The month of June provided MLB fans with 1,101 home runs – the most home runs in one calendar month in MLB history. After a dramatic turn of events during week 13, the division standings have seen a few changes. In the American League (AL) East, the Boston Red Sox have overtaken the New York Yankees for the division lead – the Red Sox are on a four-game winning streak (7-3 in last 10 games) while the Yankees are on a two-game losing streak (4-6 in last 10 games). Similarly, the Cleveland Indians have grabbed the division lead from the Minnesota Twins, leading them by three games (as well as the Kansas City Royals).
In the AL West, the Houston Astros continue to pad their division lead – now at 14.5 games. On the other side in the National League (NL) East, the Washington Nationals continue to maintain a steady lead in their division while the Milwaukee Brewers are still clinging on to a 2.0 game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. After going 1-9 in their last 10 games, the Colorado Rockies have fallen to third place in the NL West, with the Los Angeles Dodgers taking over the top spot after going 8-2 in their last 10 games along with a current three-game winning streak. With a recap of the current standings, let’s move on to the top MLB fantasy waiver wire picks for week 14.
Tommy Pham, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
Although Tommy Pham’s role as a full-time starter is not guaranteed, it helps that he’s recorded at least a hit in nine of his last 10 games and scored a run in six straight games. Over the last two weeks, Pham is slashing .300/.375/.540 with four home runs. However, his numbers at home have been poor but going up against the back-end rotations of the Marlins and Mets should help out Pham’s cause.
The Cardinals enter Monday three games under .500. As average as they have been this season, they still find themselves just four games out of first place in the National League Central.
Michael Taylor, OF, Washington Nationals
Michael Taylor has filled in quite well at center field since Adam Eaton’s knee injury. So far this year, Taylor has produced a respectable slash line of .280/.319/.509. However, Taylor’s success has been partly due to his unsustainable batting average on balls-in-play (BABIP) of .378. Additionally, Taylor’s poor plate discipline will remain a big problem – only six players with at least 225 plate appearances have a worse walk-to-strikeout ratio and only nine players have a higher strikeout rate. In spite of all this, you should grab Taylor while he’s hot – .378/.442/.730 slash line in the last two weeks with three home runs and a .500 BABIP.
Trey Mancini, 1B, Baltimore Orioles
With pitchers Matt Garza, Hector Santiago, Adalberto Mejia, and Kyle Gibson scheduled to face the Orioles this week, Mancini should have some success. Given the way Mancini has performed at the plate since Chris Davis’ injury, you should add him while the chance is still available. Mancini’s power has been on full display while improving his slash line after each month of the season. Over the last month, Mancini is slashing .316/.369/.600 with seven home runs. Although he’s been cold in the last week, expect him to bounce back against this week’s slate of mediocre pitchers.
Alex Meyer, SP, Los Angeles Angels
At 6-9, 225 lbs, Alex Meyer can certainly dial up the heat – his average four-seam fastball velocity of 96.6 mph is tied for the fourth highest amongst starting pitchers with a minimum of 50 innings pitched this year. Additionally, despite shaky control, Meyer has been successful in the Angels’ rotation this year. So far this year, Meyer has compiled a 3.74 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 10.1 K/9, while allowing opponents to slash a mediocre .204/.335/.313. One major area of concern is Meyer’s BB/9 rate of 6.02. However, he makes up for this by having a stellar K/9 rate while generating a fair share of groundball outs. With two road starts this week against the Twins and Rangers, Meyer may be susceptible to some shaky performance but he’d be a risk worth taking.
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