Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: Week 7
The waiver wire. Free agent budgets (FAB). It's back, it's real and it's glorious.
With the 2021 baseball season in full swing, nailing the waiver wire and the players available are critical to beating out your league-mates.
Each week we will take a look at players who are rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo leagues and can help out your season-long squads. Remember, if you aren’t scouring the waiver wire, you are falling behind.
Cole Irvin, SP, Oakland Athletics
Roster Percentage: 43%
Despite everyone and their brother tossing a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians, pitching has been a bit of a challenging landscape to navigate this year. If your rotation does need some help, Cole Irvin makes for a sneaky play.
Thrust into the Oakland Athletics' rotation due to injury, the southpaw won't exactly light up the radar gun, and that's ok -- because so far he has been brilliant otherwise. In his last turn, he shut down the potent Toronto Blue Jays offense, and he's fired his way to a 3.09 ERA thanks to a minuscule 3.5% walk rate.
If you need some pitching help, peep Irvin.
Shane McClanahan, Tampa Bay Rays
Roster Percentage: 27%
If you missed out on rostering Irvin, or if your rotation is in need of help in desperate spots like mine, you may want to consider adding Shane McClanahan of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Some of you may even be asking -- who is this dude? Great question, and allow me to explain.
Taken in the Compensatory (aka Sandwich Round) of the 2018 draft, McClanahan has flown up the Tampa system thanks to all around nasty stuff.
While he hasn't exactly pitched super deep into games (two starts, eight innings), the stuff has been as advertised -- a 32.3% strikeout rate, a 6.5% walk rate, and folks are pounding the ball into the ground with a 52.6% ground-ball rate.
Grab this dude before he's gone.
Willie Calhoun, OF, Texas Rangers
Roster Percentage: 17%
I know I have said this probably a zillion times in this column, but prospect growth is not linear. Willie Calhoun of the Texas Rangers is an excellent example of that.
The 2020 baseball season was already going to be whacky enough -- but then Calhoun was able to log only 108 plate appearances thanks to a broken jaw last season.
But he's quickly reminding folks of the 21 home runs he popped in limited playing time in 2019: this year, he has bopped 3 long balls in addition to a .338 batting average.
He's locked into a premium spot in the Rangers' order, and if you need some outfield help, Calhoun could provide a major shot in the arm.
Yan Gomes, C, Washington Nationals
Roster Percentage: 12%
Catcher has proven itself, yet again, to be a particularly challenging and fruitless position to roster. But one dude smashing the ball is Yan Gomes of the Washington Nationals.
With three homers in his last six games, Gomes is bashing his way through one of those hot streaks he's been dubious for throughout his career. The Nats are off Monday, but like so many teams, next week isn't a full Major League Baseball slate.
He gets to avoid Aaron Nola early in the week, and at the end of the week, he gets to batter the poor Arizona Diamondbacks rotation. Expect a monster Week 7 from Gomes.
Notable Two-Start Pitchers to Consider This Week
Robbie Ray (TOR): at ATL, vs PHI
JT Brubaker (PIT): vs CIN, vs SF
Jordan Montgomery (NYY): at TB, at BAL
Games in Coors Field This Week
San Diego Padres (3), Cincinnati Reds (4)
