Wide World of Waivers: Unheralded Ace

Which sparsely-owned starting pitcher is second in the league with a 6.3 K/BB ratio? Find that out and the rest of our waiver picks in this week’s edition of Wide Word of Waivers.

First Base

Week	Player	TM	H/AB	AVG	R	HR	RBI	SB	Y!%
W12	Brandon Moss	OAK	3/21	.143	1	1	1	0	14
W12	Adam Lind	TOR	0/0	.000	0	0	0	0	22

Brandon Moss followed up a monster five-homer week by going 3-for-21 last week, though he did add another bomb as well. We’d love to recommend Anthony Rizzo here, but his ownership rate is already up over 40 percent, well clear of our self-imposed 33 percent cut-off. By all means, if he’s available, he’s the 1B you need to add. Lind was having an awful season for Toronto before his demotion to Triple-A, where he hit .392 with a 1.112 OPS in 32 games. Eno Sarris of FanGraphs did a great job of breaking down Lind’s Vegas stats to see if he’s worth a pickup. I’d stick with Moss for now, but if you see any type of rebound from Lind, be prepared to jump all over him.

1B of the Week: Brandon Moss, OAK

Second Base

Week	Player	TM	H/AB	AVG	R	HR	RBI	SB	Y!%
W12	Marco Scutaro	COL	6/22	.273	0	0	2	0	33
W12	Gordon Beckham	CHW	9/22	.409	3	1	5	2	20

Scutaro was hit by a Stephen Strasburg fastball on Monday, though the general feeling is that he’s fine and that he should be back in the lineup within a few days. His performance slowed down last week, though enough people grabbed him anyway for his ownership numbers to jump 20 points and put him right on the edge of eligibility for our waiver column. I’m hanging on to him in my leagues, but if he has to miss extended time, Beckham is the first guy I’m looking at. He’s up to nine homers on the season, giving him virtually identical numbers to Kelly Johnson save for a few steals (and Beckham stole two bases last week). With his power, he could wind up being what we expected Rickie Weeks to be this year.

2B of the Week: Marco Scutaro, COL

Shortstop

Week	Player	TM	H/AB	AVG	R	HR	RBI	SB	Y!%
W12	Andrelton Simmons	ATL	7/22	.318	1	0	4	0	5
W12	Stephen Drew	ARI	0/0	.000	0	0	0	0	23

Simmons continues to hit for a high average while being one of the bigger fantasy surprises of the last month. I picked him up and started him over J.J. Hardy and Mike Aviles in a dynasty points league this week; we’ll see how that works out. Drew is expected to be activated from the disabled list on Wednesday and play his first game since July 20, 2011 after undergoing ankle surgery and a lengthy rehab. I’d be surprised if he plays every day right off the bat, and I’d be more surprised if he steals more than a couple of bases all year. If you pick him up, you’d be hoping for a decent power bat and a not-terrible average. I’m sticking with Simmons till I see how Drew performs when he’s in the lineup on a daily basis.

SS of the Week: Andrelton Simmons, ATL

Third Base

Week	Player	TM	H/AB	AVG	R	HR	RBI	SB	Y!%
W12	Chipper Jones	ATL	3/16	.188	0	0	2	0	29
W12	Pedro Alvarez	PIT	7/18	.389	6	1	1	0	29

Jones continues to slump, having not hit a home run since Week 5. I’m about ready to stick a fork in him (which probably means he’ll have a big second half). Alvarez, however, seems to have discovered the Chipper magic, hitting .389 last week after launching four home runs in the previous week. You won’t find many available players on the FA list with the power upside of Alvarez, who now has 13 homers on the season. Grab him if you need some pop.

3B of the Week: Pedro Alvarez, PIT

Catcher

Week	Player	TM	H/AB	AVG	R	HR	RBI	SB	Y!%
W12	Ryan Doumit	MIN	7/15	.467	2	1	2	0	26
W12	Wilin Rosario	COL	7/20	.350	3	2	5	0	22

Doumit came through with a nice line this week, thanks largely to one huge 4-for-4 day in Cincinnati. He does have a seven-game hitting streak going and remains worth owning in most leagues, hitting .270 with seven homers in 200 at-bats. Rosario is another nice power option, and he’s now collected 11 homers on the year while hitting .239. That average isn’t likely to go up, as Rosario is the owner of a 46/7 K/BB ratio this year. I have a lot more faith in Doumit.

