Working the Waiver Wire: August 27th

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  • By Anthony Kates

    The dog days of summer are here, just in time for the start of the fantasy playoffs. Most head to head leagues kick off their three rounds next Monday and even title contenders could use some help from the waiver wire. From rookie starters to a catcher *ahem* catching fire and a “lockdown” closer in Colorado, we’ve got you covered.

    Jonah Tong – SP – NYM – 17% rostered (Yahoo)

    Much like with Nolan McLean, I predicted the Tong call up about ten days ago on the “Fantasy MLB Today” podcast, but, like McLean, I expected the Mets to wait until September. But, you go 8-14 through the first 25 days of August, lose one of your starting pitchers to Tommy John and your staff veterans are all struggling? Then injecting some young, fireballing blood is the answer to your woes.

    Tong first popped onto my radar last year, after absolutely crushing High-A and Low-A hitters as a 20 year old (for half the season), before getting a two-start Double-A sampling that he was dominant in. Cut to this year and Tong looks like one of the best pitchers at any level, striking out 14.29 batter per nine innings pitched over 102 Double-A innings before getting the call to Triple-A. He made just two starts, though, striking out 17 over 11.2 innings, walking three and allowing no runs, before the Mets decided to call him up on Tuesday. He leads all of the minor leagues in strikeouts, ERA and opponent average.

    Tong has a four-seam fastball that sits in the mid-90’s, a vulcan change up, a rarely used slider and a rarely used curveball. He added a few miles per hour to his fastball this off-season but the real change was how he throws his change up now, going from a more traditional grip to the vulcan grip, reducing vertical break and lift but adding three inches of armside run, allowing it to play off of his fastball and induce plenty of strikeouts.

    He’s gone from a seventh round draft pick to the best pitcher in the minor leagues in three years. Next up? Dominating big league hitters en route to a Mets playoff run. Go out and grab him and enjoy the next five weeks of production.

    Braxton Ashcraft – SP, RP – PIT – 12%

    This may not be the Pirates are you expected me to talk about, but the rookie “afterthought” has been very productive as a starter, albeit in a small sample size.

    He started his big league career off as a reliever and was, well, just okay. In 16 relief appearances, he threw 30.1 innings, striking out 26, walking 12, allowing just one home run and 12 earned runs. Not terrible, but not great.

    As a starter, though? Much better. He’s made four starts, one back in June and three this month, throwing 16.1 innings, striking out 17, allowing just two earned runs and two walks. He’s allowed far fewer fly balls as a starter and fewer hard hits, while striking out more than a batter per innings, like he did in the minor leagues. He was a 10 K/9 with a BB/9 under 2 at nearly every minor league stop, with above average command, an elite slider and two additional above average pitches.

    He was lost a bit in the Pirates pitching rankings, understandably so, with Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Bubba Chandler and even Hunter Barco earning more attention than he did, but Ashcraft has and can continue to perform well at the big league level. He may never reach the same high’s as those four, but he should be a solid fantasy arm who peaks as a top-50 guy. If you missed out on Tong (or McLean) and need some pitching help, Ashcraft will answer the call.

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    August 27, 2025, 9:45 am