Fantasy Baseball Roundup: News, Injuries, Waiver Wire & Prospects (Week 18) (2024)

Welcome back to the best weekly column on the internet, as we wrap up week 18 of the fantasy baseball season.

The goal of this column for us to give you the most fantasy baseball-relevant information all in one place for a variety of league types to hopefully be your one stop shop, or at least the shop you have to hit on the way to all the other shops for fantasy baseball information from news, to lineup and roster notes, injury updates, waiver recommendations for different lead types, prospect rankings, moves we made and a weekly deep dive into something relevant.

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Fantasy Baseball Lineup & Roster Notes

As of FRI 8/2

Baltimore Orioles:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Colton Cowser moved up to leadoff with Gunnar Henderson bumping down to third in the order.
  - Jackson Holliday is back with a vengeance with a bomb in his first game back.
  - Coby Mayo was called up and expected to hit eighth and start at 3B.
- Rotation Notes:
  - The Orioles traded for Trevor Rogers and stuck him in the rotation, a nice swap for Norby in an effort to fix the young starter (he’s still only 26 years old). They also added Zach Eflin to their rotation.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
Boston Red Sox:
- Lineup Notes:
  - N/A
- Rotation Notes:
  - Nothing new since last week with the roster.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Chicago White Sox:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Miguel Vargas looks to be a regular starter in the lineup and is hitting second with rookie Brooks Baldwin hitting sixth.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Davis Martin replaced Fedde, but I expect Iriarte to be the guy by the end of the year.
- Pen Notes:
  - Ignore.
Cleveland Guardians:
- Lineup Notes:
  - I like the aggressiveness of the Guardians to add Lane Thomas, who is now hitting second between Kwan and J Ram.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Joey Cantillo joined the rotation and Tanner Bibee might be hurt.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Detroit Tigers:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Dillon Dingler was called up after a huge week and is now starting at catcher for the Tigers.
- Rotation Notes:
  - We are still waiting to find out who replaced Jack Flaherty in the rotation, post-trade.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
Houston Astros:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Interesting for the Astros to move on from Loperfido.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Yusei Kikuchi is in the Astros rotation!
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Kansas City Royals:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Nothing new here.
- Rotation Notes:
  - N/A.
- Pen Notes:
  - It’s possible Lucas Erceg finally becomes a closer now.
Los Angeles Angels:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Pretty bad deadline here for the Angels to not move some of these guys, but they did cash on Estevez.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Reid Detmers should be back soon.
- Pen Notes:
  - Looks like Hunter Strickland will close, rather than Ben Joyce.
Minnesota Twins:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Nothing new.
- Rotation Notes:
  - David Festa is in the rotation now.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
New York Yankees:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Austin Wells is hitting cleanup, while Jazz Chisholm Jr. is hitting sixth and playing third.
- Rotation Notes:
  - N/A.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Oakland Athletics:
- Lineup Notes:
  - N/A
- Rotation Notes:
  - Nothing new.
- Pen Notes:
  - Tyler Ferguson is the closer with Erceg traded and Mason Miller out.
Seattle Mariners:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Arozarena is hitting second with Justin Turner at DH and hitting fourth.
- Rotation Notes:
  - N/A.
- Pen Notes:
  - Andres Munoz is re-locked in as closer.
Tampa Bay Rays:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Waiting on Junior Caminero still.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Jeffrey Springs is back!
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
Texas Rangers:
- Lineup Notes:
  - N/A.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Who is the fifth starter going to be?
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
Toronto Blue Jays:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Joey Loperfido is already hitting second with Spencer Horwitz hitting fourth right now.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Yariel Rodrigeuz and Bowden Francis are both in the rotation with Kikuchi gone.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
Arizona Diamondbacks:
- Lineup Notes:
  - The D Backs picked up Josh Bell to play 1B with Christian Walker out and he is hitting clean up.
- Rotation Notes:
  - N/A
- Pen Notes:
  - AJ Puk is basically the lefty setup guy in the pen.
Atlanta Braves:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Orlando Arcia is hot right now and hitting fifth in the Braves lineup. Don’t be afraid to start pitchers against the Braves right now.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Reliever Grant Holmes was moved into the rotation and has been pretty good so far with a 22.4 K-BB% on the season (starter and reliever) with a 2.93 SIERA.
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.
Chicago Cubs:
- Lineup Notes:
  - The Cubbies flipped Christopher Morel into Isaac Paredes who is hitting fifth for the Cubs.
- Rotation Notes:
  - N/A
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
Cincinnati Reds:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Jonathan India is leading off, even with TJ Friedl back.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Nothing new.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
Colorado Rockies:
- Lineup Notes:
  - N/A
- Rotation Notes:
  - Don’t look now, but the Rockies could actually trade away a starter. Cal Quantrill is still at best an innings eater though.
- Pen Notes:
  - N/A
Los Angeles Dodgers:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Gavin Lux is hitting third… why?
- Rotation Notes:
  - Jack Flaherty took the number “0” with the Dodgers… weird.
  - It will be interesting to see if the Dodgers go back to six starters or if they stick at five when Yamamoto and Buehler return.
- Pen Notes:
  - Bullpen by committee, for now.
Miami Marlins:
- Lineup Notes:
  - The Marlins completely transformed their team, though a good portion of the players they added are in the minors still.
  - Kyle Stowers is the first in line, hitting fifth.
- Rotation Notes:
  - New starter Vallente Bellozo only throws 90, I would stay away.
- Pen Notes:
  - Will Andrew Nardi be the closer or Anthony Bender?
Milwaukee Brewers:
- Lineup Notes:
  - N/A
- Rotation Notes:
  - N/A
- Pen Notes:
  - Devin Williams is back and closing!
New York Mets:
- Lineup Notes:
  - New acquisition Jesse Winker is hitting fifth and playing in LF.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Paul Blackburn is eating innings. Not sure what this team would do in the playoffs without Senga, the rotation is pretty terrible.
- Pen Notes:
  - N/A
Philadelphia Phillies:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Brandon Marsh is starting in CF with Austin Hays in LF and hitting ninth.
- Rotation Notes:
  - N/A
- Pen Notes:
  - N/A
Pittsburgh Pirates:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Oneil Cruz and Bryan De La Cruz… this team is turning into a Booze Cruz. (That’s for you Jake).
- Rotation Notes:
  - N/A
- Pen Notes:
  - N/A
San Diego Padres:
- Lineup Notes:
  - N/A
- Rotation Notes:
  - N/A
- Pen Notes:
  - Looks like Robert Suarez is going to stick at closer over Tanner Scott.
San Francisco Giants:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Tyler Fitzgerald is going off and Marco Luciano was called back up.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Hayden Birdsong is returning to the rotation next week.
- Pen Notes:
  - Nothing new.
St. Louis Cardinals:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Tommy Pham has been starting every day since the Cardinals brought him in and Nolan Gorman has barely played all week against a bunch of lefty starters.
- Rotation Notes:
  - Lance Lynn hitting the IL is keeping Andre Pallante in for now.
- Pen Notes:
  - N/A
Washington Nationals:
- Lineup Notes:
  - Juan Yepez is hitting second now and Harold Ramirez is hitting fourth.
- Rotation Notes:
  - N/A
- Pen Notes:
  - No update.

