Week 4 was not one to write home about for the Waiver Wire Wishlist, but it is an 162 game season, we’re going to face a few of those types of weeks. We did have some big winners on the week such as Carson Kelly and Joey Votto but besides that, there wasn’t much offering out of the rest of our lineup. I promise to come back with a banger in Week 5 for you guys! If there’s one thing you can count on, We Know Fantasy will bring you the best waiver wire suggestions in all of the internet!
Each week, Nate will field a hypothetical fantasy baseball lineup consisting of players owned in less than 40-percent of Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues. There will be no goal points to reach as the lineup will not be a complete fantasy baseball lineup as Nate will use and suggest one C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, SP and RP. He will compete with himself week-to-week to see how he performs. You can find the most previous week’s results below in future editions and then previous weeks at the bottom of the article.
Kelly led the way this week for our team, well, at least in points leagues. He had just three hits on the week, but all of them were home runs. Votto hit for .259 on the week but was able to walk five times. Jurickson Profar and Travis Shaw both had down weeks as they hit .158 and .133 respectively. Freddy Galvis actually had a quality week after my struggle to find a shortstop worth mentioning. He hit .389 over the last seven days. Adam Durvall struggled as he hit just .125. JT Brubaker had a quality outing as he went seven innings, allowing just two runs and striking out five. Rafael Dolis picked up a save last week as well.
Week 4 Results
Carson Kelly, C, Arizona Diamondbacks - 3/14, 5 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI & 6 BB (74.8 points)
Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds - 7/27, 2 R, 4 1B, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI & 5 BB (52.7 points)
Jurickson Profar, 2B/OF, San Diego Padres - 3/19, 4 R, 2 1B, 1 2B, 1 RBI & 4 BB (30.3 points)
Travis Shaw, 3B/1B, Milwaukee Brewers - 4/30, 2 R, 2 1B, 3 RBI & 1 BB (27.7 points)
Freddy Galvis, SS/2B, Baltimore Orioles - 7/18, 3 R, 4 1B, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI & 1 BB (43.3 points)
Adam Duvall, OF, Miami Marlins - 3/24, 1 R, 2 1B, 1 3B & 4 RBI (22.5 points)
JT Brubaker, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates - 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER & 5 K (23.5 points)
Rafael Dolis, RP, Toronto Blue Jays - 3 IP, 1 SV, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB & 3 K (17.8 points)
Total: 292.6 points
Week 5 Suggestions
Catcher
Omar Narvaez, C, Milwaukee Brewers - Owned in 43% of Yahoo and 35.2% of ESPN leagues
Week 5 Games: (3) vs. MIA & (4) vs. LAD
Omar Narvaez is hitting for a great average to start the season. He’s hitting .396 through this early stage of the season. He’s doing this while adding three homeruns and 10 RBIS. Over the past week, Narvaez has two, two-hit games and gets the Marlins for three games this week. The Brewers also don’t have a single off game this week, so you’re getting a possibility of five games out of Narvaez this week.
First Base
Brandon Belt, 1B, San Francisco Giants - Owned in 10% of Yahoo and 6.1% of ESPN leagues
Week 5 Games: (3) vs. COL & (3) @SDP
Brandon Belt had a slow start to the season and missed a couple games last week with a hamstring injury. Despite the short absence, he’s seeing the ball better as of late as he hit .278 over the last seven days. On top of that, he’s absolutely murdering baseballs. Over his last five games he has a hard hit rate of 80%. What’s the league average on that you may ask? 41.4%. As he continues to see the ball better and is hitting it with such power, only good things will come his way.
Second Base
Jurickson Profar, 2B/OF, San Diego Padres - Owned in 26% of Yahoo and 45.7% of ESPN leagues
Week 5 Games: (2) @ARI & (3) vs. SFG
Our first repeat of the season. I couldn’t help myself. Beyond not finding any second base eligible players I like, Profar is still a must add for me and is owned in just over one-quarter of Yahoo leagues. Part of the reason I like him is, he steals bases. It’s hard to find stolen bases on the waiver wire and Profar has two over the last two weeks. He does have just five games this week, which is a downfall, but I’m okay with that if I need a second baseman.
Third Base
Mikael Franco, 3B, Baltimore Orioles - Owned in 12% of Yahoo and 17.9% of ESPN leagues
Week 5 Games: (4) vs. NYY & (3) @OAK
I say it a lot, the third base position is one where you look for home runs and RBIs. Mikael Franco is giving you both of those stats during his recent hot streak. Over the last 14 days, Franco is hitting .302 with two homeruns and 11 RBIs. He has eight singles and three doubles over that same stretch as well. You might want to think about adding this guy before it’s too late.
Shortstop
Nick Maton, SS, Philadelphia Phillies - Owned in 1% of Yahoo and 0.3% of ESPN leagues
Week 5 Games: (4) @STL & (3) vs. Mets
If you watch as much Phillies’ baseball as I do, you too would be in love with Maton right now. His shelf life is very limited, but as a streaming option for Week 5, he’s one of the best. Right now, shortstop options on the waiver wire are limited. Maton was called up to play the Giants’ series for the injured Didi Gregorious. Now, he’s slotted into second base for the injured Jean Segura, who has hit the 10-day IL. Segura will miss at least Week 5, giving Maton a week of fantasy relevance. In his five games he’s played thus far in the majors, he’s hitting .438.
Outfield
Justin Upton, OF, Los Angeles Angels - Owned in 17% of Yahoo and 31.4% of ESPN leagues
Week 5 Games: (3) @TEX & (3) @SEA
Justin Upton is a known streaky slugger and it seems that he’s finding his groove again. The veteran has proven that he still has some gas in the tank, ending last year with seven homers in his last 24 games. He already has four this season and has hit three of them over the last 14 games. Heck, two of them came within the last week. He’s heating up and you need to ride him until the wheels fall off. I have a feeling you’ll see his name again in this series later this season.
Starting Pitcher
Taylor Widener, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks - Owned in 11% of Yahoo and 18.3% of ESPN leagues
Next Start: vs. SDP (April 28th)
I’m going with Widener this week because he’s projected to get two starts. One against the Padres and one against the Pirates. If he can weather the storm against the powerful Padres, he’ll have a good outing against the Pirates. On top of all of that, he has a 2.82 ERA thus far this season in 22.1 innings of work. He’s not a high strikeout guy however, but if you need a pitcher to lower your ERA, here’s your guy.
Relief Pitcher
Jeffrey Springs, RP, Tampa Bay Rays - Owned in 1% of Yahoo and 0.6% of ESPN leagues
Week 5 Games: (4) vs. OAK & (3) vs. HOU
Here we go again, scrapping around for some saves. Here’s a chance to get a few out of a guy that is hardly owned in all formats. Springs recorded his first save of his career against the Yankees. His next outing did not go so well. Anyhow, we know the Rays will use a committee here but do have seven games this week. There should be a good number of chances for Springs to get in during the ninth and get you a save or two.
Previous Results
Week 3: 355.2 points
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