Waiver Wire Sleepers: Week 21

It’s been a few weeks since I chimed in on some waiver adds. But real life has stepped its game up and yours truly has been double-dipping into football coverage. Don’t forget to show up tomorrow for tight end week!

Anyway, let’s get into some baseball. Some of these guys are available and smoking hot. Let’s finish out our baseball seasons strong, ladies and gents!

HITTERS

Kendrys Morales, Blue Jays (50% owned)

Morales is on a ridiculous heater. Not many can lay claim to being hotter than Khris Davis, but Morales is one of the few. He has now homered in six straight games, which ties a Toronto franchise record. He’s best utilized against right-handed pitching, but he’s tolerable against southpaws. He’s now quietly up to 20 home runs this season...ride the wave!

Yonder Alonso, Indians (44% owned)

He’s been derailed by a cold start and an injury absence, but he’s been an underrated corner infield bat all season. Also quietly over the 20-homer plateau with 22, Alonso is regularly hitting fifth for a strong Indians lineup. If you’re in need of a corner infield or utility power bat, he’s another worthy addition.

Jonathan Villar, Orioles (43% owned)

Villar was featured in this space during Week 18’s waiver wire effort, due to immense playing time staring him in the face as a new member of the Baltimore Orioles. He’s currently sitting on 10 home runs and 18 steals, which is impressive given his role as a part-timer prior to the trade. He’s batting .258 on the season, but he’ll push for a 15/20 season at the keystone, which is pretty underrated at that position.

Willy Adames, Rays (31% owned)

Adames struggled earlier this year, but the youngster seems to be finding his stroke. He has some strikeout issues, but he’s making a lot of hard contact (39.3%) against lefties with a healthy 21.4% line drive rate. And against right-handed pitchers he’s been stronger, slashing .259/.329/.417. He qualifies at 2B and SS on Yahoo, and offers some juice with eight home runs and six stolen bases so far. He could help you out in a middle infield spot if you were in need.

Greg Allen, Indians (18% owned)

Allen is a speed play, plain and simple. He clocks in at 29.1 ft/sec on his 82 competitive runs so far in 2018. The league average mark is 27 ft/sec, for reference. He’s a hair faster than Dee Gordon (29.0 ft/sec), just so you have a barometer. His .152 ISO at Double-A in 2016 was his best minor league mark...at that level he managed three home runs over 37 games. He hasn’t shown power in the majors but he does have a 37.1% hard contact rate and a healthy 24.8% line drive rate. His 8.5% swinging strike rate is far better than the 10.6% league average, and his contact rates are above average as well. If you need speed, he’s likely the premier guy available given that he’s up to 13 steals in part-time duty (and leads the MLB with six swipes over the last two weeks).

PITCHERS

German Marquez, Rockies (44% owned)

Marquez fired seven shutout innings on Saturday against the Cardinals. He was at home in Coors Field, too. The masses have taken notice, as his ownership has spiked 8% in the last day. It’s like everyone was waiting to see if he could handle his home environment before taking the plunge. Marquez is up to 160 strikeouts against only 49 walks, and he is generating ground balls 47.6% of the time, which gives him a strong floor (pun intended). This year, Marquez has made some gains in swinging strike rate, first strike percentage, and allows less contact in the zone and less contact overall. Hitters are also chasing his pitches out of the zone more. He’s checking off a lot of boxes and is pretty entrenched in my circle of trust, despite his home park environment.

Trevor Cahill, Athletics (44% owned)

Cahill had a poor last turn against the Twins, but he’s still had a pretty underrated season. A 3.44 ERA and 1.09 WHIP are pretty interesting in the current pitching world we live in. Those solid ratios come with 87 strikeouts across Cahill’s 91 ²⁄₃ innings. That, and the Athletics are one of the hottest teams in the league, so Cahill can improve upon his five wins if he continues his strong play. At the back end of your rotation, you could do much worse.

Freddy Peralta, Brewers (36% owned)

The rookie hasn’t been as consistent as we’d like, but his 4.02 ERA and 1.13 WHIP are tolerable given his strikeout upside. Peralta is up to 86 strikeouts across his 69 ¹⁄₃ innings. That’s a 30.4% strikeout rate, FYI. He is allowing a lot of hard contact (41.3%) and a lot of fly balls (50.0%), but we know lots of strikeouts sometimes go hand-in-hand with fly balls. He’s better against right-handed heavy lineups, as righties are only slashing .106/.216/.198 against him so far (.193 wOBA). For reference, lefties are slashing .229/.364/.424 with a .347 wOBA.

Robert Gsellman, Mets (28% owned)

He’s the main dude for the Mets right now, seemingly ahead of Seth Lugo. No crazy analysis here. If you need saves, he is a decent option.

Pat Neshek, Phillies (22% owned)

It seems like the 37-year-old has taken over for Seranthony Dominguez in Philadelphia. Trevor Hildenberger was a consideration, but Neshek should get more chances in Philly if mercurial manager Gabe Kapler continues to utilize him in this fashion. The secret is out, as Neshek’s ownership has spiked 15% over the last day on Yahoo. Speculate while you can, gamers.

That’s it for me this week! Back to the tight end studies. Have a good one, ladies and gents. Hit me up on Twitter @HeathCapps or drop me a line at heathcapps19@gmail.com if you have comments.