6 MUST ADD Waiver Wire Pickups II 2024 Fantasy Baseball

Intro Eric Halterman of RotoWire here with six players to pick up this weekend starting with Dylan Cruz set to be called up by Dylan Crews the Nationals on Monday Cruz was the second overall pick in the 2023 draft behind only his LSU teammate Paul skines and I don't think he's going to hit the ground running quite like skin did but I think he's going to help out your team down the stretch Cruz was more good than great in the miners but he hit 272 with a 799 Ops 13 homers 25 steals in 99 games across the two highest levels of the minor so that will play especially in center field I like Cruz more long-term than necessarily as a star down the stretch this year but he should have plenty of playing time because the Nationals aren't going to call him up except to play him all the time as they look to see what they have for next season also like that Cruz cut his strikeout rate as he moved from double A to triaa went from 24% to 177% looks like a talented young hitter still growing and making adjustments Spencer Torkelson we hope that's the case for Spencer Tolson the next player on the list Tolson was the number one pick in the 20120 draft but really hasn't shown that much at a big league level through parts of three seasons he's a career 221 hitter with a 692 Ops that doesn't really cut it anywhere especially at first base this year he hit 201 with a 597 Ops before being demoted in early June and it took some time to get going in the miners as well but he's picked it up in recent week weeks and earned a recall to the Tigers just past few days should have an everyday roll down the stretch as he looks to prove that he deserves a job next year and Tolson did hit 31 homers last year even while he was struggling for much of the season so he should be able to help your team out at least in power already has one Homer and one four hit game in his first five games back so maybe we'll see a good Tommy Edman final five or six weeks from Tolson our last hitter Tommy edman only just made his season debut this week after recovering from October wrist surgery some setbacks made that take longer than initially anticipated but the Dodgers were confident enough in his health to acquire him from the Cardinals at the deadline you might think that coming back from such a major injury he'd be used in something of a utility role but Dodgers have been starting him every day in both center field and at shortstop already has a steal in his team debut as well so if you were worried that the Dodgers were going to not let him run for fear that he'd reinjure his wrist seems like that's not the case either Edmond should be a solid all-around contributor as long as he keeps this everyday playing time he's a career 265 hitter averages only 13 homers per 600 plate appearances but an average of 26 steals so he should definitely help you out if you're in the need of speed on the mound let's start with Ryan Nelson Ryan Nelson of the Diamondbacks there were fears that he would move to the bullpen in recent weeks but Arizona sent Jordan Montgomery there instead Nelson's season number might still look pretty unimpressive to you but it's been a tale of two halves for him through the end of June Nelson had a 569 ra with a 157 whip he was striking out just 15% of opposing batters but since the start of July it's a 26% strikeout rate with his ER falling to 273 and his whip falling to 0.95 Nelson is a young pitcher who showed some good stuff and was getting occasional fantasy hype even if the results weren't there yet over the past couple Seasons so this could be what the breakout looks like up next we've got DJ DJ Herz Herz a lefty for the Nationals who was exciting but not very reliable after he debuted in early June you might remember a 13 strikeout one hit performance against the Marlins he actually had two of his first seven starts saw him strike out double- digit batters but in the other five of those first seven outings he failed to even complete the fifth inning but Herz has stabilized a bit lately he has now gone at least five innings in five of his last six starts hasn't given up more than two earned runs in any of those six has a 307 ER 123 whip over that six start stretch now Herz in the miners had a 33% strikeout rate but a 15% walk rate across his minor league career so we know he can miss bats we also don't know whether or not he can find the zone that makes him very much a volatile option down the stretch but big strikeout upside if you are in the the need of strikeouts there aren't going to be many pitchers in his roster ship range who have that kind of bat missing upside and finally if you Porter Hodge need saves how about Porter Hodge of the Cubs now it's not guaranteed that he's the closer at least as of recording but the Cubs did cut closer Hector nerys to avoid him triggering an option which would have paid him $9 million next year certainly hadn't pitched well enough to earn that Jorge Lopez got a save after nerys blue one last Saturday but Porter Hodge got the first chance in the post nerys world hjge is just a rookie but he has the look of a future closer about him with his fast ball slider profile and with his numbers in 27 games this year a 208 ER 0.89 Whip and a 31% strikeout rate a 10% walk rate is a little high but not enough of a problem to keep him out of the ninth inning if he keeps striking out nearly a third of opposing batters the Cubs have had a lot of instability in the ninth inning this season and man they would love to answer their closer question in September of this year and not have to worry about it this off season I think they'll give Porter Hodge a chance to win the job for more names check out the Saturday edition of the Roa wire Fantasy Baseball podcast with me and Ryan Boer