Waiver Wire What-to-do's July 28th edition
Waiver Wire Wading
As the trade deadline looms this is the time of year when some prospects are either being dealt or being called up to give the parent club a boost. Some of those prospects will be listed below. The rest will have to wait until September to get their shot in the show.
Josh Rutledge, SS Colorado Rockies (38% owned ESPN leagues)
I have to be honest here. Rutledge is a name I did not know until recently. With that being said the reason I know his name now would be because he is producing. Right? Right. Since his call up on July 13th he has been one of the more productive shortstops in the league. He has only played in 13 games but has collected 17 hits while driving in six, scoring six runs and swiping three bags. With Troy Tulowitzki out for the year Rutledge doesn't have to worry about playing time. In a thin field for SS he should be added immediately in all formats if you need help at that position.
Starling Marte, OF Pittsburgh Pirates (28% owned)
Pirate fans have been clamoring for his call up all year. That time has finally arrived. Touted as the Bucs best position player prospect Marte will immediately step into the starting lineup in left. He did just that on Thursday and homered on the first pitch he saw in his MLB career. While impressive Marte does not project as a power hitter having hit double digits only twice, though that happened last year and this current one. He does, however, possess elite speed and could steal 15-20 bases the rest of the year. With the Pirates offense among the best in baseball since the beginning of the month Marte can be counted on to score a lot of runs and swipe those bags. Definitely a useful pickup.
Matt Harvey, SP New York Mets (27% owned)
Speaking of an impressive MLB debut Harvey fanned a club record 11 D'Backs in only 5 1/3 innings this week while picking up the win. The Mets have crashed hard since the second half began but Harvey has a chance to stick in the rotation due to all the injuries. It is going to be tough to duplicate the numbers he put up in his debut but he is a highly rated prospect who projects as a solid #2 in the rotation. Perhaps falling out of the playoff race will reduce the pressure of pitching in the bigs as well. Harvey is also extremely valuable in keeper/dynasty formats.
Paul Maholm, SP Chicago Cubs (19% owned)
No, this isn't a prospect that shares the same name as the so-so veteran who has bounced around the NL Central. It is that veteran. Maholm, almost unbelievably, has been the Cubs best pitcher over the last month winning his last five starts allowing a mere four runs in 37 1/3 innings while striking out 27. Those are some ace numbers. While I don't expect Maholm to continue on that track he has proven to be worthy of a roster spot. Largely unowned you can help change that by adding him now.
Wilton Lopez, RP Houston Astros (3% owned)
This is more of a hunch than anything really. Last week Houston traded closer Brett Myers and setup man Brandon Lyons. Since then they have had two save situations that went to Francisco Cordero. His line in those games? 1 1/3 innings pitched with six earned runs and two blowns saves and losses. Not very god. He hasn't been good all year. Lopez, on the other hand, has. He has a 2.61 ERA and superb 1.08 WHIP with 30 punchouts in 38 innings. The Astros are the worst team in the league and manager Brad Mills should give the closer job to Lopez to see if he can handle the role for the future. What else do they have to lose?
