Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Joshua Baez leads this week's top stash candidates

Sean Burke, SP, White Sox (33%) – Whoa. I'm not sure what got into Burke, but his velocity was up nearly 2 mph on his fastball, and he generated a truly impressive 20 whiffs in a bulk relief appearance Thursday.  He ended up throwing 7.1 innings against the Yankees, and I think it's the best he's ever looked in the majors. He struck out eight, walked just one, allowed just one earned run, and most notably, added nearly 2 mph on his fastball. And that might be underselling it: His final pitch of the night to close out the game came in at 99.3 mph, just the fourth time he's ever hit 99 in an MLB game – and, again, it was his final pitch of the game. It's so out of character that I think you have to assume it won't prove sustainable, but it was also so impressive that I think you do have to at least take the possibility of him doing this moving forward seriously. Prioritize Jump, certainly, but I'm very intrigued to see what Burke does in his next outing against a Guardians lineup missing Jose Ramirez.

Shane Baz, SP, Orioles (73%) – I still don't buy Baz as a long-term difference maker, but he's on a nice run right now and deserves a bit more respect from Fantasy players. Baz ran into some early trouble Thursday but ended up allowing just three runs over seven innings of work against the Mariners, with nine strikeouts and 13 whiffs on 99 pitches. That brings him to a 2.39 ERA over his past six starts, though he still isn't generating as many strikeouts as you'd like, leading ERA estimators to discount this run he's on. At the very least, however, you've gotta like his odds for next week against a Mike Trout-less Angels squad, even if it remains reasonable to be skeptical about him long-term. 

Matt Shaw, 3B, Cubs (16%) – It's been hard to find consistent playing time for Shaw, but that should change after the Cubs sent Moises Ballesteros down to Triple-A Thursday. Michael Conforto may take on some of Ballesteros' DH duties against right-handed pitching, but with Shaw's defensive versatility, I think we'll see him out there more often than not, and he's looked a bit more well-equipped to play every day than he did as a rookie, hitting .266/.319/.440 while cutting his strikeout rate to 17% this season. He probably doesn't do enough to matter in points leagues, but he's a nice guy to have on your bench in Roto leagues with MI, CI, and OF eligibility. 

Christian Moore, OF, Angels (8%) – Moore did little to distinguish himself in his MLB debut last season, hitting .198/.284/.370 in 53 games with a 33.7% strikeout rate. He was overwhelmed, as fast-promoted Angels' prospects often are. But he went back down to Triple-A this season and has hit .333/.468/.585 with nearly as many walks as strikeouts and nine homers and 10 steals in 51 games. Even in his rookie season, he showed off roughly average raw power and has done even better so far at Triple-A, albeit with a very low pulled-air rate that suggests he isn't likely to make a huge impact as a power hitter. But the improved plate discipline and contact skills, plus a bit of speed, suggest there's something here at least for those of you in deeper Roto leagues, especially when he gains outfield eligibility by the end of the week. 

Thursday's standouts

Bryan Woo, Mariners vs. BAL: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K – The overall numbers still aren't great, as Woo just got his ERA down below 4.00 for the season. But nothing else looks particularly alarming here, so I'm chalking it up to a weird cold streak. His FIP and xERA are within spitting distance of last season's, and this is now eight or more strikeouts in four of his past eight starts, with one of the other three a seven-K effort. If there's any kind of buy-low window available, I'm trying to clamber through before it shuts. 

Trey Yesavage, Blue Jays @BOS: 7.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K – This one got a bit more interesting than it perhaps needed to as Yesavage allowed two homers in the eighth inning to cost himself a chance at the win. But after a stretch of iffy control, it was lovely to see Yesavage get through a whole start without any walks. He hasn't been quite as good as hoped this season, but Yesavage is still showing plenty of bat-missing ability with his slider and splitter, while his four-seamer continues to limit damage for the most part. I'd bet on something more like his 3.15 xERA than his 3.76 actual mark moving forward. 

Sonny Gray, Red Sox vs. TOR: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K – Gray is still showing inconsistency as a bat-misser, but the results remain mostly excellent. The question is, how long can he get away with it? His 3.12 ERA comes with an expected ERA closer to 4.00, and that's probably my expectation for him moving forward if he's truly just a 20%-ish strikeout rate guy. He should still be useful, but I'd be looking to trade Gray before the regression caught up to him. 

Parker Messick, Guardians @MIL: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K – Another good start from a guy who kind of needed one – Messick hadn't gone six innings in a start since May 13 before this one. He had gotten close, getting pulled with two outs in the sixth in three of five starts since, so it's not like anyone was panicking. But Messick was looking a bit less sharp, including three straight starts with just four strikeouts before this one. Given the limited track record, there's always going to be some inherent uncertainty here, but Messick answered some of that with a very good outing here, which also saw his four-seam fastball sit 2.2 mph up from his season average. That'll help, as will pitching on seven days of rest, so don't expect Messick to sustain that velo bump. 

Ryan Weathers, Yankees vs. CHW: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K – There's a theme tonight: Guys who needed a good start got one. Weathers faded his fastballs a bit in this one, while also throwing them about 1 mph harder, and he had his best start in four tries. He still gave up a homer, which remains the biggest issue for Weathers, who otherwise is missing plenty of bats and limiting walks well. I still think we're likely looking at Weathers moving to the bullpen at some point in the second half once Max Fried is ready to come back from his elbow injury, so it's not a bad idea to shop Weathers right now. 

Sean Manaea, Mets @PHI; 5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K – There are other more interesting names to consider on waivers right now than Manaea, who is just 27% and isn't likely to see that number climb much moving forward. But I'm not opposed to adding him if some of the names above are already rostered, because we're seeing some interesting signs that look like his very effective 2024 form. Manaea is fading his four-seamer for his sinker lately, and his sweeper has looked a lot better this season, including garnering 11 whiffs Thursday. That's a couple of good starts in a row, but I'm not sure I'm ready to trust him for next week against a Cubs lineup with very good numbers against lefties. But as a SPaRP, he's already a good streamer in H2H points leagues, at least. Let's see if he can become more than that again.