Fantasy Baseball Injury Notes

OF Mike Trout (Angels) – Looks like Ken Griffey Jr. all over again with Trout, as he’s out for the season again with another torn meniscus.
2B/3B Jordan Westburg – Westburg was hit in the hand with a pitch and suffered a broken hand. He’s likely out somewhere between 4-8 weeks and is likely out for the rest of the fantasy baseball season.
OF Evan Carter (Rangers) – Carter has not recovered from his back issues and is likely out for the season.
1B Christian Walker (Diamondbacks) – Walker hit the IL with a minor oblique strain and is only expected to miss about three weeks.

Tim’s Top 5 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Adds (12 Team Leagues)

NOTE: Under 50% Owned (CBS)

SP David Festa (Twins) 10% – Festa has been on this list for a while now and has a 20% K-BB rate, throwing over 95 MPH with a killer breaking pitch and excellent command so far in the majors to boot. He has a 3.60 SIERA against the 6.98 ERA.
SP Hayden Birdsong (Giants) 49% – Birdsong has been on this list for a few consecutive weeks and it’s paying off now. He has a stellar 28.3% K rate and 30.2 CSW% to go along with a 14.1 SwStr% on the season and a 3.87 SIERA. He’s crushing it and re-joining the rotation on Tuesday.
SP River Ryan (Dodgers) 45% – As I expected, Ryan got the nod to Knack and the other Dodgers back end guys with Kershaw re-joining the rotation. Ryan has a big 96-97 MPH fastball and a minor league record of some ridiculous stuff when healthy. He’s an older prospect and should get some good run here, there’s no reason to hold him back. He rocked a 23.8 K-BB rate in his second start with a 3.44 SIERA.
SP JP Sears (Athletics) 34% – Sears has been on and off this list all season, but he’s on one right now. Over his last five starts, Sears has a 21.8 K-BB% and 3.30 SIERA.
2B Gavin Lux (Dodgers) 26% – Lux is hitting third for the Dodgers right now, which is good enough. Since July 11th, Lux has a .404/.473/.766 slash with 4 bombs.

Tim’s Top 10 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects

Not promoted yet

1. 3B Junior Caminero (Rays)

2023 A+/AA: .324/.384/.591 | 56 XBH, 31 HR, 5 SB

2023 MLB: .235/.278/.353| 5.6 BB% / 22.2 K%| 2 XBH, 1 HR, 0 SB

2024 AAA: .265/.327/.492 | 7.5 BB% / 22.1 K%| 19 XBH, 11 HR, 1 SB

Age: 20

ETA: Late August

Fantasy Baseball Moves I Made This Week

- CBS Memorial Magazine League (12 Team 5×5 Roto):
  - N/A
- CBS NL Only Analyst League (12 Team 5×5 Roto):
  - Added SP Jack Flaherty for $100
- TGFBI (15 Team 5×5 Roto):
  - Added Hayden Birdsong for $4, dropping Lance Lynn

- Fantasy Aceball Invitational (16 Team Ottoneu H2H Points):

- - N/A

- Ottoneu Podcaster’s League (12 Team Ottoneu 5×5 Roto):

- - N/A

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