RADIO
Arguably, the three best teams in baseball to this point reside in the NL West. That imbalance can be felt in the records of the 'other' teams in that division. The same thing can hold true in fantasy, especially this early in a season. Not everyone's record (in head-to-head leagues) is created equal.
People can easily point to bad starts on their own roster. It is usually pretty obvious. But bad starts can be contributed to your opponent as well. It can mean playing a cluster of teams who have had hot starts. It could mean facing few injuries, if any, from your opponents' main contributors. That stuff will even itself out as the season goes on, but it can also cause consternation when you start to second-guess your transactions. Don't fret; stick to your guns. It's a long haul.
For our purposes in this column, we are looking at Yahoo!'s rostered percentages, as well as its positional eligibility. We are searching for useful players rostered in fewer than 40 percent of Yahoo! leagues. With that being said, below are my first base and third base waiver wire pickups to consider for Week 9 - May 24 through May 30.
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Bobby Dalbec, Boston Red Sox
25% Rostered
It's been a slow rise for Dalbec this season. His start was horrendous, and he hasn't exactly exploded out of his early rut like some of his peers. Nevertheless, the peripheral numbers continue to look great, which means better results are on the horizon. And we are starting to see just a taste of that recently.
In the past 10 days, Dalbec has three multi-hit games and three home runs. He also nabbed his first steal of the season. You can see why in the data. Dalbec is in the 93rd percentile in barrel rate, 82nd percentile in max exit velocity, and the 78th percentile in sprint speed. In other words, he can square up the baseball and do major damage with those swings.
In this stretch, we are also seeing Boston bat him 6th, finally rising out of the bottom of the lineup. This will be key to his counting stats moving forward. As great as a guy can hit, it is hard to generate elite production batting ninth, although being in this Red Sox offense certainly helps.
Pavin Smith, Arizona Diamondbacks
16% Rostered
I haven't gotten off the Pavin Smith bandwagon quite yet. The surface numbers have not been exciting. He hasn't hit a home run in more than two weeks; he hasn't collected a multi-hit game since almost as long. And yet, the batted-ball profile is still something to be excited about. He has a 49.2 hard-hit rate, has shown a 110.8 max exit velocity, and is in the 93rd percentile in whiff rate and 75th percentile in K-rate.
All that adds up to an expected slugging percentage 74 points higher than his actual. What that means is better production is on the horizon for Smith. It is why Arizona continues to trot him out in the leadoff spot every single game. They believe, and so do I.
Ji-Man Choi, Tampa Bay Rays
6% Rostered
After missing the first six weeks of the season, Choi is forcing Kevin Cash to find places to play him as often as he can. Even when Choi isn't given a start, he finds his way into the game and produces. In fact, he's produced in every game this season through Saturday. In six games, he has a six-game hitting streak, five runs, two home runs, and eight RBI.
More importantly, he has started four of six games, got into all six, and hit third in the lineup in three of his four starts. The scalding hot start won't continue forever. But Choi has had the blueprint of a very good player pretty much since he joined the Major League: high walk rate, matched by a high barrel rate. When he begins games on the bench against any lefty starter, that isn't a death sentence to his daily production. On the contrary, Choi is making it so he has to be given a chance every game, which makes him fantasy-relevant for sure.
Danny Santana, Boston Red Sox
6% Rostered
It has been a while since we last saw Santana at full-go. Friday, he received his first at-bats of the 2021 season. After a terrible 2020, most folks probably forgot about him. But in his last full season, 2019 with Texas, he was a five-category contributor and finished with an .857 OPS in 474 ABs. It remains to be seen how Boston will utilize him in the immediate future.
In two games, he started at first base and led off, and then played center and hit fifth. His positional versatility is unparalleled. His upside is also pretty tremendous, thanks to his skill set and this Boston lineup. We have already seen what he is capable of in just his first series of the season: two home runs, two runs, two RBI, and a steal in eight ABs. If Santana gets into his bad habits from last year, particularly with his K-rate, he could find himself on the Red Sox bench more often than not. However, the upside is too good to ignore.
Worth Monitoring
There are a few corner infielders I'm not ready to pull the trigger on but who are worth monitoring. If you play in a deeper league, you should probably take an even longer look than I did, particularly if your bench is deep. Managers in standard leagues can hold tight, but not for too much longer.
Keston Hiura, Milwaukee Brewers
39% Rostered
It was only a matter of time before Hiura's rostered percentage finally dropped below 40 percent. He is here now, and managers should not forget about him. The stint in the majors was obviously terrible. Hiura has shown reason to believe he can turn things around. His OPS at Triple-A currently sits at 1.348. He has eight extra-base hits and two steals in eight games. It feels like only a matter of time before Milwaukee gives him another chance, especially considering how poorly many of their current regulars are hitting.
Colin Moran, Pittsburgh Pirates
36% Rostered
Moran (groin) remains on the IL with a groin injury, but it sounds like he could be making his way back pretty soon. Managers will want him on their roster when he does.
Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs
33% Rostered
Hoerner does not profile as a great fantasy asset. He seems like a better real-life player. And yet, he continues to hit. He won't produce many home runs but could be a good source of steals and batting average.
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