I hope you all had a great Fourth of July! If it was anything like mine, most of it involved being in an alcoholic haze for a majority of the weekend, so I apologize in advance if I list any players from the NFL below. It was a really good weekend…
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Waiver Wire Pitchers
Junior Guerra, SP Milwaukee Brewers. Brewers starting pitcher, Junior Guerra has been on fire in his last two outings. In those games, which were against the Nationals and the Dodgers, he’s gone 15+ innings, hasn’t given up a run and struck out seven batters in each contest. On the season, he’s now 6-1 with a 2.93 ERA and 1.02 WHIP, which is amazing considering he didn’t see his first major league action until he was thirty years old. He has a fastball in the mid-nineties and a good splitter and capable of putting up some good strikeout to walk ratios as well. He’s only owned in 43% of Yahoo leagues so if you want a pitcher with some upside that you can find this late in the season, I would make Guerra a target this week.
Bud Norris, SP Los Angeles Dodgers. Where the heck did Bud Norris come from? I have never been a fan of his, but over the last five games, he’s been pitching lights out. In those games, he’s pitched 30.1 innings, given up a total of six earned runs, struck out an average of seven batters per game and only allowed five total walks. Where has his improved production come from? Well, Jeff Sullivan from Fangraphs recently wrote a great article (you can find it here) where he details how Norris has now developed a cutter which has helped him become more of a ground ball pitcher and maybe more importantly, become effective in getting out lefties, which he has struggled at in the past. He was brought to LA to help in the rotation while Clayton Kershaw is on the DL, but with the Dodgers rotation battling injuries, I think he may have carved himself out a spot even after the ace returns. I’m not necessarily convinced he keeps this up the rest of the season, but it can’t hurt to add him while he’s pitching well and hope that opposing hitters don’t start catching on to his new weapon.
Don’t be surprised if you see Matt Moore with a different cap on in the next few weeks.
Matt Moore, SP Tampa Bay Rays. I’m not sure there has been a starting pitcher who has has had their name involved in more trade rumors over the past few weeks more than Rays’ starter, Matt Moore. Over his last five starts, he has gone 3-1 with one no-decision, given up more than two earned runs only once and also struck out five or more batters in four of those five games. He may give up a few more runs than I like, but if he’s traded to a contender, he may be able to improve his win totals as well. He’s only owned in 31% of Yahoo leagues and if you want to add him before he’s traded to a contender, you may have to act fast.
Kelvin Herrera, RP Kansas City Royals. News came out today that the Royals have placed stud, closer Wade Davis on the 15 day-DL with a forearm strain. This couldn’t have come at a worse time with Cleveland starting to pull away from the rest of the division, but it gives an opportunity to the next person in line and it looks like that will be Kelvin Herrera. Herrera has a blazing fastball, and good change up but has now added a breaking ball which is a hybrid curve/slider. Since he’s implemented this pitch, he’s currently striking out 33% of batters in 2016. To give you an example of how much this third pitch has improved his game, he struck out 20.7% of batters in 2014 and 22.4% in 2015. He has the makings of a great closer and while I fully expect Davis to take the job back once he’s healthy, Herrera can be a nice temporary source of saves over the next few weeks.
Waiver Wire Hitters
Marcus Semien is dreaming of a 20+ home run season.
Marcus Semien, SS Oakland Athletics. Shortstop isn’t necessarily the first position you think of when you are searching to fill your power categories, but A’s shortstop Marcus Semien has gotten a hold of Popeye’s spinach and is showing that he can drive the ball deep. So far he’s hit a whopping 17 home runs on the season, including five over the past two weeks and is now only behind Trevor Story (19), Manny Machado (18 homers and plays 3B but also SS eligible in Yahoo), and Danny Espinoza (18 homers and plays second but also SS eligible in Yahoo) in home runs at the position. As an added bonus, he’s also on pace to reach double digit steals, so there are a lot of categories he can help you out in and he should be one of the top hitting targets off the waiver wire this week.
Brett Lawrie, 2B Chicago White Sox. White Sox, second baseman, Brett Lawrie has historically had a hard time staying healthy, but he has shown this season that when on the field, he can be effective. Over the last two weeks he’s batted .377, hit in 11 of his last 12 games and seven of those 12 have been multi-hit games. If he can stay on the field, he’s on pace for over 20 home runs and almost 15 steals. You could do far worse from your second base position, so if it’s a weak spot for your team, consider adding Lawrie to your squad.
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