Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Watch: Dylan Moore stays hot, Albert Suarez is back

Welcome to Waiver Wire Watch, where we review the top fantasy baseball pickups and drops for each week of the MLB season.

The premise is pretty straightforward. I’ll try to give you some recommended adds each week based on recent production or role changes. When I list a player, I’ll try to list the category where I think he’ll be helpful or the quick reason he’s listed. My hope is that it will help you to determine if the player is a fit for what your team needs or not.

For a player to qualify to be on this list, he needs to be UNDER 50% rostered in Yahoo formats. I understand you may say, “These players aren’t available in my league,” and I can’t help you there. These players are available in over 50% of leagues and some in 98% of leagues, so they’re available in many places and that can hopefully satisfy readers in all league types.

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We’ll start by just looking at the teams with the best overall schedule in the next week. It’s just a part of the equation but it’s good to know which hitters will face an easier road.

Hitters

Joey Ortiz – 2B/3B, MIL (44% rostered)
(RUNS, STARTING JOB)

Ortiz had solid exit velocity numbers in the minor leagues last year but couldn’t break through with the Orioles; yet, it was intriguing when he got dealt to the Brewers. Then it took him a while to break into the lineup, but now it appears that he’s emerging as the primary third baseman for the Brewers and is producing, hitting 18-for-59 (.305) in May with four home runs, nine runs, and 10 RBI in his last 18 games. Ortiz is unlikely to be a huge power hitter, but he does hit the ball hard and is now in a much better hitter’s park, so he will leave the yard. He also stole 11 bases last year, so he will likely swipe a base or two as well as the year goes on. I think you could get a little bit of production in all five categories from Ortiz and that makes him a solid add in most formats

Junior Caminero – 3B, TB: 44% rostered
(PRIORITY STASH)

Listen, it’s going to happen at some point. Tampa Bay is just not playing well enough to keep Camierno in Triple-A. He’s admittedly slowed down of late and is now hitting .271/.334/.481 at Triple-A with seven home runs, 18 runs, and 23 RBI in 32 games. Brandon Lowe is back now but 2-for-11 since coming off the IL and really just hasn’t been a solid regular for a while. Caminero probably gives their offense more than Harold Ramirez or Jonathan Aranda does, so I have to believe the Rays will likely call him up soon. Playing him at second base last week, even if it didn’t stick, tells me they’re actively looking for ways to get him into the MLB lineup.

Dylan Moore – 2B/SS/OF, SEA: 42% rostered
(POWER UPSIDE, REGULAR PLAYING TIME)

I covered Moore in my article this week on potential power producers, so I would love it if you checked that out. My argument there was essentially that Moore shifted his whole approach at the plate, swinging less overall, chasing way less out of the zone, and posting a career-high 81.2% contact rate to go along with a career-low 7.8% SwStr%. When he is swinging, he’s hunting pitches he can turn on with a 50% pull rate and a 54% flyball rate. His launch angle being 26 degrees is a bit concerning and makes me think that some of these pulled fly balls that didn’t get out are balls he got under too much; however, he’s hitting .244 with six home runs in 43 games after never having hit more than 12 home runs in a full season. Who knows how long he can keep making this level of contact, but this approach is backing up his results.

Alec Burleson – 1B/OF, STL (36% rostered)
(POWER UPSIDE, PLAYING TIME)

The Cardinals have been a little bit of a mess this season, and their two big-time prospects, Jordan Walker and Victor Scott, are both back at Triple-A, but that’s opened up opportunities for guys like Burleson. He’s gone 17-of-41 over the last two weeks, which is a .415 average with two home runs, eight runs, four RBI, and two steals. While Burleson wasn’t a top prospect, he put up good numbers in the minors, hitting .331 in 109 games at Triple-A in 2022 with 20 home runs, 87 RBI, and four steals. He hasn’t been able to get that to translate over to the big league level, but this year he’s being far more aggressive and looking to drive the ball to all fields. His swing rate is up, while his chase rate has remained the same but his overall contact rate is down. That usually fits with a player who is selling out for power, but Burleson is actually pulling the ball less while both his oppo rate and line drive rate are way up. Plus, he’s still striking out only 16% of the time. Using the whole field has led to an Ideal Contact Rate that’s 88th percentile in all of baseball, and while it may prevent him from putting up huge home run totals, it should continue to give him a solid batting average and give him the opportunity to drive in a fair amount of runs hitting in the middle of the Cardinals’ order. Add that to 15+ home runs and you have a solid fantasy player.

