More Fantasy Baseball Week 16 Waiver Wire Adds: Rece Hinds, Michael Busch, Angel Martinez and Tyler Stephenson

The weekend is here, which means it’s time to discuss some more fantasy baseball waiver wire options.

We’ll skip over any players who appeared in the week’s first waiver wire story and also focus on hitters because FantasySP’s Daniel Hepner covers most of the pitchers in his streaming stories.

That leaves us with four names, all of which were taken from the FantasySP Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups page. Let’s dive in!

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Rece Hinds Fantasy Outlook

We will start things off by discussing Cincinnati’s Hinds. He was recalled from the minor leagues on July 8 and has absolutely dominated since. 

Hinds went from hardly being owned in any fantasy leagues to being rostered in 42% of them (at the time of this publication).

In his four MLB games this season, Hinds has eight hits, four RBIs and two runs scored. He has three doubles, two home runs and a triple among his knocks. Hinds also has two stolen bases. About the only negative is that Hinds has no walks and five strikeouts, but his extra-base hits and other productive stats certainly outweigh the Ks.

Hinds isn’t a highly-regarded prospect, sitting 15th in the Reds’ organization. He has a 55-grade in power and a 65-grade arm, but a 45 mark for hitting - he’s got average marks for his running and fielding.

Hinds is a career .244 hitter with a .313 OBP in the minor leagues. He has 60 homers across 322 games.

You probably know what I’m about to say here, but I’ll explain it anyway. While Hinds has been a great story in his short MLB tenure, it’s highly unlikely to continue after looking at his minor league career. 

With that in mind, I’d say Hinds is a good deep league fantasy option, and in some dynasty leagues as well. I’d still probably only add Hinds if I had the roster space to accommodate him - meaning I wouldn’t go out of my way to drop someone. His MLB success is likely to slow here soon, so take advantage of Hinds’ hot start while you can.

You could also try Hinds out in the short term in standard leagues, but I’d much rather use a final roster spot with someone who could be on my fantasy team the rest of the season. He’s hitting well enough to start in all league types, at least for now.

Michael Busch Fantasy Outlook

Busch is heating up at the plate again, and his own percentage is on the rise as a result. He was a hot waiver wire name early in the season, but had been sitting between 33-38% for much of the last month. Busch is up to 50% owned as of today.

In 87 games this season, Busch has a .278 average and .360 on-base percentage. He has 18 doubles, 12 homers and one triple among his 76 total hits, along with 36 RBIs, 46 runs scored, one stolen base, 39 walks and 98 strikeouts.

Since July hit, Busch has 14 hits, including five doubles and two home runs. He’s also got six RBIs, 11 runs scored, three walks and five strikeouts over that span.

Busch was hitting well enough early in the season to be rostered and played in standard leagues, and he’s at that point again. It likely won’t last too long, so if you are in need of some first base help, now is the time to add Busch.

Busch really should be owned in all deeper fantasy leagues, and should definitely be starting right now. When he cools off, I’d bench him instead of outright dropping him. His hot streaks are too good to consider dropping him in a deeper format.

Angel Martinez Fantasy Outlook

Cleveland’s Martinez has also been a hot name this week. He was called up on July 4, and nearly has a .300 average since.

Martinez went from being owned in hardly any leagues to rostered in 25% as of the time of this publication. His own percentage should continue to rise throughout the weekend.

In 10 games since being called up, Martinez has 10 hits, including three doubles and a home run. He has three RBIs, five runs scored, eight walks and just two strikeouts.

Martinez is the Angels’ No. 9 prospect. He’s got a 50-grade for his hitting and 45 for his power. Martinez has a 55 mark for his running, arm and fielding.

In parts of five minor league seasons, Martinez has a .266 average and .351 OBP. He has 40 homers and 49 stolen bases among 419 games played.

It’s been a great start for Martinez, but again, I don’t envision his success being quite as good going forward. I do think he needs to be rostered and started in deeper leagues right now though.

Martinez has a strong average and great OBP so far. Until those marks drop, or his strikeouts start going up, Martinez is a great fantasy option in deeper leagues, even if he’s not producing a lot of extra-base hits, RBIs or runs - he is adding those things now though.

He could be another short-term option in standard leagues, but I’d much rather go after a player who could possibly stick on my roster for the rest of the season. I don’t think that player is Martinez, but he is performing well enough now to at least consider if you want to play the streaming game with waiver wire options.

The best fantasy asset for Martinez is his defensive versatility. He’s started five games in center field, two at third base and one at second base, left field and as the designated hitter. 

Why does that all matter? The Guardians are finding ways to get him into the lineup every day, and in time, he could become eligible at all those spots, which is a great thing for fantasy owners.

Tyler Stephenson Fantasy Outlook

Stephenson’s name has appeared several times in my daily takeaway stories this week, so I’m not surprised to see him as a hot waiver wire name. He’s only owned in 18% of leagues, so there’s a good chance he’s available in your league if you need help at catcher.

In 76 games overall this season, Stephenson has pedestrian numbers - a .248 average and. 320 OBP - but does have 16 doubles, 10 homers and a triple among his 59 total knocks. He also has 34 RBIs, 36 runs scored, one stolen base, 22 walks and 46 strikeouts on the season.

In his past five games (all starts), Stephenson has nine hits, including four doubles and home runs. He’s got 10 RBIs, six runs scored, no walks and three strikeouts over that span.

It really shouldn’t be a surprise to see why Stephenson is a waiver wire option right now. His recent hot stretch has pushed him inside the top-10 fantasy catchers in points leagues.

His own percentage suggests he needs to be rostered and played in all deeper leagues, but his top-10 standing in fantasy points leagues says Stephenson needs to be at least added in standard leagues too.

He’s not going to remain this hot forever, but at a weak fantasy position, Stephenson could be added and immediately started in standard leagues. Once he cools off, he can be dropped again, but he really should be utilized in all leagues for the time being.