Fantasy Baseball: Waiver Wire Week 9

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Week 9

This weekly article will look at five under 50% fantasy baseball waiver yarn options listed on Yahoo Fantasy for 12 and 15 team rotisserie leagues that merit waiver offers or claims. As the 9th week of the season begins, we’re starting to get a bigger sample of data to draw conclusions from.

With over four months left in the fantasy baseball season, let’s see who to target to help our fantasy rosters.

MLB Fantasy

Waiver Wire Week 9 Waiver Options for 12-Team Leagues

Owen Miller, 1B/2B/3B, Milwaukee Brewers (32% registered) – In his first 190 Major League games, Owen Miller was an below-average hitter (average .230, OBP below .300) with below-average power (about .340 hitting percentage). He showed none of the pop and grassroots abilities he displayed over four minor league seasons. But now on his third team in four years, Miller gets a real shot and has become a modern-day Robin Yount. He’s eligible all over the infield and is cutting .346/.367/.548 with four bombs and five interceptions in 34 games. The BABIP is too high, but the strikeouts are low, and Miller has had first or fourth in three of the Brewers’ last five games.

Michael Conforto, OF, San Francisco Giants (38% registered) – You can’t help cheering on a guy like Conforto after the last two seasons. He has missed nearly 40 games in 2021 and the entire 2022 season due to injury. Now with a day-to-day role with the San Francisco Giants, Conforto is finally finding his groove now that he has 45 games into the 2023 season. Over the past two weeks, power and average have returned. He’s hitting .326 with five homers and 12 RBIs. Conforto is the 25th best fantasy hitter in this span, even without a single steal.

Mickey Moniak, OF, Los Angeles Angels (24% registered) –Opening day leader Taylor Ward has played in just two of the Angels’ last five games as Mickey Moniak came over from AAA a few weeks ago and basically stole the role. Over the past two weeks, Moniak has batted .419 with four home runs, two interceptions, seven runs and seven RBIs and is the 36th most valuable fantasy hitter on Yahoo during that span. Ward will likely get a few starts here and there from Moniak, but as long as he keeps hitting like that, there’s no way Los Angeles is keeping him out of their main lineup.

Braxton Garrett, SP, Miami Marlins (20% registrants) – Braxton Garrett walked through the gauntlet at Coors Field on Thursday afternoon and emerged relatively unscathed. He allowed just two runs in Denver’s five innings, which might as well look like a shutout anywhere else. Before this start, his two previous turns on the bump were absolutely sublime. He allowed an earned run in 11.1 innings while striking out 16 with a WHIP of about 0.50. His 9.21 strikeouts per nine innings is a career high, as is 1.67 walks per nine. This kind of control he exhibits is what makes him increasingly relevant to fantasy with each start.

Dylan Floro, RP, Miami Marlins (46% registered) – How Dylan Floro is even less than 50% listed in any size league on Yahoo is beyond my comprehension. In the past two weeks alone, he has made five saves with a 2.49 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. He also had two wins and 20 strikeouts over 21 innings for good measure. Most of the other ninth-inning options for Miami have either died out or been injured, so Floro gets the job many thought he should have had all along. Miami wins enough games for us to pay close attention to who is their closest. And it looks like Floro has taken control of the role and won’t let go anytime soon.

Waiver Wire Week 9 Waiver Options for 15-Team Leagues

Zach Neto, SS, Los Angeles Angels (4% registrants) –Uber-prospect Zach Neto has finally come to life over the past two weeks, doing a lot of damage to the bottom half of the Los Angeles Angels batting order. he has nine hits in his last seven games, including one home run, four RBIs, one stolen base and six .409 runs scored. And that streak came against the Orioles, Twins and Red Sox. He’s not just reveling against Athletics or the Royals – although there will be plenty more to come this summer. Neto has finished ninth in all but one game since May 7, but he’s also been in the starting lineup in every one of those games. Attendance is part of the fantasy baseball rating, and Neto is as reliable as it gets right now.

Jose Caballero, 2B/SS, Seattle Mariners (3% registrant) – Caballero, a 26-year-old rookie with 11 minor league saves in six years, might have had the day of his life on Sunday when he somehow went 1-for-1 with a kick home run and three interceptions. Playing more often than not since his call-up on April 14, Caballero was able to display some of the elite speed that saw him have three years in total in the minors with over 20 shots. Caballero has started in seven of Seattle’s last eight games and has essentially taken over the second base position from Kolten Wong. He may be streaky, but in 15-team leagues he can also contribute to some rare categories.

Oscar Mercado, OF, St. Louis Cardinals (2% registered) – Oscar Mercado is a player who basically fell off a cliff through injury and poor performance after a promising rookie campaign in 2019. In 115 games, he cut .269/.318/.443 with 15 homers and 15 interceptions. But in the three years that followed, he had 11 homers and 12 interceptions COMBINED. His best season among those was a .224/.300/.369 miss and he was eventually traded from Cleveland to St. Louis. Now he’s on a blank streak with the Cardinals in his eight games since being called up. He is hitting .450 with a .600 slugging percentage including two interceptions and a strikeout rate of just 5%. These will all regress obviously, but with injuries to Juan Yepez and Dylan Carlson as well as Jordan Walker struggling, Mercado could have a full-time job for a while.

Brayan Bello, SP, Boston Red Sox (25% registrants) – Bello’s first two starts of the season were less than ideal, giving up eight earned runs in his first 7.1 innings of work. But since that time, he has allowed eight earned runs in five starts and 28 innings. He’s gone five full innings in each of those starts and is coming off a career-high seven batters against Seattle last week and a career-high seven innings on May 23. Even with James Paxton (also a decent deep league waiver option) back in the league and looking decent, Bello seems to be safe in Boston’s rotation at the moment. He needs to reduce the walk rate that surged in that game against Seattle, but his swing-and-miss stuff was superb, leading to a five-game streak with at least five punch-outs.

Kendall Graveman, PR, Chicago White Sox (21% registered) – Kendall Graveman may not be too long for the role of the closest to Chicago because Liam Hendriks is in rehab and could join the team before the all-star break. But until then, Graveman looks like the man and he certainly throws like him. He has made three saves in the last 12 days and is currently making a 3.01 WHIP and a 1.03 elite WHIP this season. In fact, he hasn’t allowed any earned runs in his last five appearances. In a deep league where we have to scratch and claw for every save, Graveman can give us a few weeks worth of save opportunities with good ratios along the way.