The Wire Troll: Expect More Aaron Civale Wins in Milwaukee
Before taking an 0-fer on Friday, he was riding a nine-game hit streak, with five of those being multi-knock efforts. The thumb woe that Schanuel dealt with a few weeks ago is clearly a thing of the past as he started to deliver on his promise of being an on-base machine last month (.340 OBP in June) and is now piling up solid run and ribbie numbers for the season.
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Aaron Civale pitched better than his numbers in Tampa Bay suggested. (Matt Freed/AP)
Welcome back to another week of Fantasy baseball. July is here, and while there’s still time for you to catch up, you best get cracking and use the wire.
This week, Christian Walker continued his other worldly showing at Dodger Stadium; with an assist from Graham Ashcraft, the Reds swept New York at Yankee Stadium; and Paul Skenes was again a great bet for Ks on Friday.
So while you wonder if the BoSox can stay hot against the Yankees (they’re 1.5 run underdogs as per FanDuel), let’s check out this week’s…
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Picks
Aaron Civale, SP, Milwaukee Brewers (ESPN: 13.5 per cent; CBS: 48 per cent): The Rays have been better lately, but having been traded this week to a better club in Milwaukee at the very least Civale should start to earn more wins. His bottom line numbers haven’t been pretty, but his advanced numbers suggest he’s pitched better and he had certainly looked solid in three of his last four outings before the trade as he’s gotten better as the season has progressed. Civale looked so good in the first half last year before getting traded to Tampa Bay, so let’s hope escaping the Rays will do the trick even if Tropicano tends to be good for pitchers (not that Milwaukee’s park will really hurt him). Somewhere in the middle of these two extremes is a useful hurler who boasts a good pitcher frame and a nice, easy delivery with better command than we’ve seen this year and the capability of racking up a lot of Ks (see video below). Civale had a tough time with the long ball in his Brewer debut on Friday, but did manage to rack up eight strikeouts in five innings.
Nolan Schanuel, 1B, Los Angeles Angels (ESPN: 3.2 per cent; CBS: 31 per cent): No. 64 on our Top 100 Prospects list this spring, Schanuel hasn’t hit quite as well as he did in his first taste of the bigs last year, but he’s trending in the right direction. Before taking an 0-fer on Friday, he was riding a nine-game hit streak, with five of those being multi-knock efforts. The thumb woe that Schanuel dealt with a few weeks ago is clearly a thing of the past as he started to deliver on his promise of being an on-base machine last month (.340 OBP in June) and is now piling up solid run and ribbie numbers for the season.
Luis Ortiz, RP/SP, Pittsburgh Pirates (ESPN: 0.5 per cent; CBS: 4 per cent): Jared Jones has landed on the IL thereby opening a rotation slot that is expected to go to Ortiz who has filled a variety of roles for the Pirates this season — starting, long relief, setting up and even earning a save. Although Ortiz was more hittable last month, he’s generally improved as the season has gone along and he’s enjoying a bit of a breakout campaign, likely on pace to see more innings than ever. Expect deep NL-only league value with some upside here.
Albert Suarez, SP/RP, Baltimore Orioles (ESPN: 9.7 per cent; CBS: 24 per cent): Suarez has pitched extremely well this season, moving back into the rotation in late-May with mostly strong results including six shutout frames vs. Texas last week and then another strong six-inning outing on Friday for his fifth win. He’d be hard pressed to be as filthy good as he was in May (0.95 ERA), but he’s definitely been serviceable since then and worth a look in most formats. In his first taste of the majors since 2017, Suarez has been a real revelation and if he can reduce the number of baserunners he’s allowed by a smidge, we could really be on to something here. Either way, he stands to bag some wins as long as he’s in the rotation for the powerhouse O’s.
Kyle Higashioka, C, San Diego Padres (ESPN: 3.2 per cent; CBS: 10 per cent): Last year, we mentioned that Higashioka wasn’t doing much to help the Yankee offense, but he actually had a pretty good second half. And despite limited PT, he’s taken that to a new level this year, especially from a power perspective. Higashioka’s strike zone judgement has somehow gotten worse this year, but 10 homers in 109 at-bats and a .541 slugging percentage should grab anyone’s attention. He’s no spring chicken at 34, so there’s not really any upside here, but as a second catcher, there’s some value here.
James Outman, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers (ESPN: 6.5 per cent; CBS: 13 per cent): We projected Outman to be in the top 90 in our Outfield Rankings heading into last year, but he didn’t hit as well as expected in his rookie season. And despite a decent start to begin the year (seven RBI over his first 40 at-bats), things soon got even worse as he was barely able to rack up any counting cat totals before getting farmed out in May. However, perhaps Outman will make a nice speculative pickup now given that he’s been recalled thanks to Jason Heyward (knee) landing on the IL. We wouldn’t say that Outman has rediscovered his 2022 form back at Triple-A, but he does deserve another look.
RotoRob Tune of the Day
The Doors were arguably the greatest band that ever came out of Los Angeles, and that’s saying something considering the city’s rich musical history (Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Buffalo Springfield, etc.). Here’s another track from American Prayer, yet another portion of “Awake,” this time with “Newborn Awakening.”
