Welcome back to another week of Fantasy baseball. It’s MLB All-Star week, so try to take advantage of the inattentiveness of your league mates and raid the wire.

This week, it was revealed that Sean Burroughs‘ death was caused by fentanyl; Adolis Garcia has been added to the Home Run Derby despite not being an All-Star this year; and Garrett Crochet continues to give Pale Hose fans something to cheer about.

So while you wonder if Cole Ragans will be the strikeout king Friday (currently +380 on FanDuel), let’s get to this week’s…

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Picks

Jonatan Clase, OF, Seattle Mariners (ESPN: 0.2 per cent; CBS: 5 per cent): Clase slotted in just outside the top 50 of our Top 100 Prospects rankings this spring, and although he struggled in his first taste of the show, his results at Triple-A justify our faith. He’s been recalled again with Dominic Canzone (adductor) back on the IL and Clase got off to a nice start with a hit and a run on Thursday. Getting on base at a higher clip in the bigs will unlock Clase’s immense potential given his elite speed (79 steals between High-A and Double-A last year, and another 26 through 59 games this season). Expect part-time at-bats for now, but because of his stolen base upside, he’s worth adding in deeper formats.

Jack Suwinski, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates (ESPN: 1.9 per cent; CBS: 12 per cent): We identified Suwinski as a nice source of power in late-April last season, but he cooled off after that big start and was mostly inconsistent with strong showings in July and September. He teased us with big time pop as a rookie (including a three-homer game) and then built on that last year with 26 jacks while hitting better, but this season has seen huge regression as he’s slugged just .330 through half a season, hitting rock bottom in June (490 OPS). The good news? Suwinski has really turned things around this month with a 913 OPS including a .600 SLG despite a couple of quiet days recently. This is another young outfielder with upside worth a roll of the dice.

Ernie Clement, SS/3B, Toronto Blue Jays (ESPN: 0.5 per cent; CBS: 2 per cent): Now here’s a dude that’s sort of come out of nowhere. A 28-year-old who was drafted in 2017, Clement has struggled to find a home and significant PT since first arriving in the bigs in 2021. He showed the Jays enough last year (.380 BA) in limited PT (50 at-bats) to stick around this season, and has been rewarded with more action than ever. Clement had a rough go towards the end of last week, but is heating up now with hits in four straight including two jacks and seven RBI in the first two games in San Francisco. He struggled in May, but has improved since then, this month already matching his run total from all of June and even flashing a bit of speed. Clement was always known for his defensive work, but the bat has come around now, making him worth a look in deeper formats as long as Isiah Kiner-Falefa remains out.

Jeffrey Springs, SP, Tampa Bay Rays (ESPN: 7 per cent; CBS: 51 per cent): Springs was off to an amazing start last year, but got hurt early on and needed TJS. He’s well into his rehab now, so isn’t far away from returning to the bigs. Since coming to Tampa Bay, Springs has gotten better and better (going 16-6 in the process), and while there’s likely to be rust upon his return, he’s worth stashing now if you have the space. One caveat: he doesn’t overpower hitters with his fastball, instead relying on precision to get outs, and you know what they say about control taking time to return after this procedure, so keep expectations in check for the short-term.

Quick Hits

• It’s about time to pay more attention to David Peterson. He got a late start to his season thanks to a hip injury, but has now given up more than two earned runs just once through eight outings, including six shutout innings on Thursday. Peterson is undefeated and while his 3.09 ERA is definitely fortuitous, you may as well ride him until the wheels fall off.
• Budding star Riley Greene just keeps getting better. He had three hits and three RBI on Thursday for his second straight multi-hit game and third straight with at least one. Greene had a rough May but has sure turned it around since (including a 1060 OPS for July), and he’s already set career bests in runs, triples, homers, RBI and walks in what’s shaping up like a major breakout season.
• He’s recorded two straight multi-hit games, but Pete Alonso has gone 10 days since his last homer, so he must be saving them up as he attempts to win the Home Run Derby for a third time. He looked like he was getting his season back on track in June, but he had not hit well in July until the last couple of days. In fact, despite reducing his K rate, the Polar Bear is enduring the worst season of his career, at least from a power perspective.
• Bryan Reynolds was 0-for-4 with a strikeout and one GIDP on Thursday, marking his third hitless game in five tries as his hot start to July fades. He hit extremely well last month and seemed to be consolidating this run until this week. Even so, Reynolds is enjoying a nice bounce back season, although it’s clear the surge in steals last year was an outlier.

RotoRob Tune of the Day

After breaking out in 1969, David Bowie experimented musically for a few years before emerging as a key figure in the glam rock movement of the early ’70s. In 1971, he released his fourth album, Hunky Dory, and the first track he wrote for the album was “Oh! You Pretty Things.”

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