Fantasy baseball players are flocking to snag a handful of rookie phenoms around the league, and perhaps there are two more names to add to that list: Mason Miller and Matt Mervis. With players scouring the fantasy baseball waiver wire for fill-ins and long-term replacements, let’s take a look at Miller and Mervis as potential options. Those looking for the best daily fantasy projections all season long should check out Stokastic’s MLB Projections page!
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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Mason Miller & Matt Mervis
Mason Miller: Owned in 9.8% of ESPN Leagues
The flaw of playing Mason Miller is he likely isn’t going to get any support from his team. The A’s remain one of the worst teams in recent memory, but there is reason to buy stock on Miller. The big right-hander featured a fastball that touches triple digits consistently to go along with some filthy spin. Miller profiles as a prototypical new-age arm who should have a bright future ahead of him.
He bounced back from a couple tough outings against the Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners to throw seven no-hit innings against the Seattle Mariners earlier in the week. The rookie phenom was pulled during the no-hit bid and Oakland would end up squandering their lead and losing the game, but there is still reason to believe Miller can build on the outing.
The 24-year-old has yet to record his first MLB win (thanks to the A’s being just awful) but has an impressive 3.52 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in his first 15.1 innings of work. Miller’s 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings should also continue to improve as he finds his command at the big league level. He avergaed 16.1 K’s per nine playing on a few different Oakland farm teams in 2022.
Miller’s next start comes against a weak Kansas City Royals team on Wednesday afternoon, and fantasy basebeball owners should be sure to swoop him up off the waiver wire prior to that outing.
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Matt Mervis: Owned in 1.8% of Leagues
The Cubs began the season with slugging first baseman Matt Mervis in Triple-A. While the fan base shared their displeasure with the deicison, Mervis did what he has done a lot of over the past year and a half: absolutely destroy baseballs. Finally, the Cubs are bringing Mervis up to seemingly replace the struggling Eric Hosmer at first base.
Mervis currently checks in as the 88th-ranked prospect on Baseball Prospectus, and there is plenty of reason to believe he can continue to slug at Wrigley Field. After hitting 36 home runs in the minor leagues last season, Mervis was slugging .286/.402/.560 for the Iowa Cubs this season before his promotion.
The 25-year-old’s status as a first baseman makes it hard for fantasy players to give a spot for him given all the star power at the position. But there is a lot of reason to believe he will stick around in Chicago for the long haul and make a difference.
The fantasy baseball waiver wire is filled with a ton of potential value this week, but Mason Miller and Matt Mervis are two young lesser-known players who fantasy players should be paying attention to.
Those looking for some more action should be sure to use OddsShopper tools to find the best value on MLB bets for the remainder of the season!
