Nate Springfield
Under the Radar - AL/NL Only Leagues
Wednesday July 25th, 2012
Travis Snider should be a good source of pop late in the season. (US Presswire)
This week's AL/NL-only waiver wire pickups features players who can provide some early season help to owners in need of stopgaps and youngsters with upside. Whether your fantasy team needs home runs, steals, or strikeouts, or even if you're just chasing wins, this mix of players has you covered.
* Owned percentages via Yahoo!
AL-Only Players
Daniel Straily - SP, Oakland Athletics (0% owned)
With the trade deadline quickly approaching, there is a good chance that the Oakland A's will move a starting pitcher, which would then open up a spot in the rotation for Daniel Straily. The 23 year-old Straily is having a breakout year, leading all professional pitchers in strikeouts, racking up a total of 171 strikeouts in just over 132 innings pitched while maintaining a 2.52 ERA and 0.96 WHIP while pitching at the Double-A and Triple-A level. His previous innings pitched high was 160-plus innings, which he threw last season, so he may see only limited time after a call-up but would be well worth the pick-up for any amount of starts he can give your team.
Travis Snider - OF, Toronto Blue Jays (4% owned)
The Toronto Blue Jays recalled outfielder Travis Snider on July 20th, allowing him to make his 2012 major league debut. Snider struggled mightily last season, sporting a triple slash line of .225/.269/.348 with three home runs over 187 at-bats. Even though he has seen major league time the past four seasons, Snider is only 24 years-old and still has time to prove to be a productive major league hitter. At Triple-A this season he has a triple slash of .335/.423/.598 with 13 home runs in 209 at-bats. The team would not have called Snider up if he was not going to see significant playing time, and in his first 15 at-bats with the Jays he has a .333 batting average with two home runs.
NL-Only Players
Matt Harvey - SP, New York Mets (0% owned - available off waivers 7/28)
With Johan Santana
and Dillon Gee
landing on the disabled list over the past two weeks the New York Mets have looked for rotation help by calling up starting pitching prospect Matt Harvey. Coming into 2012 Harvey was ranked as the Mets second best prospect by Baseball America, and in 111 innings pitched at the Triple-A level he owns a 3.68 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 112 strikeouts. He does have a tendency to walk batters which could hurt him at the major league level, but most standard Yahoo! leagues will get to see one start before he clears waivers on July 28th to know if you really want to use a high waiver spot to claim him or not.
Carlos Gomez - OF, Milwaukee Brewers (3% owned)
The raw talent of Carlos Gomez has never been in question at the major league level, his development of that raw talent to translate into production always has. The very speedy Gomez's strength, up to a few weeks ago, was his ability to play an above average center field, but in the last two weeks he has decided to start stealing bases every chance that he gets. Since July 16th Gomez has reached base 10 times and has swiped 6 bags. If he collects just two stolen bases a week the rest of the year it would add 16 stolen bases to your teams total. Even though that prediction may be on the high side, if he stays aggressive on the basepaths, ten more stolen bases is not unreasonable.
Roger Bernadina - OF, Washington Nationals (1% owned)
Lineup changes due to the loss of short stop Ian Desmond to injury, Roger Bernadina should see increased playing time in center field as he plans to platoon with righthanded batter Tyler Moore . With Bernadina being lefthanded and the superior defender in center he should see the majority of the at-bats in the platoon. The 28 year-old Bernadina has a little bit of pop and speed to offer offensively, already hitting two home runs and stealing 11 bases this season in his 146 at-bats. It is unlikely that he will be able to maintain his current .295 batting average considering his career batting average is .249, but his counting stats should make up for the low batting average.
Carlos Gomez - OF, Milwaukee Brewers (3% owned)
The raw talent of Carlos Gomez has never been in question at the major league level, his development of that raw talent to translate into production always has. The very speedy Gomez's strength, up to a few weeks ago, was his ability to play an above average center field, but in the last two weeks he has decided to start stealing bases every chance that he gets. Since July 16th Gomez has reached base 10 times and has swiped 6 bags. If he collects just two stolen bases a week the rest of the year it would add 16 stolen bases to your teams total. Even though that prediction may be on the high side, if he stays aggressive on the basepaths, ten more stolen bases is not unreasonable.
Roger Bernadina - OF, Washington Nationals (1% owned)
Lineup changes due to the loss of short stop Ian Desmond to injury, Roger Bernadina should see increased playing time in center field as he plans to platoon with righthanded batter Tyler Moore . With Bernadina being lefthanded and the superior defender in center he should see the majority of the at-bats in the platoon. The 28 year-old Bernadina has a little bit of pop and speed to offer offensively, already hitting two home runs and stealing 11 bases this season in his 146 at-bats. It is unlikely that he will be able to maintain his current .295 batting average considering his career batting average is .249, but his counting stats should make up for the low batting average.
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