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Corbin Burnes is gone for the season. He's getting Tommy John surgery. And Zebby Matthews, Ryan Weathers, and Tony Gonsolin are joining him on the IL with injuries that shouldn't be season-ending, but will at least keep them out of action for a while.

Pitching tends to come in waves for Fantasy Baseball, and while we've had some interesting options emerge lately, attrition is tough to beat. With those injuries, not to mention continued struggles from supposed-stars like Bryce Miller, Spencer Strider, and more, I'm betting you've got a need in the rotation. So, before we get to the rest of Week 12's waiver-wire options, let's focus in on some pitching options to target this week. 

  • Ben Brown, Cubs (38%) – I don't have a ton of confidence in Brown, but it's hard to argue with the results when things are going well for him, as they have been over the past two starts. He has 16 strikeouts to two walks over his past 13 innings of work, and it's come during a time when his fastball velocity continues to creep up. We know the curveball is an elite pitch, but the fastball doesn't miss as many bats as you might think for the velocity he generates, so the key might be the changeup, which he threw a career-high nine times and which generated more drop than ever before in his most recent start Friday against the Tigers. If that can be a legitimate third pitch for him – he changed his grip over to a kick-change, as Lance Brozdowski noted in his essential newsletter this weekend – Brown could be taking a big step forward. 
  • Michael Soroka, Nationals (19%) – Soroka also seems to be throwing a kick-change. He was throwing it harder with more drop in Friday's start, and it was a big weapon vs. lefties as he struck out seven over six shutout innings against the Rangers. Soroka has been dominant against righties, but has struggled vs. lefties so far, so if that changeup helps neutralize the platoon advantage, he could be surprisingly useful – and his 2.98 expected ERA for the season backs it up. 
  • Edward Cabrera, Marlins (33%) – I'm not sure why the Marlins had such an early hook with Cabrera Saturday, lifting him after a season-low 63 pitches and four innings of work. Hopefully there's no injury here that they haven't acknowledged, because Cabrera continues to look a lot sharper lately. Saturday wasn't his best start, but even with that, he has 33 strikeouts to 10 walks over his past 31 innings since the start of May, with a 2.03 ERA. Fastball command has always been a problem for Cabrera, but he seems to have found some success by throwing his sinker more and his four-seamer less, a move that figures to cost him some swing-and-miss, but could lead to weaker contact and better command. He's still a high-variance pitcher, but we're seeing a bit of upside lately. 
  • Nick Martinez, Reds (53%) – As we saw early in the season, Martinez doesn't have a huge margin for error if his command isn't absolutely pinpoint. But it sure has been lately, and he put together his seventh quality start in eight tries Saturday ina  tough matchup against the Diamondbacks. In that span, Martinez has struck out just 16% of opposing batters, but he has also walked just 3.7%, leading to a 2.77 ERA and 3.19 FIP over his past 48.2 innings. He went on a similar run last season, and when Martinez is locked in like this, he's an extremely useful pitcher in all formats. 
  • Bryce Elder, Braves (18%) – We can't just ignore a 12-strikeout game, so Elder gets on our radar with his performance against the Giants Saturday. I'm just not sure I have much reason to buy into it beyond nodding at it and saying, "Huh, interesting." Elder got those 12 strikeouts on 14 swinging strikes, which is a pretty unimpressive number – his 31% Called-plus-Swinging strike rate was also more decent than outstanding. Elder's on a nice little run since the start of May, allowing 10 runs in 30.1 innings of work, and the strikeouts have been there, as he's now up to 33 in that span. I don't have much faith in this proving sustainable, but he is throwing his slider more than ever, while continuing to generate lots of groundballs and few walks, so maybe there's something here. At the very least, he should be quite useful in his next start against the Rockies next weekend. 
  • Adrian Houser, White Sox (11%) – The White Sox plucked Houser off the street as a free agent and dropped him in their rotation, and he's been one of the biggest surprises in baseball with his 1.48 ERA and 1.03 WHIP through four starts. It's just four starts, but he does have 18 strikeouts in the past three with just three total walks, and he's generating a ton of extension while also throwing his fastballs harder than ever, while curveball and changeup both look great. Houser is on one of the worst teams in baseball, but he looks pretty good right now, and I don't mind streaming him against a struggling Rangers lineup this week. 

