We get it, it's that time of year. The lure of the upcoming fantasy football season rings louder by the day, playoffs in head-to-head leagues (and, with it, the elimination of a sizable proportion of your league's competitors) are approaching, and perhaps your level of attention to your fantasy baseball team is waning.
Resist this urge!
League championships are won at this critical stage of the year and, with some of your competition similarly declining in attentiveness, there are opportunities to be had on the waiver wire. Looking at the available players list, several names have shockingly low roster percentages in ESPN leagues. It's a prime time to elevate this column's typical "How are they still available?!" section to the top.
Jackson Chourio, OF, Milwaukee Brewers (45.5% rostered in ESPN leagues): Kiley McDaniel's No. 2 overall prospect entering the season (and Chourio only missed out on the top spot because some kid named Holliday was there), Chourio has been one of the game's most productive players overall -- and not simply among his fellow outfielders -- since the All-Star break. Chourio's 90 fantasy points scored in 26 games during that time span is tied for 15th-best among hitters, a remarkable feat for a player with his level of aggressiveness at the plate.
Chourio's 6.1% walk and 33.6% chase (swings at pitches outside the rulebook strike zone) rates for the season place in the 23rd and 19th percentiles, but he has made up for that by registering (per Statcast) 88th percentile hard-hit, 77th percentile Barrel and 75th percentile line-drive rates since the All-Star break. Combine that with his top-shelf raw speed and Chourio has quickly become a rotisserie-scoring star as well as a must-have in points-based scoring as well.
Remember, he's still only 20 years, 161 days old and has had a history of needing time to adapt to new levels of competition during his minor league ascent. He finally seems to be capturing his full potential and should be primed for a strong finish.
Tyler Fitzgerald, OF/SS, San Francisco Giants (54.7%): His 12 home runs since the All-Star break are tied for second-most in baseball, ahead of near-certain league MVPs Aaron Judge (10) and Shohei Ohtani (10). That has partly been a product of some good fortune on batted balls as his 23.5% HR/FB rate is second-highest, and his 90-point wOBA/xwOBA differential is fourth-widest in that direction among qualifiers. Still, Fitzgerald's quality of contact metrics are solid enough to sustain decent power moving forward, and his minor league history of 20-HR seasons indicates he should continue to contribute in the category.
What's great about Fitzgerald, however, is that he's a dual-eligible player at an unusual position combination (SS/OF), and he has 99th percentile Statcast sprint speed, which backs up the 14 total stolen bases he has on the year (with seven since the break). Fitzgerald, in fact, swiped 32 out of 35 bags successfully in the minors in 2023, making him quite the handy player to have in rotisserie leagues.
Xavier Edwards, 2B/SS, Miami Marlins (50.5%): The team's new leadoff hitter and everyday shortstop since Tim Anderson's release in early July, Edwards has scored the second-most fantasy points (88) among 2B-eligible, and fourth-most among SS-eligible, players since the All-Star break. He has done it thanks to some of the best discipline at the plate in all of baseball as, since the break, his 15.1% walk and 21.5% chase rates place in the 95th and 86th percentiles.
Edwards brings a good amount of speed to the table as well -- Statcast grades his sprint speed in the 77th percentile -- and an elite line-drive stroke (a 33.0% rate since the break) helps make up for his deficiency in power and extra-base ability in points leagues. He won't necessarily win you your league on his own, but he belongs in every fantasy lineup thanks to the improvements he has made.
Deeper-league adds
Joey Bart, C, Pittsburgh Pirates (7.7% rostered): Sometimes a change of scenery can do wonders for a struggling prospect. Such seems to be the case for Bart, the 2018 No. 2 overall draft pick set free by the Giants just after Opening Day and scooped up via trade by the Pirates. Bart had his moments in a part-time role for his new team in April, hitting three home runs over a seven-game span to begin the month, but it wasn't until July that he began to hit his stride. Over his last 28 games, covering 26 starts and 33 Pirates contests, he has hit .306/.365/.602 with eight homers and 23 RBIs, effectively taking over the team's starting job behind the plate.
Seranthony Dominguez, RP, Baltimore Orioles (4.7%): Speaking of scenery changes, Dominguez never seemed to settle into his designated "closer of the future" role with the Philadelphia Phillies, but thus far with the Orioles, he has seemed every bit up to the part. With previous closer Craig Kimbrel struggling in recent weeks, Dominguez has notched each of the Orioles' last three successful saves, while flashing fastball velocities regularly between 98-100 mph since his acquisition. Considering both the opportunity and the likelihood of many save opportunities, Dominguez is well worth adding in any league larger than standard.
Matthew Boyd, SP, Cleveland Guardians (3.9%): After a 13-month absence recovering from Tommy John surgery, Boyd returned to action with the Guardians last Tuesday, tossing 5⅓ effective innings of one-run, six-strikeout baseball. Most importantly, he exhibited good velocity relative to his past norms (92.2 mph with his fastball) and got a 33.3% whiff rate with his slider, indicating his pitch selection was close to where it was pre-surgery. As the Guardians remain a contender and are lacking in the rotation depth they had a couple of years back, Boyd should play an important part for them down the stretch.
Feel free to cut
Christian Yelich (71.1% rostered); Lane Thomas (46.1%); Logan O'Hoppe (40.5%); Christopher Morel (41.5%); Pete Fairbanks (57.9%); Kimbrel (71.2%).