We’re going streaking! No, not really, keep your damn clothes on, but this week’s theme is capitalizing on players currently on hot streaks. That’s mostly what this crazy 2020 season has been about. With only two months of regular season games being played, most of what we’ve seen so far could be consider “streaks”. But as I’ve mentioned before, we need to scoop these players up and milk the hot streaks for all they’re worth. Who would’ve thought that one of my teams that was supposed to be led by Alex Bregman and Aaron Judge would be kept afloat by the likes of Anthony Santander, Jesse Winker, and Randal Grichuk. That’s 2020 for you. This week’s fantasy baseball waiver wire contains a few more hitters currently on hot streaks and a few intriguing arms for the stretch run as well.
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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Hitters
Alex Dickerson (OF – SFG)
In case you haven’t noticed, Alex Dickerson has five straight multi-hit games. Included in that is a 5-hit affair with three home runs and 16 total bases in a 23-5 win over Colorado to start the month of September. Ths San Francisco offense has performed much better lately and Dickerson is a big reason for that. Could he be another late-blooming hitter that turns into a productive fantasy option now that he’s receiving regular playing time for the first time in his career? Dickerson has always performed admirably in his limited playing time in the past, posting a .257/.333/.455 slash line with San Diego in 2016 and then a .276/.332/.489 slash line last year after missing two straight seasons due to Tommy John surgery and a slew of other ailments.
This year for the Giants, Dickerson has played in 33 games while posting a .277/.351/.554 slash line with a .277 ISO that ranks 26th best in baseball for players with 110-plus plate appearances. Dickerson’s statcast data backs up his strong play this season as well with his exit velocity, hard-hit%, barrel%, and xSLG all hovering around the 85th percentile right now. He’s also improved his plate discipline, increasing his walk rate from 6.8% to 10.5% and dropping his strikeout rate from 22.1% to 17.5% while also cutting his O-Swing by around 4%. Long story short, Dickerson should be rostered in more leagues than he currently is.
Austin Riley (3B/OF – ATL)
After an 0/4 performance on August 16th, Austin Riley’s slash line sat at an unsightly .150/.200/.317. All the excitement about Riley in our fantasy world had vanished and he found himself deep in the waiver wire abyss in most leagues. Well, it’s time to reel this young slugger back in as he’s gone on a tear over the last few weeks. In his last 15 games since August 16th, Riley has recorded a hit in all but one game and has hit four home runs in his last 12 contests.
Those strikeout woes haven’t disappeared unfortunately with a 20th percentile K% ad 21st percentile whiff rate, but Riley’s quality of contact has been impressive of late and he’s sporting an 83rd percentile barrel rate and 79th percentile exit velocity for the season. With his subpar plate approach, there will likely be plenty of peaks and valleys in Riley’s career. We just have to ride out the hot streaks as long as they last.
Victor Reyes (OF – DET)
Speaking of hot streaks, Victor Reyes has been locked in over the last couple of weeks. After going a combined 3/7 in yesterday’s doubleheader, Reyes is now hitting .306 on the season with three homers and five steals in 121 at-bats. That jumps to .346 over the last two weeks with 10 runs scored serving as Detroit’s primary leadoff hitter. While Reyes isn’t your ideal leadoff hitter with a career 3.6% walk rate, he’s currently sporting a 93rd percentile xBA with his exit velocity, hard-hit%, xSLG, xwOBA, and sprint speed all ranking between the 71st percentile and 77th percentile in baseball. Not to mention that he also hit over .300 last season with nine steals in 69 games for the Tigers.
Jason Heyward (OF – CHC)
In a season where Javier Baez has struggled and Kris Bryant has been in and out of the lineup, you could argue that Jason Heyward of all people has been the Cubbies best hitter. Through 32 games, Heyward carries a .301/.417/.559 slash line and has walked (19) more than he’s struck out (18). In fact, he’s one of three players in baseball to have an ISO above .250 and more walks than strikeouts. Do you want to know the other two? It’s just two guys named Bryce Harper and Juan Goato Soto. No big deal or anything.
