As we sit just about at the midway point of the fantasy baseball regular season, you should have a pretty solid idea where you stand. However, there are always options available if you’re looking to improve in certain areas.
Here are this week’s waiver-wire targets:
Colorado Rockies OF Nolan Jones — After spending the first chunk of the season tearing apart Triple-A Albuquerque, Jones earned a promotion in the last week of May and has continued to rake. He made headlines on June 11 with a 472-foot, walk-off blast at Coors Field, which wasn’t even his longest home run of the fantasy week, as he had taken Logan Webb 483 feet just days earlier. Jones strikes out a bunch, but produces just the same, with a.980 OPS to go along with four stolen bases in his 19-game big league sample thus far.
Cleveland Guardians 1B Josh Naylor — I had to do a double take when checking out the major league RBI leaderboard. Near the top sits Naylor with 50 steaks, thanks in part to a 14-game hitting streak in which he’s driven in 18 runs. His OPS was below .500 in mid-April; it now hovers dangerously close to the .800 mark. Naylor is owned in just 67 percent of ESPN leagues despite his recent torrid run.
Miami Marlins LHP Braxton Garrett — In his last six starts, the southpaw has allowed more than two earned runs just once and walked more than one batter just once as well. He’s racked up 41 strikeouts in that 32-inning stretch. I’d like to see him work a bit deeper into games, but Garrett has been a solid contributor nonetheless. I love him as a streaming option on July 17 against the Nationals and moving forward if he continues pitching like this.
Chicago White Sox RHP Kendall Graveman — With Liam Hendriks hitting the shelf once again, Graveman appears to be the frontrunner for the closer role in Chicago. It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, as his 28:14 strikeout-to-walk ratio leaves a bit to be desired, yet Graveman maintains a sub-1.00 WHIP on the season. Prior to his June 11 outing in which he blew his first save of the year, Graveman hadn’t allowed an earned run since April. If you’re looking for saves, which don’t seem readily available on the waiver wire this season, Graveman should do just fine.