Sunday Smoke: Push Your Chips In

Howdy, folks!

Now that the real MLB trade deadline has passed us by, we're in a critical juncture of the baseball AND dynasty baseball season. While many of your fantasy leagues may have had deadlines that have already passed, I know I'm in a few where they are still coming up this week.

A tough spot for an article, so I figure we can talk a little about dynasty value in general, a little trade advice, and perhaps even possible waiver wire pickups in certain leagues.

No pressure, but your fantasy season is being decided right now.

Sunday Smoke - Prospects Live

Prospects LiveDarren Eisenhauer

All the way from the frosty days of spring training, through the dog days of summer...early August gives us 1.5 months or so to finish strong and pull ahead in roto leagues, or to put the final touches on your H2H lineups ahead of a grueling playoff gauntlet.

Again, no pressure!

But I am here with some help.

Hopefully, some of you took advantage of the previous Sunday Smoke guys, such as Kyle Stowers, Agustin Ramirez, Kerry Carpenter, or Luke Keaschall when their value dipped - they're all looking pretty steady both now and in the long term!

I've also pitched Wyatt Langford as another guy to target before it's too late, and while he's slumped as of late, I think right now would be a perfect time to grab him ahead of any late trade deadlines. The best is yet to come - he's just 23, and still likely heading toward a 20/20 season.

Langford won me a 20-team championship last year due to a scorching finish, so there is precedence here.

That said, I don't like double-dipping with my featured players, and all the aforementioned guys are hitters - so let's go with pitching this time around.

Last year, I feel like I hit on a lot of pitchers, but my hitting in fantasy leagues was often less than stellar. This year has been the total opposite!

While most of my issues have been due to injuries, it doesn't matter. We have to pivot and move onward, scraping together some semblance of pitching depth to carry us over the finish line in pursuit of dynasty baseball glory.

Hurston Waldrep, SP, ATL

I love the smell of prospect shine in the morning.

But once it's gone, pee-yew! Hurston Waldrep went from a trendy FYPD pick in 2023 to a buzzy prospect rapidly flying up the Braves' ranks while going viral for his filthy splitter...

...to getting annihilated for 13 runs in his only 7 IP in 2024.

But in his first two appearances in 2025, Mr. Waldrep looks like a brand-new man. Last year, he leaned on the 4-seamer 40% of the time while mixing in an ineffective slider, allowing hitters to sit back and wait on that splitter. It's the Max Meyer story - you can't get by on one pitch as a starter in the major leagues, no matter how good it is.

Braves fans and dynasty GMs alike should probably write a "thank you" letter to Sean Murphy:

The introduction of Waldrep's sinker (as well as a less-impressive cutter) has completely revitalized the kid's repertoire as well as his fantasy value moving forward. The pitch has a 27% whiff rate so far while putting away batters, allowing the signature splitter to achieve a silly 75% K rate in a small sample size!

Waldrep is still getting hit hard, and the sinker's xBA is less friendly than reality so far, but this is a major step in the right direction.

Perhaps most importantly of all, he's commanding all of his pitches much better than he did in last year's walk-riddled debut. They're finding the zone with more consistency, and could lead to Mr. Waldrep reaching that tantalizing potential so many folk dreamed of coming out of the draft.

Lucas Morel pointed out in the PL Discord channel that a lowered leg kick has also helped.

Hurston Waldrep is still just 11% rostered in Yahoo leagues as of this writing, and I wouldn't let him slip by if I were you. While we are seeing an uptick in value compared to a couple of weeks ago, this is still someone I'd look to buy in dynasty leagues based on Atlanta's likelihood of a bounce-back 2026 season.

League winner? You never know.

Zebby Matthews, SP, MIN

Daniel Zebulon Matthews is exactly what this article is all about.