Heyward has always quietly shown a good plate approach and that has been even better this season. It also helps that he’s showing more power than he has in years as his .258 ISO is his best career mark and the first time he’s been above .200 since a .210 mark way back in 2012. Right now, Heyward can give you a solid boost in AVG and an even bigger one in OBP formats.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Pitchers
Tyler Mahle (SP – CIN)
With how he’s been pitching of late, I’m shocked to see Tyler Mahle rostered percentage so low. After back to back tough outing on 8/12 and 8/23 (although he had 11 K in 6.1 combined innings), Mahle has reeled off back to back quality starts including an 11-K performance in 6.2 innings against the Cubs last week. While six homers allowed in his last four starts and four in his last two is less than ideal, Mahle has done a great job limited contact outside of those mistakes. He’s been mixing his fastball, slider, and splitter well and each offering has an xwOBA of .319 or less with Mahle’s slider also recording a 44.3% whiff rate and 29.5% putaway rate. He’ll get another matchup next week with those same Cubs he just struck out 11 times last week.
Tyler Mahle, Filthy 85mph Splitter. 😨 pic.twitter.com/qj6857KPkr
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 2, 2019
Zach Eflin (SP – PHI)
As is the case with most Philadelphia pitchers over the last few seasons, fantasy managers have had a love/hate relationship with Zach Eflin. The 26-year-old right hander has shown flashed of promise, but ultimately ends up with lackluster numbers at the end of each season. On the surface, this season would look like another typical Eflin season with a 4.45 ERA, but he’s been pitching much better than that surface ERA would indicate. Eflin’s FIP is more than a run and a half lower at 2.89 and he has the 11th best K-BB% in baseball at 25%, tied with Lucas Giolito and just in front of Max Scherzer, Luis Castillo, and Dinelson Lamet.
To take things one step further, Eflin’s xFIP and SIERA both are a tick lower than Scherzer’s right now. Statcast data backs this up too with Eflin posting an 89th percentile xERA and xBA with a 90th percentile xwOBA.
Justin Dunn (SP – SEA)
After starting the season with three poor outings in his first four starts, Justin Dunn has dominated in his last two starts, combining to allow only two hits and five walks over 12 shutout innings with 12 strikeouts. When looking at his pitch mix this season, the results are a mixed bag. Dunn’s fastball and slider have a .205 and .202 wOBA respectively while both posting an xBA under .180. However, his curveball and changeup are getting demolished to the tune of a .518 and .486 wOBA respectively. Most of that damage was earlier in the season though as Dunn has a 40+% CSW on his curveball in each of his last two outings.
A career-high six strikeouts over six scoreless innings – Justin Dunn was dealing today for the #Mariners. pic.twitter.com/TrwbCRtT98
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 23, 2020
If he can continue to find success with that curve to add to his effective fastball and slider, Dunn might just keep this hot streak going for the remainder of the season. The Mariners schedule looks very favorable too. Dunn will square off against the Rangers Sunday followed by a matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks later in the week. Both Texas and Arizona rank in the bottom-3, along with Pittsburgh, in wOBA and ISO this season.
Daniel Bard (RP – COL)
Including Daniel Bard in this article is something I never thought would happen. After emerging as one of the best relievers in baseball in 2011-2012 and serving as the heir apparent to Jonathan Papelbon in Boston, the Red Sox had the brilliant idea to put Bard in the rotation. That was the beginning of the end for Bard as that genius decision blew up in Boston’s face and Bard lost his stuff, mechanics, velocity, and basically everything else a pitcher can lose. Now, seven years after his last Major League stint, Bard is closing out games for Colorado and is worth a look in fantasy leagues as well.
When Bard was at his best, he was firing upper-90’s fastballs and making opposing hitters look foolish with one of the best sliders in the game. Well, guess what? Both of those have returned. Bard is currently averaging 97.0 mph on his fastball with a 98th percentile spin rate. That’s only around one mph off his peak velocity from his time as a setup man. On top of that, Bard’s slider is registering a 33.3% whiff rate and 37.5% putaway rate. It might’ve taken seven years longer than expected and on a different team, but Bard is closing out games now, racking up four saves total and three in the last 11 days. If you’ve been hunting for saves, Bard is here to help.
Media/Link Credit: Pitching Ninja, MLB Pipeline, Juan DeLeon/Icon Sportswire
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