this space, I’m going to help you to identify potential impact additions in fantasy baseball leagues. I’ll make an effort to tailor this column to all league sizes, recommending players to pick up that could be available in shallow, deeper, and AL- or NL-only formats.
The time to grind is now. If you are in striking distance in your fantasy league, you must keep your foot on the gas pedal over the final seven weeks of the season. While others may have turned their attention to fantasy football, there are plenty of points to be gained in the standings.
Pickup: Xavier Edwards
Fantasy managers who are looking for an impactful addition for the final seven weeks of the 2024 season should look no further than Marlins’ shortstop Xavier Edwards.
While managers in the high-stakes arena have already caught on, Edwards is still languishing on the waiver wire in almost 25 percent of all Yahoo leagues. The 25-year-old speedster is slashing an impressive .358/.437/.432 through his first 175 plate appearances on the season with a homer, 13 RBI, and a whopping 19 stolen bases in his first 40 games.
When you take into account the fact that Edwards didn’t steal a single base through his first 11 games, you see that he has been running wild – nabbing 19 bases in 20 attempts over his last 29 games. That elite level of speed is usually impossible to find on the waiver wire. When you combine it with a strong batting average (that’s inflated by a .432 batting average on balls in play (BABIP)), it’s easy to understand why Edwards would be an attractive commodity for fantasy purposes.
He has also ascended to the leadoff spot in the Marlins’ lineup after they moved Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the Yankees at the trade deadline. That leads to ample opportunities for runs scored – of which he has 20 in his last 29 ballgames. A three-category monster that can be picked up for nothing on the waiver wire in nearly a quarter of fantasy leagues? Sign me up.
Pickup: Matthew Boyd
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You may remember Boyd from his time as an above-average fantasy starter with the Tigers before a slew of injuries – and ultimately Tommy John surgery – derailed his career. If you haven’t been paying attention though, you may not know that Boyd latched on with the Guardians on a minor league deal over the winter and had been outstanding over five starts on his minor league rehab assignment – posting a 0.83 ERA, 0.65 WHIP and a jaw-dropping 27/2 K/BB ratio over 21 2/3 innings across three minor league levels.
That level of production earned him a promotion to the Guardians on Tuesday, where he shoved in his first big-league start since June of 2023. Boyd surrendered just one run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings against the Cubs, racking up six strikeouts in the process without walking a single batter. The 33-year-old southpaw got 12 swings and misses on 80 pitches on the night – two or more on each of his fastball, slider, changeup, and sinker – while registering an elite CSW (called strikes + whiffs) of 39 percent.
One of the hardest things to find on the waiver wire in fantasy baseball leagues is a consistent source of strikeouts. Usually, those types of arms come with warts – either playing for a poor team or major risks in terms of ratios. Boyd doesn’t have either of those concerns. He pitches for one of the best teams in the American League, which should provide him ample opportunity to win games, and his ratios have always been pristine when healthy.
He’s currently available in 85 percent of all Yahoo leagues and will be available to bid on in nearly 100 percent of all NFBC leagues on Sunday, as he wasn’t available in the player pool prior to making his season debut on Tuesday. He should be targeted aggressively, as Boyd has the potential to make a major difference over his final seven or eight starts of the season.
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