All-Star voting is in full swing, and the fantasy baseball season is rapidly nearing the halfway mark. At this point in the season, it becomes harder to identify sleeper success picks and valuable waiver wire targets given the larger sample size and wealth of information available to all fantasy baseball managers. On the flip side, access to more data does provide a confidence boost when evaluating players who are still flying under the radar.
The following four players - including two starting pitchers, a position sometimes difficult to find value from on the waiver wire - are available in anywhere from 40% to 95% of leagues. All four could be the difference between a championship fantasy baseball team and missing out on the trophy. Here are the best Week 14 waiver wire adds:
Top Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 13
Trevor Larnach
(OF, Minnesota)
Percent Rostered (Fantrax): 59%
Trevor Larnach has been one of the most consistent hitters in baseball over the last two years. Drafted in the first round out of Oregon State in 2018, Larnach has yet to fulfill the expectations that come with being a first-rounder. Despite that, he’s still a valuable pickup for fantasy baseball managers.
With a roughly league-average.258/.326/.428 slash line, Larnach is a perfect fit for deep-league fantasy baseball rosters. He provides 20-home run upside - he knocked 15 long balls in just 400 plate appearances last season and has 11 already this year - and boasts a career-low 21.8% strikeout rate this season, which will add to his value in points leagues.
While he’s not the high-upside, low-floor type of player commonly found on the waiver wire, Larnach will produce slightly better than league average at the plate and do especially well against right-handed pitching.
Larnach has an .837 OPS this season against right-handed pitching, meaning he’ll provide lots of value as a strong-side platoon player on your fantasy baseball roster. The Twins outfielder is hitting .279 in June and is a great waiver wire target for fantasy baseball managers.
Luis Torrens
(C, New York Mets)
Percent Rostered: 5%
I’ve considered writing about Luis Torrens for a while now, but I was skeptical for a while that he would maintain such high batted-ball quality. Given the recent news that the Mets are demoting former top catching prospect Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A, the door is open for Torrens to earn more playing time in Queens. His underlying metrics have been incredible this season, despite a subpar slash line of .221/.297/.328.
Torrens owns a .309 expected batting average (per Baseball Savant), which is the result of an outstanding hard-hit rate (57.1%) and Launch Angle Sweet-Spot rate (41.8%). If he were qualified - he only has 145 plate appearances, a number that should rapidly rise in the coming days - his xWOBA, xBA, xSLG, average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, barrel rate, and launch angle sweet-spot rate would all rank in the 10% of said hitters.
Fantasy managers who pick up Torrens off the waiver wire this week will be getting a player with not only elite metrics but increased playing time behind the plate. The combination of the two makes him a valuable asset to the vast majority of fantasy baseball managers.
Mick Abel
(SP, Philadelphia)
Percent Rostered: 65%
Mick Abel is one of a handful of very good starting pitchers who can be found on the waiver wire this week. Philadelphia’s eighth-ranked prospect and a first-rounder out of high school in 2020, Abel had put together a string of solid starts before getting roughed up on Saturday against the Mets.
The Phillies starter is one of seven starting pitchers with at least 20 IP who has a 109 Stuff+ and 100 Location+. Both are pitch modeling metrics hosted by Fangraphs and indicate Abel’s arsenal and command can play at the big-league level. The other six starters? Tarik Skubal, Max Fried, Zack Wheeler, Spencer Swellenbach, Dylan Cease, and Drew Rasmussen.
While he has subpar expected statistics - a 6.01 xERA, for instance, that dwarfs his actual 3.47 mark - Abel is a great waiver wire target for fantasy baseball managers searching for high-upside starting pitching.
Noah Schultz
(SP, Chicago White Sox)
Percent Rostered: 55%
Noah Schultz is the top-ranked left-handed pitching prospect in the sport, and for good reason. After being taken in the first round of the 2022 draft, the left-hander has posted a 2.69 ERA and .219 opponent batting average to go along with 216 strikeouts in 177.1 innings pitched in the minor leagues.
Despite his struggles at Triple-A this season, Schultz could be the next top starting pitching prospect called up to the big leagues. FTR’s prospect waiver wire pickups have already made headlines in the big leagues this season - Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, for instance, started his career by throwing 11 no-hit innings - and Schultz could be next on that list.
The White Sox pitching prospect has some of the best raw stuff in baseball. Take a look at the following excerpt from his MLB Pipeline scouting report:
“With his 6-foot-10 frame and low three-quarters arm slot, Schultz creates exceptional horizontal movement on a wipeout slider that continues to gain velocity -- now sitting in the low 80s and reaching 88 mph. He has boosted his fastball from 89-92 mph in high school to 93-97 with a peak of 99 mph as a pro. He blows four-seamers by hitters up in the strike zone but doesn't miss many bats when he tries to sink heavy two-seamers, generating a lot of ground-ball contact instead.”
There is no lack of talent available on the fantasy baseball waiver wire this week. Need a consistent outfielder with solid pop and a high floor? Look no further than Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach. As far as high-upside starting pitching goes, Mick Abel and Noah Schultz have the raw stuff and polish to be elite starting pitchers sooner rather than later. And Luis Torrens is perhaps the most underrated hitter in the sport right now, which makes him a perfect waiver wire add for fantasy baseball managers in Week 14.
Make sure to check back next week for our Week 15 waiver wire breakdown.