Luke Raley – 1B/OF, SEA: 34% rostered
(POWER, STRONG SIDE PLATOON)

Raley is another duplicate player on this list, but he continues to start against all right-handed pitchers and is seeing the ball well. He broke out with the Rays last year and then was traded to Seattle, where he got off to a really slow start. However, he’s started to pick it up of late, going 20-of-63 (.317) over 19 games in May with four home runs, 12 runs scored, nine RBI, and two steals. He is going to sit against almost all left-handed pitching, so you need to check the Mariners’ schedule to see which weeks are good weeks to add him, but I think he can be rostered in all daily moves formats because you can move him to the bench when they face a lefty.

I also think we can add Josh Bell – 1B, MIA (28% rostered) in most formats. We know the lineup context isn’t good, but he’s hitting 15-for-47 (.319) over his last 12 games with two home runs and 12 RBI. He’s a solid player, so while you’re not going to get tremendous production out of him, I think his safe floor makes him a good CI option in deeper formats.

Danny Jansen – C, TOR (23% rostered)
(POWER, PLAYING TIME)

I think Jansen can be rostered in far more formats Jansen should continue to be in the lineup regularly. He’s started four of the last six games and continues to play regularly in the Toronto lineup. He has always been a good hitter with solid pop, but his main concerns have been injury and playing time. He has five home runs over his last 20 games, and since I think the playing time will be there for the next few weeks at least, I’d rather gamble on him staying healthy than take a less-talented catcher.

Jake Meyers – OF, HOU: 19% rostered
(STARTING JOB, BATTING AVERAGE)

Jake Meyers has been playing well and has continued to start since Chas McCormick came back from injury, but people don’t seem to want to pick him up. Over the last month, Meyers is 23-for-68 (.338) and his counting stats have ticked up over the last two weeks, with three home runs, seven runs, and 12 RBI in his last 12 games. He makes a lot of contact, is barreling the ball 10% of the time, and pulling the ball more than he ever has. Now that there is clearly no threat to his playing time, he needs to be added in more formats.

Tommy Pham – OF, CWS: 18% rostered
(FIVE CATEGORIES, PLAYING TIME)

I’m gonna keep Tommy Pham here now as an exercise since nobody seems to want to pick him up. He’s 35-for-107 (.327) in 27 games this season with three home runs, 17 runs, 12 RBI, and three steals. Yes, his team context is bad, so he’s not going to set the world on fire, but he’s always chipped in a little bit in all five categories and he’s playing nearly every game. He’s a really solid safe floor option.

I also think it’s time to give more love to Andrew McCutchen – OF, PIT: 6% rostered. He’s gone 16-for-48 (.333) over the last two weeks with three home runs, 10 runs scored, and six RBI in 12 games. He’s been much better over the entire month of May and is playing every day in Pittsburgh. He also hit .256 with 12 home runs and 11 steals in 112 games last year, so it’s not as if he’s totally washed. He can still give you stretches of solid production.

Masyn Winn – SS, STL: 15% rostered
(EVERY DAY JOB, BATTING AVERAGE UPSIDE)

I was a little down on Winn coming into the year because I wasn’t sure how fantasy-friendly his profile was. He doesn’t have a lot of power, and he stole just two bases in 37 games last year, so I wasn’t sure how often the Cardinals would let him run. However, his defense has kept him in the lineup every day and that has really helped him adapt to MLB pitching. He’s 12-for-34 (.382) over his last 10 games with two home runs, eight RBI and a steal and is hitting .301 on the season with seven steals. The Cardinals’ lineup has been poor so the counting stats won’t be great, and he offers little in the way of power, but if you want a batting average asset with some chip-in steals, Winn looks like a great bet.

