Fantasy Baseball Week 24 Waiver Wire Adds: Austin Wells, Jose Tena, Dansby Swanson and More

The NFL regular season kicks off this week, which means the MLB will take a backseat to things for a while. For those of you still chasing a fantasy baseball title, the FantasySP team is here to help.

Along with the takeaway and streaming articles we do, we’ll still talk about the top waiver wire options. With a new week of fantasy baseball among us, let’s break down the top options for week 24 of the season.

These players are all taken from the Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups page.

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Lawrence Butler Fantasy Outlook

Butler remains a steady figure in these waiver wire articles. That means he’s been hot at the plate for a while, and explains his jump to 72% rostered now.

Butler was really pretty good all of August, finishing with a .266 average. He finished the month on a 10-game hitting streak, with 16 total knocks over that span. Butler had three doubles and seven home runs over that span, along with 13 RBIs and runs scored, two walks, two stolen bases and just two strikeouts. He opened September with a four-hit game, so the switch of months doesn’t look like it’s going to slow him.

Butler plays the outfield, meaning there’s usually a ton of other fantasy options to choose from, but he’s also red hot right now, and should definitely be heavily considered for a standard league roster spot. With so little time left in the regular season (and the fantasy season), it’s all about getting the game’s best hitters in the lineup. Butler is one of those hitters right now, so add him and play him while he’s scorching hot.

Austin Wells Fantasy Outlook

Wells had a two-homer game over the weekend, and has been pretty hot overall of late, so his bump in own percentage makes sense. He’s at 31% rostered right now.

In 22 August games (18 starts), Wells had a .325 average and .391 on-base percentage. He had 25 total hits, including five doubles and four home runs. Wells also had 15 RBIs, six runs scored, eight walks and 18 strikeouts during the month.

The fantasy catcher position is a pretty weak one, so even though Wells has a lower own percentage, he’s definitely a better option in standard leagues than he might appear. Wells should definitely be played in deeper leagues already, and because he’s playing often and hitting fourth or fifth most days, I’d heavily consider him in standard leagues too. Unless you have a top-end fantasy option, I’d try to get Wells into my starting lineup.

Pete Crow-Armstrong Fantasy Outlook

Crow-Armstrong is back on the waiver wire list after recording a few more hits over the weekend. He’s rostered in 46% of leagues now.

Crow-Armstrong had four hits this weekend and now has a .415 average and .479 OBP since August 21 (11 games, all starts). He had three doubles and two home runs over that span, along with 12 RBIs, 13 runs scored, five walks and 11 strikeouts. 

PCA is hot enough right now at the plate to consider in all league types. He should be rostered and played in all deeper leagues and dynasties already. Crow-Armstrong is hitting well enough to be considered in standard leagues, but lacking a ton of power, I think there’s still some better options out there.

Crow-Armstrong makes sense in a league where you are after a high average or OBP right now, but the lack of consistent power would make other fantasy options more appealing to me.

Jose Tena Fantasy Outlook

Tena had a strong four-game stretch before going hitless on Sunday. His own percentage jumped to 9 after sitting close to 0.

In the four-game span, Tena had seven hits, including one double and home run. He drove in three runs, scored three times, walked once and struck out twice as well.

As you can probably already guess from his own percentage, Tena is only a good option in deeper leagues - he’s just 23 years old, so he should be added in some dynasty leagues as well.

While he had a nice little stretch of hitting, it’ll need to extend to at least another week or so to make Tena a standard league option. He might have a little position versatility, so he’s at least worth keeping an eye on.

JJ Bleday Fantasy Outlook

Bleday is the second Oakland player to make this story. He had a five-hit game a couple days ago, and really has been underrated for a good portion of the season. Bleday is at 45% rostered.

In August (25 games and starts), Bleday had a .289 average and .367 OBP, which beat his season marks of .248 and .327. He had six doubles and seven home runs during the month, along with 17 RBIs, 19 runs scored, 11 walks, one stolen base and 22 strikeouts.

Bleday strikes out too much, but there’s plenty of production in his bat otherwise. Again though, we’re talking about a fantasy outfielder, so Bleday has plenty of competition.

The strikeouts would probably keep me away from Bleday, but he should definitely be rostered and played in deeper leagues. I prefer Butler over Bleday, but would take Bleday over Crow-Armstrong because of the home run potential.

Dansby Swanson Fantasy Outlook

Swanson had a four-hit game on Sunday, and has been trending in the right direction of late at the plate, so his rise in ownership makes sense. He’s at 66% rostered now.

For most of the season, I thought Swanson was pretty overrated from a fantasy baseball perspective. His own percentage wasn’t matching his production at the plate, but I know a lot of that is because of his big name.

Swanson has been good since August hit though, collecting 27 hits over as many games. He has six doubles, three home runs and a triple among the hits, along with 22 RBIs, 21 runs scored, 11 walks, eight stolen bases and 22 strikeouts. 

The average and stolen bases are nice, but again, he lacks a ton of power. I honestly think his own percentage is just about perfect now (and should have been there most of the season). 

If he somehow hit the waiver wire in a deeper league, definitely scoop him up. Determining whether or not to add him in a standard league comes down to how your current starting fantasy shortstop is doing. If your top option has struggled, adding Swanson and starting him while he’s hot at the plate might be more beneficial to your team. If your top fantasy SS has been good and Swanson would be a possible extra starting infielder, I’d probably skip out on him in favor of a player with a little more pop in his bat.

Zach McKinstry Fantasy Outlook

McKinstry is an intriguing fantasy option because he’s got position eligibility at several spots. He’s hitting well of late and is now rostered in 11% of leagues.

McKinstry ended August on an 11-game hitting streak, even though he only started nine of those contests. He had three doubles and a home run during that span, along with five RBIs, seven runs scored, two walks, five stolen bases and four strikeouts.

The 29-year-old has played shortstop, third base, left field, second base and right field this season, along with serving as the team’s designated hitter a couple times - he’s even pitched a couple times. He should be eligible to start at a couple fantasy positions, so I’m a bit surprised he isn’t rostered in a few more leagues.

Sure, he’s only hitting .227 on the season, but he can start at so many spots that giving him a bench spot isn’t the worst idea. Because he’s struggled most of the season, his recent hot streak probably means he’s a streaming option in deeper leagues for the next couple days, and then will be dropped again when he cools off. Take advantage of things if you have a roster spot to play with, especially during a week like the one coming up (with several off days throughout the week).