Here's who else we're looking to add ahead of Week 12 of the Fantasy Baseball season. 

More Week 12 Waiver Targets

Catchers

Kyle Teel, White Sox (29%) – Teel started all three games this weekend after being called up, which is a great sign. He's one of the best catching prospects in baseball and was hitting .295/.394/.492 with eight homers and seven steals in 50 games at Triple-A before the promotion, so I don't see any reason he shouldn't be rostered in all two-catcher leagues. 

Deep-league target: Henry Davis, Pirates (6%) – With Joey Bart and Endy Rodriguez on the IL, Davis has yet another chance to prove he can translate his minor-league success to the majors. A career .316/.417/.548 hitter at Triple-A, Davis has mostly floundered in the majors, but he did homer both Friday and Saturday and generally still has legit power potential for a catcher. In deeper leagues where you need a catcher, he's an interesting option (if Teel isn't available, of course).

First Base

Nick Kurtz, Athletics (69%) – Kurtz's hip injury came at a bad time, as the rookie was just starting to show signs of figuring it out after a slow start, with four homers in his final five games. He started his rehab assignment Saturday at Low-A Stockton and will likely be back in the A's lineup this week, and there's still every reason to think he has difference-making potential. He should still be rostered pretty much everywhere. 

Deep-league target: Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Reds (42%) – Encarnacion-Strand has struggled to stay healthy and productive since his initial taste of the majors in 2023, but the Reds haven't given up on him yet. Back in the lineup this weekend after missing nearly two months due to a back injury, Encarnacion-Strand homered and had multiple hits in all three games. He has just 11 strikeouts in 57 trips to the plate, too, so he hasn't looked overwhelmed. He might just be tapping into his upside finally.

Second base

Jeff McNeil, Mets (21!) – McNeil's .245 batting average is a disappointment so far, but everything else actually looks really good right now. He hit his fifth homer in 35 games Sunday, and has 17 walks to just 11 strikeouts in that span, with his batting average looking mostly like a low-BABIP issue. If he hits more like his .269 expected batting average, McNeil could be a really useful Fantasy option in basically all formats. 

Cole Young, Mariners (18%) – Young hasn't exactly impressed in his first stint in the majors, going 2 for 19 with nine strikeouts. He looks overwhelmed right now, something we didn't necessarily expect from a prospect who was touted more for his safety than his projectability. Still, if you're in a deep league and need middle infield help, he's an interesting low-cost flier. 

Thairo Estrada, Giants (17%) – If Estrada can just get back to the player he was in 2022 and 2023, he's going to be a useful player – across both seasons he hit .266/.319/.408 with 28 homers and 44 steals in 1,071 plate appearances. Of course, the hope is that, playing half his games at Coors Field, he can be even more than that as a hitter, and the early returns are somewhat interesting, as he has hit .308 through his first seven games. We need to see some speed here after he stole just two bases in 96 games last season, but I'll be patient. 

Ronny Mauricio, Mets (28%) – With Mark Vientos on the IL and Brett Baty slowing down, Mauricio could have a real opportunity to carve out a long-term role for himself. He just needs to get hot in a hurry. He's been fine in the early going, going 5 for 18 with a homer and a couple of steals in his first five games, and he needs two more appearances to get third base eligibility. That'll give him a little boost in value, though the fact that the Mets put him in the DH spot Sunday suggests they are happy with where his bat is at right now. 

Third base

Addison Barger, Blue Jays (57%) – Barger has slowed down a bit lately, but only a bit – he has just six hits in seven May games, but the fact that three of them were homers has still led to seven RBI and overall solid production in that time. He's swinging a red-hot bat over the past month, with stunning quality of contact metrics to back it up. I don't quite buy it, but anyone with a 94.2 mph average exit velocity and 90th percentile barrel rate probably just needs to be rostered everywhere.

Deep-league target: Otto Kemp, Phillies (8%) – With Bryce Harper going on the IL with a wrist injury, the Phillies promoted Kemp from Triple-A, where he was hitting .316/.416/.594 with 14 homers and 11 steals in 58 games. He's an older prospect so we shouldn't take that production at face value, but the power/speed combo is interesting, at the very least. In deeper leagues, he's worth a look.

