Another week, another Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire report here on FantraxHQ. Regardless of what style league you play in and what point of the season it is, we should always be looking to improve our fantasy teams. Whether you’re looking to catch the next red hot breakout, find an injury replacement, or improve in a specific statistical category, the waiver wire can help you accomplish all of those. This week’s report features plenty of young talent as we’ve experienced a wave of intriguing prospect promotions along with already debuted rookies performing well.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire
Gunnar Henderson (SS/3B – BAL) & Corbin Carroll (OF – ARI)
Let’s just get these two out of the way right off the bat. If either Gunnar Henderson or Corbin Carroll is still available in your league, pick them up immediately. These are league-winning additions that don’t become available frequently down the stretch run of the fantasy baseball season. Carroll possesses fantasy first-round upside down the road thanks to his elite blend of contact skills, approach, and speed with 20+ homer pop. As for Henderson, he projects as a slightly more toolsy Xander Bogaerts in my eyes, which you should take as incredibly high praise since I’ve been a Red Sox fan since I was in diapers. Both Carroll and Henderson have balled out in their first few days as Major Leaguers.
Corbin Carroll: 4/14, 2 XBH, 4 R, 5 RBI
Gunnar Henderson: 3/8, HR, SB
GUNNAR HENDERSON'S FIRST MLB HIT WITH THE @Orioles IS A HOMER! pic.twitter.com/9t7Y1hqaBg
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 31, 2022
Riley Greene (OF – DET)
Another top-5 prospect at the time of his promotion, Riley Greene struggled a bit out of the gate but has really turned up the heat recently. Over the last two weeks, Greene is slashing a ridiculous .390/.457/.683 with six extra-base hits, two home runs, and nine runs scored. But oddly enough, he’s still available in nearly 2/3 of fantasy leagues despite the strong performance and elite prospect pedigree. Yes, the Tigers have had a rough season, but Greene is red hot right now with the tools and talent to be a high-impact fantasy bat for a long time. Greene has actually posted some impressive metrics, mainly his 46.1% hard-hit rate and 9.4% barrel rate, but the strikeout rate is currently hovering around 30%. But luckily, he’s trimmed that to a more manageable 23.9% over his hot streak.
Joey Meneses (1B/OF – WAS)
In an organization that has had Juan Soto debut and take the league by storm, Joey Meneses is the one that holds the Nationals record for most hits through the first 25 games to start a career. The 30-year-old Meneses currently sports a .347/.379/.592 slash line in his first 103 plate appearances along with six home runs, 12 RBI, and 17 runs scored. He’s been showing more of an aggressive approach and is walking less than 5% of the time, but at the same time, Meneses is only striking out at a 17.3% clip with a 20.1% whiff rate, above-average contact rates, and above-average quality of contact metrics as well. There’s not much competition for playing time in Washington these days so Meneses should get plenty of playing time down the stretch.
Oswald Peraza (SS – NYY)
If you missed out on all the big-name promotions recently, Oswald Peraza should be of interest in deeper leagues. One of the Yankees’ top prospects, Peraza broke out in 2021 posting 18 home runs and 38 steals with a .297 AVG and followed that up with an 18/33 season in just 98 games in Triple-A. Yes, the AVG did fall, but Peraza has heated up as the weather has after a frigid start to the season that saw him hitting just .208 through the end of May. Peraza’s power/speed blend could provide plenty of value to fantasy managers if he receives enough playing time. But without knowing his role yet, he’s limited to deeper leagues for now.
Bubba Thompson (OF – TEX)
If speed is your category of need this week, look no further than Bubba Thompson. With another steal last night, Thompson now has five stolen bases in his last nine games dating back to August 19th. On the season, Thompson has swiped nine in just 24 games since his promotion in early August with a .276 AVG to go along with it. While he won’t provide much power, Thompson’s elite speed (99th percentile) can certainly make a difference and it looks like Texas is going to play him close to every day as long as he doesn’t go into a funk at the plate.
Michael Toglia (1B/OF – COL)
While Thompson can provide you with a speed boost, Michael Toglia is your target if you need power. Over the last 10 months or so, I’ve seen Toglia live seven times and the elite raw power has been very apparent. The former UCLA standout cranked 30 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A this season in just 495 plate appearances along with a .511 SLG and .262 ISO, but that came with a .249 AVG and 30.1% strikeout rate.
Home Run for Michael Toglia, his 11th of the season.
Toglia always seems to mash when I'm at his games.#Rockies pic.twitter.com/zhoQ5hFgRb
— Eric Cross (@EricCross04) June 11, 2022
There’s the downside with Toglia. He’s shown a below-average hit tool and a propensity to swing and miss to frequently, but he’ll have Coors Field to aid him and hopefully that nice BABIP boost that often happens. Toglia also trimmed his strikeout rate to 22.7% in August while hitting .347 with 11 home runs in 25 games. Don’t expect a high AVG, but it’s possible Toglia hits .250 with good power for the remainder of the season. In his first three games, he’s already swatted his first career home run.
Domingo German (SP – NYY)
With the Yankees rotation losing Luis Severino in July and Nestor Cortes in August, the steady production of Domingo German has been huge. If you take out his 2022 season debut when he allowed 5 ER in 3 IP on 7/21, German has a stellar 2.29 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and .221 BAA. The only problem is that German’s strikeout rate is below-average at 18.6%. However, entering 2022, the lowest German’s strikeout rate had been was 23.9% last season, so it’s not unreasonable to expect him at 20+% ROS. Even with the lower K rate, German is pitching well right now and is definitely worth a look in 12+ team leagues and even some deeper 10-teamers as well.
Dean Kremer (SP – BAL)
As with German above, Dean Kremer doesn’t blow anyone away with gaudy strikeout rates, but the 26-year-old righty has a solid 2.52 ERA and 1.15 WHIP over the last 30 days with a 21.1% strikeout rate. Kremer has combined to throw his 4-seamer and cutter 70.7% of the time this season with each offering currently sporting a wOBA under .300. His upcoming schedule is enticing as well with three of his next four scheduled starts coming against Oakland, Washington, and Detroit.
Nick Martinez (SP/RP – SDP)
With Josh Hader struggling mightily over the last two months or so, the Padres have decided to remove him from the closer role for now, at least to some degree. Hader did pick up the save on Wednesday night, but that was likely due to Martinez pitching in and recording saves in the two previous games. Martinez has racked up three saves in the last five games and four since the 21st of August. He’s been lights out for the Padres in a relief role this season, recording a 1.76 ERA and 0.98 WHIP across 41 innings. It’s possible that Hader takes over the role again at some point this season, but for now, anyone chasing saves should quickly add Nick Martinez. He also has the added benefit of having dual SP/RP eligibility if your league splits up the two.
Media Credit: MLB Pipeline
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