Welcome back to another week of Fantasy baseball. We’re halfway through August. Do you know where your championship dreams lay? Yup, on the waiver wire.

This week, Aaron Judge set a new record for fewest games to reach 300 homers; the Dodgers got Walker Buehler back but the rust sure showed; and Weston Wilson etched himself into Phillies’ history by becoming the first rookie to hit for the cycle.

So while you wonder whether Shohei Ohtani will go yard on Friday (currently +215 as per FanDuel), let’s get to this week’s…

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Picks

Oswaldo Cabrera, OF/2B/3B, New York Yankees (ESPN: 7.6 per cent; CBS: 13 per cent): When we ranked him No. 91 in our Fantasy Outfield Rankings heading into last season, we were very bullish on what Cabrera could do with full-time at-bats, and while he did see much more action, his performance regressed significantly. He hasn’t seen quite as much PT this year, but has been more productive and now has a chance to really build on that with Jazz Chisholm Jr. (elbow) out a while. Cabrera came through with two safeties, two runs, an RBI and a steal on Thursday, running his hit streak to five games to cement his spot in the lineup for now. He’s putting fewer balls on the ground and in the air, but getting more line drives, and that’s a winning formula. Cabrera may not ever offer a ton of power or speed, but a 25-year-old switch-hitter who generally hits equally well from both sides of the plate (although he’s struggled as a RHB this year) has value.

Cody Bradford, RP/SP, Texas Rangers (ESPN: 25.1 per cent ; CBS: 39 per cent): Bradford enjoyed another quality start on Thursday and has now recorded back-to-back strong outings. He’s been tougher to hit this month and remains undefeated on the season while producing positive results this year after looking very much like a replacement level player as a rookie in 2023. What’s impressed us the most about Bradford is that he’s missing the strike zone less in the bigs than he did at Triple-A, and that’s a recipe for success.

Grant Holmes, RP/SP, Atlanta Braves (ESPN: 1.7 per cent; CBS: 7 per cent): Wow, it’s been over seven years since we recommended Holmes as a rising star in the Athletic system, and since then he’s dealt with injuries and being released before winding up in the Atlanta system over two years ago. He finally made it to the bigs this year, recently grabbing a spot in the decimated Brave rotation and looked very sharp in his most recent outing, bagging his first ever win. Holmes is a risky bet as a starter, but has a chance to offer some value now as evidenced by his REW of 0.6.

Jasson Dominguez, OF, New York Yankees (ESPN: 5.5 per cent; CBS: 55 per cent): No. 29 on our preseason Top 100 Prospects list, Dominguez is finally healthy again and hitting well at Triple-A, but the DH spot is occupied in New York (Giancarlo Stanton) and the outfield is so packed that Chisholm had to be shifted back to the infield. Therefore, Dominguez — who was so impressive in his cup of coffee in the bigs last year — has to wait for his next shot. He’s being fed a larger diet of fastballs at Triple-A, and while he’s not dominating the level like he did in his short time there last year, his upside is still vast, so stashing him now could pay dividends.

Brandon Sproat, SP, New York Mets (ESPN: 0.4 per cent; CBS: 12 per cent): The Mets’ farm system isn’t quite as promising as it was last year, but Sproat’s development has been a bright spot. The team’s 2023 second round was recently bumped up to Triple-A and is inducing groundballs at an even higher rate since the promotion. If Sproat can get his command back to where it was at Double-A, he could earn his first look in the bigs by season’s end.

Others to Consider

Zebby Matthews, SP, Minnesota Twins (ESPN: 5.1 per cent; CBS: 30 per cent): Speaking of pitching debuts, Matthews looked solid in his first MLB start, mixing things up by using his fastball more often than he did at Triple-A, while reducing his secondary offerings. Switching it up has worked… so far.

Nolan Gorman, 2B/3B, St. Louis Cardinals (ESPN: 11.4 per cent; CBS: 24 per cent): Gorman has the worst K rate in majors (37.6) by far thanks to dramatic regression in his work against fastballs and sinkers this year. But he’s still just 24 and was a long-time top prospect (graduating from our Top 100 Prospects ranking last year), so he could be a potential buy-low candidate.

Yariel Rodriguez, RP/SP, Toronto Blue Jays (ESPN: 4.2 per cent; CBS: 20 per cent): Rodriguez has done a solid job since joining the Toronto rotation, getting batters to swing at pitches inside the zone much more often than he did while at Triple-A, but with pretty much the same contact rate. Look beyond his record as there’s some value here.

RotoRob Tune of the Day

English post-punk band XTC formed in 1972 and remained active until 2006. In 1979, they released their third (and breakthrough) album, Drums and Wires. From this comes “Millions,” a track that had a bit of a different vibe to the rest of the album.

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