If your fantasy baseball league is anything like (most of) mine, your trade deadline has probably come and gone, and scouring the waiver wire is your only option for help and reinforcements for the rest of the season. In the deepest of leagues, said waiver wire is likely picked to the bone, especially since we’re still two weeks away from September call-ups, but press on, my friends. In a tight fantasy pennant race, you never know when a few strikeouts or a couple of runs might make a standings-changing difference at the end of the year. As usual in our deep corner of Razzball, you won’t find any fantasy monsters on today’s list, but you may find a guy who can give you that tiny handful of extra strikeouts or runs scored… or in some other way help you out in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.
Cedric Mullins. Love his name, loved his MLB debut. Well, I would have if I owned him in an AL-only league, as he got three hits, scored three runs, and had two RBI. Word out of Baltimore is that he’s pretty much their starting center fielder ROS while they give him a good look at the major league level. Mullins spent about half his minor league year at AA before being promoted to AAA, and had 11 homers, 21 steals, and a .288 average across the two levels.
Trevor Hildenberger/Addison Reed. Hildenberger quietly got the Twins’ first post-Fernando Rodney save the other day with a scoreless inning against the Pirates, which is nice. It came after four consecutive appearances where he allowed a total of nine earned runs, which is not nice at all. Meanwhile, Reed has looked awful all year but is back off the DL, so far with one scoreless appearance and one where he gave up a run in 2/3 of an inning. Hildenberger is just 7% owned and Reed 14%, so definitely a situation to monitor for those who are saves-deprived. (Note: Hildenberger got another save Wednesday after I wrote this… seems like he should probably be more than 7% owned, no?)
Ronald Guzman. I gotta mention Guzman again, if for no other reason than to point out that he had a 3-homer, 12 total base game against the Yankees about a week ago. Obviously we can’t expect another career game any time soon, but Guzman should continue to regularly play for the Rangers against righties, and with 13 homers on the year now (90 games) he has more or less been holding his own as a corner infielder in very deep leagues.
Devon Travis. Travis hasn’t exactly been on fire lately (.261 with a homer, three RBI, and a steal over the last five games). But, he’s playing second base regularly for the Blue Jays and might occasionally throw a counting stat or two your way, so do with that information what you will.
NL
Jacob Nix. Up to 11% owned, Nix is probably long-gone in NL-only leagues, but may be worth a look in the slightly-shallower variety. Starting for the Padres, he won his big-league debut against the Phillies with 4 strikeouts over 6 scoreless innings. Things won’t always be that rosy, but with additional chances he could be a serviceable starter if he does anything close to what he was doing in the minors this year (1.84 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 44 Ks/9 BBs in 58 2/3 innings)
Charlie Culberson. The guy just doesn’t go away… he keeps managing to find playing time for the Braves, qualifies all over the place (2B, 3B, SS, OF most likely), and has been on a hot streak lately. He has 6 runs scored, 4 homers, and 7 RBI over the last week or so, and his season average is up to .288. There’s no reason not to think he might have a couple more little offensive outbursts like that over the next 6 weeks or so, and he’s only 4% owned in CBS leagues — if he’s available in your deep league and you have room for him, why not grab him?.. who knows when he could come in handy.
Koda Glover. I mentioned him at the end of last week’s post, but since then Ryan Madson had admitted that he’s had “shooting pains down his legs” causing his atrocious pitching, and Dave Martinez has anointed Glover the closer for the time being. Of course, this was after Glover allowed a walk-off bomb to Paul DeJong in a loss to the Cardinals, and we must also remember that he is coming off shoulder surgery. Things could continue to be all kinds of ugly for the Nats and their bullpen, but Glover is still a guy to keep an eye on, both now and in the future.
Magneuris Sierra. I’ve mentioned him before, and I know Grey has mentioned him recently, but he still seems to be completely under the radar even in the NL-only world, as he’s only 2% owned. Yes, he plays for a super bad team and may or may not ever hit at the major league level, but he’s fast and has no reason not to run and show the Marlins what he can do. Speed doesn’t slump, as they say. (I know they also say that you can’t steal first base, but whatevs). If a few stolen bases could make the difference for you, he could be your guy.
David Bote. Granted, Bote’s recent walkoff grand-slam was against the aforementioned Ryan Madson, who basically admitted that he couldn’t feel his legs that night, but it still made quite a statement. Bote will only get his handful of weekly at bats, but so far those at bats have been productive, as he’s hitting .329 with three homers and three steals in 76 of them (at bats, that is). A guy who’s producing in very few chances is better than a zero in the deepest of leagues, and may even be better than a player who is getting more AB’s but doing nothing but dragging down your average with them.
