Working The Waiver Wire: July 18th

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  • By Jeff Clowers

    Last Updated on July 18, 2025 11:56 am by Paul Williamson | Published: July 18, 2025

    Welcome back and congratulations – you’ve officially made it through the week that many consider to be the worst and most boring on the calendar for sports fans! Friday’s contests will kick off the unofficial second half, providing us some action for the first time since Sunday, and putting the rapidly approaching home stretch firmly in our sights.

    Since we’re playing with a smaller sample size than usual due to the circumstances, I’m going to skirt the ownership parameters just a little this week by highlighting two players who are already owned in more than half of leagues, with those numbers climbing every day, and two underrated young starters – including one who is set to return from injury in the near future.

    Eury Pérez – SP – MIA – 58% Yahoo, 90% CBS

    Last 14 Days: 12.0 IP – 0.75 ERA/2.08 FIP/0.42 WHIP – 14:0 K:BB – 1 HR

    It feels almost unfair to include Pérez in a waiver wire article intended to dig into lesser-rostered players but thanks to the managers asleep at the wheel over on Yahoo, I get to include one of the most talented young players in the majors. Lucky me!

    Still only 22-years-old, Pérez is the owner of a career 3.16 ERA and 1.07 WHIP with a 143:42 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first 125.1 innings in the majors and those raw totals could be even higher had he not needed to go under the knife for Tommy John surgery in mid-2023, derailing the entirety of his 2024 season. Though most pitchers require some time to ramp back up to game speed post-surgery, Pérez has come out of the gate like white hot lightning, with his fastball velocity already back up to ranking in the top five percent. His expected stats point to some positive regression as well, as his xERA (2.37) sits almost a full run lower than his actual mark and his xBA sits in the 99th percentile, expecting just a .181 average against.

    There is still a sign of rust showing though, specifically in his pitch mix. While Pérez has been able to find his velocity quicker than an average starter, he’s yet to lean into his offspeed offerings much – something that takes most pitchers an extended period to find their feel for once again.

     

    		 2025 Usage 2023 Usage
    Four-Seam 53.3%

    45.4%

    Slider

    		 21.1% 30.8%
    Curve 11.7%

    14.0%

    Change

    		 6.0% 9.8%
    Sweeper 5.5%

    0.0%

    The most notable shift has unsurprisingly been in adding to his four-seam usage but the addition of a sweeper is an interesting wrinkle as well. The sweeper grades out as about average and gives him a different off-speed pitch to offer up as his slider is currently grading out poorly with a -4 Run Value due to a .276 average and .552 slugging allowed against it. He seems to have had some poor fortune with the pitch though, as his xBA sits at a much lower .188 mark so given a little time to regain his faith, it could return to prominence again. For now, his four-seam is carrying the weight capably, having taken a huge leap in quality post-TJS. After grading out with a -4 Run Value of its own in 2023, it’s currently flashing a ridiculous +12 on 311 pitches thrown.

    If by some miracle, Pérez is still available in your league, snap him up immediately. Those ownership percentages should reach the upper-nineties in sites across the board before long.

    Kyle Stowers – OF – MIA – 60% Yahoo, 81% CBS

    Last 14 Days: .393/.471/.821- 4HR/1SB – .527 wOBA – .429 ISO – 246 wRC+

    Stowers’ performance of late reminds me of the old adage, “it’s not what you’ve done for me, it’s what you’ve done for me lately.”

    An out-of-nowhere power surge in the early part of the season brought Stowers to the top of many waiver wire articles and deservedly so, having hit 10 home runs through April and May, with monthly OPSs of .907 and .810 respectively. The binge was backed by excellent batted ball numbers that placed in the top 5-10% of all hitters but managers were quick to point to his equally poor strikeout and whiff rates as obvious signs of regression to come – and likely before long.

    However, Stowers managed to keep his boat afloat in the Miami waters long enough to start earning manager’s trust… before he completely sprung a leak for about a two week stretch. As you can see below, his rolling 15-game wOBA’s tumble coincided closely with a sudden difficulty in making contact;

    A .232/.295/.286 line between May 16 – June 1 caused many to feel it was time to abandon ship – including yours truly in one league – but almost as quickly as that cold spell appeared, it vanished once more as another hot streak (.315/.395/.639 over the following 36 games) came to take its place, including a 3-home run outing in the final game before the All-Star break.

    The chances of Stowers dealing with cold streaks of this magnitude from time to time is pretty high but I think he’s clearly proven that the highs are well worth the wait.

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    July 18, 2025, 11:56 am