We also got good news that Zach Neto – SS, LAA (18% rostered) survived an injury scare with his elbow and won’t miss any time. Neto is hitting .306 with three home runs over the last two weeks. He’s been trending up over the last month, and I believed in the talent before the season started, so I think you can add him in most formats now.

Nick Gonzales – 2B/SS, PIT (10% rostered)
(PLAYING TIME OPPORTUNITY, BATTING AVERAGE, RBI)

There was a point in time when Nick Gonzales was an interesting prospect, but his first taste of the majors didn’t go so well last year. However, he seemed to alter his approach at Triple-A this year, being a bit more aggressive which led to a lower walk rate but also a higher pull rate and more hard contact. Since he’s been up at the MLB level, he’s lifting the ball more with a 50% fly ball rate that has helped lead to a 14.6% barrel rate and five mph jump in his average exit velocity. The pull rate is down, so if he also begins to pull the ball as he had been at Triple-A (or even at his career norm levels) we might see a bit more power. As it stands, he’s hitting .308 with two home runs and 14 RBI in 15 games since being promoted. He continues to hit fifth in the order every day which should lead to RBI opportunities as well.

For the third week in a row, I also don’t mind adding Edmundo Sosa – 3B/SS, PHI: 11% rostered who is playing regularly for the Phillies with Trea Turner out and is 18-for-53 (.340) in May with 17 runs, 13 RBI, and two steals in 18 games. He still swings a lot, but he’s chasing less outside of the zone and swinging way less overall. I still worry about his 18% swinging strike rate and 66% overall contact rate, but you can certainly add him in the short term.

Colt Keith – 2B, DET: 9% rostered
(POWER UPSIDE, HOT STRETCH)

I mentioned Keith last week as somebody we might want to buy back in on, and this week he went 10-for-21 (.476) with a home run and four RBI. So, yeah, we’re going to keep him on here. He’s had a good month of May and while the full power profile hasn’t materialized yet, the 22-year-old is showing improved contact ability and the quality of the contact has also gotten better. He’s hitting toward the middle of the Tigers’ lineup and is getting more comfortable at the MLB level, so it might be time to take a gamble in 12-team formats as well.

Mark Vientos – 3B, NYM (5% rostered)
(PLAYING TIME OPPORTUNITY, POWER UPSIDE)

I’m not entirely sure what the Mets are doing. Vientos has been playing well in his opportunities this season, going 11-of-32 (.344) with three home runs, seven runs, and six RBI in 10 games. However, he’s also been on the bench for two games in a row because Brett Baty got the start on Saturday and hit a home run. I wouldn’t put too big a bid on Vientos because his playing time is not secure, but I’d bet on him over Baty at this point.

Heliot Ramos – OF, SF (2% rostered)
(PLAYING TIME OPPORTUNITY)

I know Luis Matos – OF, SF (53% rostered) was the popular add after going 10-for-22 (.455) with two home runs and 16 RBI in his first six games, but that never seemed realistic in any way. He was not playing well at Triple-A, slashing .218/.308/.355 in 31 games, and has now gone 5-for-28 (.179) over his last six games with the Giants. I believe Ramos might be the better long-term bet. I know that his spot in LF is less defensively important than Matos’ role in CF, but I think Ramos is the better hitter. He’s striking out 31% of the time in 16 games with the Giants, which isn’t ideal, but he has a 9% walk rate, 15.4% barrel rate, and has cut his groundball rate from 50% in his brief MLB sample last year to 38% this year. I don’t know if either of this guys have real staying power, but I’d put my money on Ramos if I had to choose.

Seth Brown – 1B/OF, OAK: 2% rostered
(PLAYING TIME, POWER/SPEED UPSIDE)

Let’s end with Seth Brown, who I like as a deep-league option. Brown struggled through some injuries last year but has been a solid regular in a bad Oakland lineup for a few years now, hitting .230 with 25 home runs and 11 steals in 2022. He really struggled to start the year, and his strikeout rate skyrocketed, but Oakland kept playing him. He’s gotten his strikeout rate back down around career-norm levels and is hitting 10-for-33 (.303) over his last 11 games with two home runs, six runs scored, and three steals. Oakland’s lineup has been a bit feistier than people expected, which will give him some counting stat upside, and he has a nice blend of power/speed that can be helpful in deeper formats while he’s seeing the ball well.

