It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating the brightest stars in baseball at the MLB All Star Game, but here we are, in the middle of August, with only three weeks left in the fantasy regular season. Time is slowly running out for teams on the verge of the playoffs, while those at the top should stay busy strengthening their rosters. It’s easy to get complacent at the top, but the best teams will stay active until the final out of their fantasy championships.

So let’s take a look at the waiver wire and see what we can find that will help us continue to strive for greatness.

J.P. Sears – SP – OAK – 48%, Yahoo

I know what you’re thinking, ” An Oakland starting pitcher, in this the year of Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani?” and, yes, an Oakland pitcher. Sears has been extremely effective for weeks now and the A’s have been a competitive team for some time as well. Sears, in particular, has been extremely excellent over the past seven weeks or so. And I think I know the reason: throwing more fastballs. If you take a look at his game log, prior to his start on June 16th, Sears had thrown his fastball 30% or more of the time in a start only four times out of fourteen starts. From that June 16th start until his start yesterday, August 18th, he has thrown his fastball at least 31.3% of the time in every single start. It seems there was a two game adjustment period against the Twins (both home and away), but over his last eight starts, Sears’ numbers have been markedly improved over his stats up until that point.

The first column was unplayable and un-rosterable. The second column is a top 20 starter in that time frame. Multiple pitchers have seen a pitch mix drastically alter their seasons (see Brown, Hunter and Nelson, Ryne for other examples) and it seems Sears is and has done the same thing. He should be rostered in many more teams at this point and is in a position to help strengthen a fantasy rotation throughout the remaining regular season weeks and straight through to a championship. His next starts are lining up to be at home for the Brewers, which is a tough one, and then at the Reds, but I feel confident he can continue to produce very well for his managers.

League Size Recommendation: 12 team and deeper leagues

Jorge Polanco – 2B, 3B – SEA – 27%, Yahoo

When Polanco was traded to the Mariners, I had high hopes for the switch-hitting infielder. I know he has a lengthy injury history (he’s played more than 13 games in a season only three times in his nine full seasons in the majors), but I was buying in to him staying healthy for 70% of the season and producing the types of numbers we’ve come to expect when he is healthy. Instead, he is in the middle of his worst full season of his big league career. He has played in nearly 70% of available games this year, but all of his slash numbers (average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage) are at career lows and he is on pace to set a career high in strikeouts. But, over the past month, Polanco has shown some serious signs of life. In the last 30 days, he has hit seven home runs, drive in 15, scored 16 runs and has a 0.273 batting average and a 0.918 OPS. He’s supporting those numbers with elite Statcast numbers, with an 18.3% barrel-rate, 90.9 MPH average exit velocity, 110.7 MPH max exit velocity and a 43.4% hard-hit rate. He does have an unsustainable 59.3% fly-ball rate, but he has maintained a 40% or higher fly-ball rate since the calendar turned to May, so that number will always be high. He’s been batting in the middle of the lineup, with Justin Turner batting behind him, as a little bit of protection, so his counting stats should continue to amass at a solid rate. We know that Polanco has very good power for a middle infielder and can get on a base at a much better rate than he has overall this season, so he could easily be one of the 8-10 best 2B or 3B eligible players from here until the end of the season. Sure would be nice to find someone like that on the waiver wire, eh?

League Size Recommendation: 12 team or deeper leagues

Michael Kopech – RP – LAD – 37%, Yahoo

Since being traded from the White Sox to the Dodgers, Kopech has been nothing short of elite. He has nine appearances, pitching nine and a third innings, striking out 13, walking one and allowing only one hit. He hasn’t allowed a single run in that time frame, grabbing four holds and a win, before being given the opportunity to close out the Dodgers two most recent wins and locking them both down. In that same time frame, he has also been the best reliever in the Dodgers bullpen. Previous closer Daniel Hudson (7.2IP, 6ER, 3:2 K:BB) has struggled mightily since Kopech has arrived, opening the door and inviting him in to the closer’s role. I don’t want to say that Kopech has it locked down for the rest of the season, but I do think his experience as a closer for the White Sox and his overall talent (and performance) does give him a leg up on everyone else. The Dodgers don’t just want, they also need the backend of their bullpen to be locked down and solid, so playing musical chairs with a roving group of relievers will not happen. Kopech has proven his worth and mettle to the Dodgers and, at least for now and through probably two or three blown saves, if they happen, Kopech is the newest Dodgers closer. As with all new closer changes, this means he should be rostered everywhere (even more than a guy like Calvin Faucher, because the Dodgers will presumably win more games than the Marlins from here on out, thus giving Kopech more opportunities to close than Faucher should have).

League Size Recommendation: All Leagues

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