2024 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: David Festa, Adrian Del Castillo, Tommy Edman

Fantasy baseball managers can never have too much depth when it comes to starting pitchers. Playing the waiver wire effectively is crucial to fantasy baseball success throughout the season.

Each week of the 2024 campaign, this article will help pinpoint who players are readily available to be picked up in most formats.

David Festa – SP – Minnesota Twins

Somehow the Twins keep getting the most out of their young starting pitchers. Last week, I wrote about Zebby Matthews and his elite control. This week, I’d like to tell you about the consistency of David Festa. 

In five of his seven outings thus far, he has struck out at least six batters. In his last five appearances, he has a 31:8 K:BB in a little over 22 innings. He can rack up whiffs and he did just that in his last start against the Texas, gaining 15 whiffs while walking nobody. So did he have this type of success in the minors? 

In 60.1 innings at Triple-A this season, Festa logged 89 strikeouts. He’s had a bit of trouble keeping the ball inside the fence at times, but the hard contact numbers haven’t been too high as of late which is a good sign for future outings. He’s a good option this weekend at home against the St. Louis Cardinals and it appears as if he’s a lock in the rotation at this point. You never know when the next starting pitcher will go down or be subjected to an innings cap. As a result there is no such thing as too much starting pitcher depth in your fantasy rotation. Add Festa wherever possible.

Adrian Del Castillo – C – Arizona Diamondbacks

It seems as if the Diamondbacks are really buying into the “next man up” mentality. All of their reserves who are born into an everyday role produce in a big way. Whether it’s Jake McCarthy, Josh Bell, or Justin Martinez, this Snakes team is feisty. 

The latest of the unsung heroes goes by the name of Adrian Del Castillo, stepping in full-time for the injured Gabriel Moreno. Last Sunday, the young catcher smashed a three-run homer off Pete Fairbanks to force extra innings. The following day, he whacked a grand slam on top of two extra RBI’s for a total of six on the day. This level of production will obviously not keep up but he was indeed on fire this year at Triple-A.

In just 100 games with Reno, Del Castillo hit 24 homers with 70 RBI and a .319/.403/.608 slash line. The bat speed is solid while he’s barreling up balls at a very high rate. On top of the pure hitting, his eye is the most underrated trait here. He took 52 free passes compared to just 76 strikeouts in the minors this season. His career minor league OBP was almost 100 points higher than his career minor league average. We all love a patient hitter who waits for what he deserves and that’s exactly what you’ll be getting with this backstop. 

Tommy Edman – 2B, SS, OF – Los Angeles Dodgers

For all those looking for middle infield help, your answer may have arrived. Edman has been sidelined all season in St. Louis with a major wrist injury. Fortunately for him, Andrew Friedman brought him in at the trade deadline in a three-team trade. 

Now, Edman owns an everyday role in one of the best lineups around. From what we saw this past week he’ll be slotted in the nine-hole, just ahead of Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman. So in other words if Edman gets on base, Edman will do good things. He was a table-setter in his best years with the Cardinals and I expect the same from him now in Los Angeles. 

Edman won’t provide much power, but that’s not what he gets paid for. He battles pitchers and puts up quality at-bats, slapping the ball around the diamond and thieving bags. In the past three years he owns a combined 89 steals. Plus he’s eligible at 2B, SS, and OF, making him an even more intriguing add in almost all leagues. 

Matthew Boyd – SP – Cleveland Guardians

Remember that lefty fireballer on the Tigers who had great potential just a few years back? Well, he now plays in Cleveland and so far the results have been encouraging. 

In his first start back from Tommy John surgery, Boyd dazzled with 6 K’s and allowed just 3 hits in a little over 5 innings pitched. The following start came on the road in a tougher Yankee Stadium environment, the only blemish being home runs by Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Besides that hiccup, the metrics are solid. He’s sitting right around 93 MPH with his fastball which is even better than when we last saw him. His secondary offerings were solid as well, hurling a slider and changeup which resulted in a 29% whiff rate against the Cubs. 

In five rehab outing in the minors, Boyd gave us reason to be confident. He posted a 0.83 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, and 27:2 K:BB in just over 21 innings. The 33-year-old has always had a bit of an issue with allowing home runs, but his landing spot at Progressive Field should help with that problem. If you are looking for strikeout upside, there are few guys available who can wipe out batters much like Boyd. After all, let’s not forget that he did have 238 strikeouts in 185.1 innings back in 2019!

Seranthony Dominguez – RP – Baltimore Orioles

Manager Brandon Hyde came out last week and stated that their new closer is Seranthony Dominguez. The struggles of Craig Kimbrel have finally gotten to be enough for this Baltimore squad. The good news for you? On a team as good as the Orioles there should be no shortage of opportunities as they fight for the American League East.

So far it hasn’t been the smoothest transition for the ex-Philadelphia Phillie. He has given up two walk-off home runs to Francisco Alvarez and Jesse Winker, both in the same series. To be fair to Dominguez, both of these walk-offs came in non-save situations so we haven’t really seen him try to nail down a game thus far in his Baltimore career. However since the Orioles are without Felix Bautista for the year, there has been a major hole left behind at the back-end of their bullpen.

It’s safe to say Dominguez will stick in this role unless something really goes sideways. He has a 1.15 WHIP on the year and has struck out 55 batters in 47 innings. These are the type of K numbers you would like to see when trying to finish a contest and the Orioles don’t have many other places to turn at this point.