I still think you can also add Jake Bauers – 1B/OF, MIL: 8% rostered who has cooled a bit of late but is playing every day in a good lineup with a solid home ballpark. He has a pull-heavy approach that will lead to some solid power weeks and that’s useful in deeper formats.

Pitchers

Reese Olson – SP, DET: 47% rostered

More people need to be adding Reese Olson, especially after he recovered from taking a line drive off the hip to throw six quality innings this week. Reese Olson is a pitcher I’ve been bullish on since the preseason, so it’s nice to see him delivering here. He’s on a run of six straight good starts and only has one real blemish on the year with a poor second start against the Pirates. The schedule he’s faced hasn’t been the hardest but that’s also part of what comes with pitching in the AL Central. I think Olson is a talented, young arm and I believe he’ll finally get a win at some point since this Tigers offense should get going a bit.

I also think Gavin Stone – SP, LAD (47% rostered) is a priority add for this week. Bobby Miller is starting a rehab assignment, but James Paxton has not been great, so we don’t know if Stone will definitely be removed from the rotation or not. Worst case, he should be good for this week.

Ben Lively – SP, CLE: 35% rostered

Yes, Ben Lively is not as good as his 2.84 ERA suggests, but he is also a different pitcher after his time in Korea and belongs in the streaming conversation. His only truly bad start was a game against the Rangers you should never have been starting him in. He looked solid against the Mets to start this week and now gets the Nationals next week. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get five or six innings with two runs allowed and six or seven strikeouts. I like that as a stream, but he’s a streamer only.

Christian Scott – SP, NYM: 29% rostered
Scott followed up this solid MLB debut against an admittedly mediocre Rays offense with a strong showing against a good Braves team. Then he struggled against the Marlins, and people dropped him. Even after a good start against the streaking Giants, people still don’t want to pick him up and I don’t understand it. His ability to miss bats is clear, and I love his demeanor on the mound. His fastball has so much life and his sweeper and slider both have the potential to miss plenty of bats. Even with his poor start against the Marlins I believe that he can probably be started against most offenses, so he should absolutely be added to your roster.

Alec Marsh – SP, KC: 26% rostered

No, I don’t really buy this breakout from Marsh. Last year I wrote about changes Marsh was making to his pitch mix and was intrigued by him becoming more of a sinker/sweeper arm. This season, he has abandoned the sweeper for the old, harder slider which is fine because the pitch works for him. However, the profile isn’t too much different from who he was becoming late last year, and that’s still a consistent starter with no pitch that is truly “plus.” He pitches in a good park and the Royals are a solid team, so he’s certainly on the streaming radar, and I’d gamble on him this week, but I don’t think this is a long-term add.

Albert Suarez – SP, BAL (9% rostered)
After injuries to John Means and Drean Kremer, it seems like Suarez is back in the rotation. The veteran has a 1.53 ERA and 0.95 WHIP on the year with 24 strikeouts in 29.1 innings. He looked good filling in against the White Sox on short notice, and we love the team context and the changes to his pitch mix that he made overseas, so he’s back on the streaming radar and can be an add in deeper formats given his home park and team context.

I do love what Cade Povich – SP, BAL is doing in Triple-A, but it seems like the Orioles will go with Suarez and Cole Irvin in the rotation for now.

Matt Waldron – SP, SD: 6% rostered

Waldron has been pretty good in his last three starts against tough teams in the Dodgers, Braves, and Reds in Cincinnati. As with most knuckleballers, he’s inconsistent because it’s so hard to know if he’ll have full command of his trademark pitch or not. However, knuckleballers are also streaky because when they’ve got it, they’re really tough to hit. Given how Waldron has pitched of late and that he gets the Marlins this week, I’m happy to scoop him up.

I’ll also just use this space to say that I really like Jose Soriano – SP, LAA (16% rostered) and think he can be a solid stream against a Mariners offense that has been struggling.

