Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: Week 5
Welcome to baseball season, everyone! Fantasy baseball is back, and despite some hiccups along the way, we are finally here.
Each week we will take a look at players who are rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo leagues and can help out your season-long squads. Remember, if you aren’t scouring the waiver wire, you are falling behind your league-mates.
Jesse Winker - Cincinnati Reds (OF)
Roster percentage: 41%
Assuming the Cincinnati Reds are playing baseball this week, as it appears a player has tested positive for COVID-19 on their team, Jesse Winker is a guy you need to run to your waiver wires to see if you can pick up.
Long on talent, Winker finally appears to be coming into his own. He's hitting .365 with five home runs and a ridiculous 1.196 OPS on the season, hitting smack in the middle of the Cincinnati lineup. In addition, he is actually getting playing time against southpaws, which has long been a problem for him.
If you need help in the outfield, Winker could be a league-winning acquisition.
Pedro Severino - Baltimore Orioles (C)
Roster percentage: 36%
Catcher can be a challenging position in fantasy, and there are many high-profile players -- outside of J.T. Realmuto -- who have struggled in the 2020 sprint season. If you spent early-round equity on players like Willson Contreras and Mitch Garver, you are really behind the eight-ball.
But someone like Pedro Severino is widely available in fantasy leagues, and he is producing top-notch numbers behind the dish. On the young season, he's already popped four home runs with an .942 OPS, and .303 average.
If you are trying to fill the catcher slot in your fantasy lineups, peep Severino.
Jesus Aguilar - Miami Marlins (1B)
Roster percentage: 26%
One of the big reasons the Miami Marlins have stayed in contention has been the adept play of Jesus Aguilar. He's absolutely obliterating baseballs, but he is still relatively low owned.
Boasting an .899 OPS this season, Aguilar is providing middle-of-the-order thump to a sneaky-solid lineup that features Jonathan Villar, Brian Anderson, and Corey Dickerson. His 10.0% barrel rate this season is best in class, and he is striking out only 10.7% of the time.
With an xwOBA of .379 portending even greater offensive firepower, Aguilar could be a productive add.
Touki Toussaint - Atlanta Braves
Roster percentage: 7%
The overall numbers for Touki Toussaint are ugly. Like, why-on-earth-would-I-be-rostering-him ugly -- 17 1/3 innings, a 7.27 ERA and only a single quality start.
But when you look under the hood, you realize there's some major growth here. While still early, the control issues that have plagued Toussaint throughout his career look to have been slowed a touch with a 6.6% walk rate and 61.8% first-pitch strike rate.
In addition, he's still providing major swing-and-miss potential with a 30.3% strikeout rate, and he's ripped off a 14.2% swinging-strike rate this year. Ooh, mama, that's one bad man.
He gets two starts this week, and you definitely want a piece of that pie.
Two-Start Pitchers to Consider This Week:
Dylan Cease (CHW) - vs DET, at CHC
Brandon Bielak (HOU) - vs COL, at SD
Griffin Canning (SD) - vs SF, at OAK
Corbin Burnes (MIL) - at MIN, vs PIT (check to make sure he has assumed Eric Lauer's rotation spot over Freddy Peralta)
Austin Voth (WAS) - at ATL, vs MIA
Jordan Lyles (TEX) - vs SD, at SEA
Daniel Ponce de Leon (STL) - at CHC, vs CIN (keep an eye on Cincinnati COVID-19 concerns)
Zach Davies (SD) - at TEX, vs HOU
Chris Bassitt (OAK) - at ARZ, vs LAA
Games in Coors Field This Week: Houston Astros (2)
