As the calendar flips to September, you and your fantasy baseball competition are going to be scratching and clawing for every fantasy point possible. It all comes down to this final month, and the waiver wire is going to be a battlefield.
But rather than get into a FAAB bidding war with your opponents or stress over acquiring the hot new rookies who get called up when rosters expand, scour your waiver wire for the forgotten veteran talent that gets ignored just because their names don’t have the same allure.
The Red Sox might be struggling to make the playoffs, but a hot streak can put them right back into wild-card contention, and they will continue to run Adam Duvall out in center field.
Many have forgotten about Duvall because of his injuries earlier in the season, but right now he is swinging a hot bat, and if you need power, he could be available.
Over the past week, Duvall had a slash line of .391/.440/1.043 with four home runs and seven RBIs over a six-game stretch. Though you can’t expect his batting average to stay up, his power is real, and both the home run and RBI categories can be very movable.
If you need infield help, check to see if the Dodgers’ Max Muncy is available.
Sure, he is hitting .208 on the season, but he hit .393 over his previous seven games headed into Friday and had an impressive streak in which he had an extra-base hit in nine straight — including six doubles, three home runs and an invaluable 13 RBIs.
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The Dodgers have a 13 ¹/₂-game lead in the NL West, but a veteran manager like Dave Roberts knows he needs to continue to ride the hot hands and hope that the momentum carries over into the postseason.
Rookie call-ups are always going to be the rage, as most fantasy baseball managers yearn for that magical upside.
The problem is, not many players actually deliver.
That’s why investing in veteran talent is the significantly wiser move. Not only are most MLB managers content to rely on their veterans at this time of year, but there will be significantly less competition for them on waivers.
Your goal is to win a fantasy championship. You don’t get bonus points for doing it with a bunch of rookie call-ups. Slow and steady wins the race, and veteran talent is what will get you there.
Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to Fantasy-Alarm.com for all your fantasy baseball advice.
