Fantasy Baseball Week 16 Waiver Wire Adds: Ben Rice, Colt Keith, Luis Garcia Jr. and James Wood

As fantasy baseball owners turn their attention to the 16th week of action, it’s time to discuss some of the most-added players.

These names are all taken from the Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups page, which updates daily. We’ll avoid any pitchers, as most of the highly added ones are streaming options.

This week’s top waiver wire hitter options are all pretty young, which is always exciting. Let’s dive into things!

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Ben Rice Fantasy Outlook

Rice has been in the big leagues for a couple weeks now, but certainly enjoyed his best stretch of games over the weekend.

In 18 games so far, Rice has a .273 average and .359 on-base percentage. He has three doubles and four home runs among his 15 total knocks, along with 12 RBIs, eight runs scored, eight walks and 11 strikeouts.

Rice has recorded at least one hit in 11 games, and has three multi-hit efforts. His last multi-hit contest was on July 6, when he clubbed three home runs and drove in seven runs. His other home run came on July 4, so the 25-year-old appears to be settling in a bit right now.

Rice has played first base for 127 of his 128 MLB innings so far. He caught one inning as well, and there’s a chance he has position eligibility at both spots, which would be a bonus for fantasy owners.

Since homering on July 4, Rice has seen his own percentage move from 15 to 56, and it’s likely going to be even higher than that by the time Rice plays another game. 

It’s easy to overreact to a big game (especially a three-homer contest), and so I’d warn standard league owners from moving too quickly here. Rice is a good deep league option, and being only 25, is a good dynasty league player too. In a standard league, I’d still like to see more evidence before making the move for Rice.

If you are a standard league owner with a roster spot to play with, sure, Rice could be added to see if his recent power surge can keep up. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to add him just yet. Now, if he homers or has another multi-hit effort or two in the near future, that’s when I’d strongly consider adding him in a standard league.

Colt Keith Fantasy Outlook

Keith is getting his first taste of MLB action this season and is starting to heat up at the plate after some not-so-great results earlier in the season.

Across 79 total games, Keith has a .244 average and .291 OBP. He has nine doubles, seven home runs and a triple among his 66 total hits, along with 29 RBIs, 27 runs scored, five stolen bases, 16 walks and 54 strikeouts.

Keith has a five-game hitting streak and has nine total knocks over that span. He’s homered three times and tripled once in that span. He also has five RBIs and runs scored, one walk and seven strikeouts over that timeframe.

The 22-year-old second baseman has certainly looked better at the plate of late and it’s resulted in his own percentage doubling over the past few days. He’s currently owned in 32% of leagues.

As that figure would suggest, Keith is a better waiver wire option in deeper leagues. He should already be owned in all dynasties, and after his recent hot stretch, should be owned in just about every deeper league too.

Like Rice, I’d need to see more positive showings from Keith in order to justify adding him in a standard league. You could give him some run over the next couple days to see if he can stay hot, but I would only do that if I had a roster spot to play with. Keep tabs on Keith, and if he continues to excel, you’ll probably need to scoop him up quickly, as these top prospects can quickly see their own percentages skyrocket when they start to figure things out at the plate.

Luis Garcia Jr. Fantasy Outlook

Garcia is a 24-year-old middle second baseman for the Nationals - he might also have shortstop eligibility in some leagues. He’s quietly had a really nice season at the plate, and is trending upward of late.

In 78 total games, Garcia has a .277 average and .311 OBP. He has 15 doubles and 10 home runs among his 79 total hits. Garcia also has 44 RBIs, 30 runs scored, 12 stolen bases, 14 walks and 48 strikeouts on the season.

Garcia has a four-game hitting streak, totaling 10 hits over that span. He’s homered three times and doubled twice, along with providing eight RBIs and five runs scored. He’s walked twice and struck out once.

Looking at his season numbers and then his 44% own mark, Garcia is a pretty underappreciated fantasy player. He had been sitting around the 20% own mark for most of the season, meaning he was likely only rostered in deeper leagues and dynasties (and not all of them).

At 24 years old and after his recent surge at the plate, Garcia needs to be owned in most dynasties and deeper leagues, at least until he cools off. I have a feeling once fantasy owners add Garcia and see what he brings on a daily basis, that he won’t be dropped anytime soon.

As far as adding Garcia in standard leagues, I think we’re still a bit away from that. I’d consider him if I had an open roster spot, just to see if he can remain hot at the plate for a while. But if you are looking for a long-term fantasy option, you should be able to find better options than Garcia.

James Wood Fantasy Outlook

The last player we’re going to discuss today is another National. Wood has played in the big leagues about a week now and has certainly not disappointed.

In seven games played, Wood has eight hits in 25 at-bats for a .320 average. He’s walked six times to bump his on-base percentage up to .452. Most times, even top prospects take some time to settle in, but Wood looks the part right away.

Wood has homered and doubled once among his eight knocks. He’s also got six RBIs, four runs scored, one stolen base and seven strikeouts. 

He’s played in left field for all seven of his games played, and should be a lock for the starting lineup for most of the rest of the season. Wood has primarily hit third, along with hitting fifth once. If his stats aren’t enough for you, his spot in the order should help you get to a point where you want to add Wood.

Wood’s own percentage is up to 76%, and I’m honestly a little surprised it’s not higher. He should have been owned in all dynasties leagues before he got the call up, and then immediately added in all deeper leagues when he debuted. 

After a week of positive results, Wood needs to be owned in all fantasy leagues. Sure, his production isn’t likely going to be this great all season, but as a top prospect, at least stash him on your roster. He’s the only player in today’s waiver wire story who I would open a roster spot for. Do it now before it’s too late.