C of the Week: Ryan Doumit, MIN

Outfielder

Week	Player	TM	H/AB	AVG	R	HR	RBI	SB	Y!%
W12	Ben Revere	MIN	6/24	.250	1	0	1	3	25
W12	Cody Ross	BOS	7/22	.318	5	3	10	0	39
W12	J.D. Martinez	HOU	6/19	.316	2	2	4	0	16
W12	Norichika Aoki	MIL	5/22	.227	2	0	1	4	4

Revere saw his average come down a little last week, though he did us the service of stealing three bases. He’s up to 15 SBs on the year and has only struck out 11 times in 164 at-bats. I’m definitely keeping him in all leagues. Ross picked up right where he left off, coming off the DL to hit three HRs last week. Congrats if you grabbed him early. While he’s owned in too many leagues to stay in our column, there’s no way you should be dropping him at this point. Martinez has been a consistent home run hitter, picking up at least one bomb in every week since Week 8. Aoki spent time on our waiver team recently, and he shocked everyone with a four-steal game last week. He’s playing every day for the Brewers and holding his own, hitting .280 with four HRs and 10 SBs in 186 at-bats this year. We’ll go ahead and add Martinez to the team this week and hope he continues to hit home runs.

OFs of the Week: Ben Revere, MIN and J.D. Martinez, HOU

Starting Pitcher

Week	Player	TM	IP	W	ERA	WHIP	BB	K	Y!%
W12	Jarrod Parker	OAK	6.0	0	1.50	1.00	2	4	42
W12	Alex Cobb	TB	0.0	0	0.00	0.00	0	0	9
W12	Joe Blanton	PHI	7.0	0	6.43	0.86	0	6	13
W12	Marco Estrada	MIL	0.0	0	0.00	0.00	0	0	1

Parker put together another good start last week, bumping his ownership up enough that he’s ineligible to stay in this column. His 49/32 K/BB rate is a major concern, and you may want to think about selling high on his 2.70 ERA if you have him. Cobb saw his start get pushed back to Monday, meaning we missed out on his ugly line against the Royals. If Trevor Bauer, who we had on our team for a couple weeks anticipating a call-up, is still out there I’d grab him even before his first start Thursday, though he’s owned in about as many leagues as Parker, so we can’t include him here.

I can’t ignore Blanton anymore. After Monday’s start he now has a 82/13 K/BB ratio this year, giving him a 6.3 ratio that’s better than every qualified pitcher in the league not named Colby Lewis. His only problem has been home runs, as he’s surrendered 17 bombs in his last nine starts. If he can make improvements there, and he’s only given up one HR in three of his last four starts, he could develop into a front-line fantasy starter. Estrada came off the DL to post a nice start Tuesday, and he now has a 46/9 K/BB ratio in 42 innings this year. If he can stay healthy, that could translate into a great second half.

SPs of the Week: Joe Blanton, PHI and Marco Estrada, MIL

Relief Pitcher

Week	Player	TM	IP	SV	ERA	WHIP	BB	K	Y!%
W12	Joaquin Benoit	DET	2.0	0	0.00	1.00	1	1	21
W12	Bobby Parnell	NYM	3.1	0	0.00	0.30	0	3	27

Benoit didn’t manage to give us any saves while filling in for Jose Valverde, who pitched on Tuesday, but he did throw us some kind of bone by picking up a win last week. He’s a decent hold in leagues, as I feel he could wind up with some saves in the second half. Parnell is filling in at closer with Frank Francisco out, and he has some nice overall numbers on the season. If you need saves, also look for Glen Perkins (16 percent owned) and Jared Burton (11 percent owned), as they could split closer work in Minnesota for the time being.

RP of the Week: Bobby Parnell, NYM

R.J. White is the head editor at the Cafe, writes for FanDuel and has previously written for FanHouse and Razzball. Catch up with him in the forums under the name daullaz. Follow him on Twitter; don't follow him in real life.

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