Shortstop

Ryan Ritter, Rockies (7%) – Ritter has played his way into prospect relevance with his solid all-around skill set, which has resulted in 23 homers and 20 steals in 143 games between Double-A and Triple-A over the past two seasons. He'll draw a walk and has a decent approach at the plate, though every individual tool tends toward average at this point. The Rockies have done a very poor job maximizing young hitters' development in recent years, but Coors Field can still cover up for a lot of flaws if there's a decent underlying skill set there. With Ezequiel Tovar on the IL with an oblique injury, Ritter figures to get some real run over the next few weeks, and it's an interesting skill set to build on. 

Deep-league targets: Ha-Seong Kim, Rays (18%) – Kim's return to action has to be looming, as he has been on his minor-league rehab assignment for two weeks and has already racked up 36 plate appearances. He's building up from scratch after offseason shoulder surgery, but he's pretty close to a full Spring Training's worth of plate appearances, though the Rays may want to get his bat going before they activate him (he is hitting just .172/.278/.241 at Triple-A so far). But Kim has been a very useful Fantasy option over the past few years and with the money the Rays are paying him, they'll probably give him plenty of playing time, so expect plenty of steals and hopefully enough else to be worth using in all categories leagues. 

Outfield

Colton Cowser, Orioles (67%) – Cowser cam back from the IL earlier this week and mostly looks like he hasn't missed a beat. He homered in his first game back and followed that up with another homer four days later, and he is now hitting .263/.300/.632 with three of his five hits going for extra bases since his return. We haven't seen any speed from Cowser yet, but it's hard to be too concerned about that after just 10 games, so we'll focus on the fact that the bat mostly looks fine and hope he builds on that. 

Parker Meadows, Tigers (43%) – It's been a bit of a rough go for Meadows, who is hitting just .238 since coming back from the IL. But I don't really see any reason to be concerned about it at this point. He's drawn five walks in 26 trips to the plate while striking out six times, and he's been hitting the ball well despite the iffy results, with a 94.2 mph average exit velocity. And the two steals in six starts are good to see, too. I'm buying Meadows in any category-based league. 

Matt Wallner, Twins (39%) – Wallner is doing exactly what we want him to do: hitting bombs and getting on base. Since his return from the IL, Wallner has a .391 on-base percentage and three homers in seven games. Of course, he's also hitting just .227 in that span, which is the problem with Wallner in traditional Fantasy leagues. But in OBP or points leagues, the walks make up for the low average, so make sure he's not available in your leagues right now. 

Jo Adell, Angels (19%) – Adell has been around for long enough that we pretty much know who he is, but it's worth noting that he has cut his strikeout rate down from 28% to 23.4% this season, so there's room for the batting average to grow – something his .277 expected batting average supports. And we're starting to see it, as Adell is hitting .313/.421/.729 with six homers over his past 15 games entering play Sunday. If the batting average isn't going to kill you, Adell is a pretty useful player. 

Mike Tauchman, White Sox (8%) – Tauchman is one of those guys who has been around for a while as a solid hitter who has never really mattered much for Fantasy, mostly because he typically doesn't play everyday. That's less of a concern on the White Sox, who have had him in the lineup pretty much everyday, usually in one of the top two spots in the lineup. He'll sit against the occasional lefty, but he has started 14 of 15 games since returning from the IL in late May, so even that may not be that much of a concern. And he's hitting .278/.394/.574 with a 119-run pace in that time. He won't keep all that up, but he looks pretty useful right now. 

Relief pitcher

Robert Garcia, Rangers (26%) – At some point, I think the Rangers are going to have to turn things over to Chris Martin in the ninth inning, but they've seemed very hesitant to do so. Garcia is the latest in the game of musical chairs that is the ninth inning with the Rangers, and he's good enough to be useful for Fantasy while he's getting saves, at least. I don't think he's the long-term answer, but he's an answer right now, at least. 

Pierce Johnson, Braves (4%) – The Braves have officially pulled Raisel Iglesias out of the closer's role as he continues to search for a way out of his season-long slump, and with Craig Kimbrel already DFA'd, Johnson looks like he's going to get an opportunity. Or, I should say, "another opportunity" – he got one Saturday and immediately blew the save. It's been that kind of season for the Braves, but if we're speculating, I'll go with Johnson getting another opportunity, at least.