Blake Walston – SP, ARI 2% rostered
Walston will make his first career start today against the Marlins and at this time, I have no idea how that will go. I just wanted to list him here because he’s a former first-round pick and former top-100 prospect who has never really taken off but has also never really been bad. He is Arizona’s 25th-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and has a 4.54 ERA this year in 35.2 innings at Triple-A with 35 strikeouts and 20 walks, which has led to a 1.63 WHIP. Walston’s stuff has regressed a bit, but at one point, he featured a plus change-up and big-breaking curve with a 92 mph fastball. He’s certainly not an add in most formats, but I’d keep an eye on him in deeper leagues because there had once been raw tools to like here.

Really deep formats can also add David Peterson – SP, NYM (1% rostered), who will be added back to their rotation this week. However, he gets the Dodgers this week, so you’re certainly not using him now.

Check out my list of weekly streamers below.

STREAMING STARTER OPTIONS FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK (ranked in loose order)

• Gavin Stone (LAD) – at NYM, vs COL

• Zack Littell (TB) – vs OAK, at BAL

• Alec Marsh (KC) – at MIN, vs SD

• Jose Soriano (CLE) – at SEA

• Matt Waldron (SD) – vs MIA

• Ben Lively (CLE) – vs WAS

• Tobias Myers (MIL) – vs CHC, vs CWS

• Griffin Canning (LAA) – vs NYY, at SEA

• Albert Suarez (BAL) – vs TB

• Hunter Brown (HOU) – at SEA

Jeremiah Estrada – RP, SD: 4% rostered
Every year, a group of ratio-helping relievers emerges into the fantasy landscape ready to help our teams. Even though they are not likely to get saves, they can rack up strikeouts and help balance our ratios and that can often be more valuable than streaming a mediocre starter or chasing saves with a flawed reliever. I like Estrada for that role. He flashed as a reliever with the Cubs but now seems to be putting it together and is throwing high-leverage innings with the Padres that can earn him wins and saves. Luke Weaver – RP, NYY (19% rostered), Garrett Cleavinger – RP, TB (11% rostered), and Matt Strahm – RP, PHI (23% rostered) are also options I like for this same reason.

Players to Drop

In this section, I’ll give you a few players who are rostered in over 50% of leagues who I think might be OK to cut bait on. I’ll also list the schedule to highlight which teams have fewer games or face a tougher road of pitchers in case you want to churn the bottom of your roster by getting rid of some hitters with a bad schedule.

Cedric Mullins – OF, BAL: 69% rostered
This is for shallower formats because I think Mullins will continue to play as the Orioles’ best option in center field and has four steals over the last week, so we know he can still run. However, Mullins is hitting .148 in 18 games in May with 19 strikeouts and zero home runs. Because of his speed, I’m not cutting him in 15-team leagues and I could see holding him in 12-team leagues with deep benches where I need the speed, but in shallower formats or leagues where I feel comfortable about my speed, I’d rather play some of the hot bats over Mullins.

Spencer Torkelson – 1B, DET: 67% rostered

I know people still want to hold onto Torkelson because he got hot last year after a slow start and hit 30 home runs, but I don’t think “he did it last year” is enough reason to hold onto a player. Especially a 24-year-old who doesn’t have a long track record as a slow starter or somebody who goes through prolonged cold streaks. The truth is that Torkelson is headed in the wrong direction with a .195 average in May. He does have his only three home runs in May, but he’s continuing to pop the ball up a lot. Pitchers have changed the way they are pitching to him, throwing him up in the zone more and so until he adjusts back to how he’s being pitched, we can’t just assume he’ll “get hot.” At this point, I’d rather have Luke Raley or David Fry.

Justin Turner – 1B/2B/3B, TOR: 63% rostered
We like to think that our ageless wonder hitters will always produce, but time is undefeated. It caught up to Nelson Cruz and it can catch up to Turner. The veteran was good in Boston last year but has not looked the same for the Blue Jays. He’s now hitting 10-for-77 (.130) over the last month with two home runs, six runs, and five RBI in 21 games. I’m just not really sure what he’s bringing to the table to be rostered in this many formats. Do we still believe the Blue Jays are going to wake up into one of the better offenses in baseball? I just don’t see it.