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Injuries have been up around the league, and middle infielders haven't been spared, so things are looking a bit thin out there on the ol' waiver wire. You can still find help, though, and that's the goal of this exercise.
Most of the players who will be written up in this feature won't be the next breakout star. Some may only be useful for a brief period. A few might not provide any value at all. It's the nature of the beast; if these players were slam dunks, they wouldn't be widely available for free. We're looking for plausible upside with naught but opportunity cost. By considering a wide swath of factors including but not limited to evidence of a change in approach, favorable upcoming schedules, and plain ol' potential, the goal is simply to find as much marginal value as possible.
As a reminder, we'll be looking at pickups for shallow leagues (30-49% rostered) and deeper formats (10-29%), as well as highlighting players in the single-digits who deserve a spot on your watch list at the very least. These are your second base and shortstop waiver wire pickups for Week 9 - May 24 through May 30.
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Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Jonathan Villar, 2B/3B/SS, New York Mets (37% rostered)
Injuries have hit the Mets hard in recent weeks, which has opened things up for Villar to not only start everyday, but also assume the leadoff role. He homered in back-to-back games last week and has three homers, three steals, and 12 R+BI in the past two weeks. That production has been accompanied by a lousy .171 batting average, but as long as he keeps putting up crooked numbers in the counting stat categories, he'll be worth rostering.
Colin Moran, 1B/2B/3B, Pittsburgh Pirates (36% rostered)
Moran (groin) has not yet returned to action after a groin injury, but he's close and it sounds like he won't need a rehab assignment. Prior to hitting the injured list, Moran was hitting .297/.352/.468 with four homers, 29 R+BI and a stolen base in 32 contests. He should immediately slot back into the cleanup spot once he's back in the lineup.
Kike Hernandez, 2B/SS/OF, Boston Red Sox (31% rostered)
Hernandez has performed well since recovering from a hamstring strain last week, hitting safely in four of five games with five runs, a homer, and a stolen base. His full-season numbers don't leap off the page, but since April 17, he's logged a .282/.341/.538 line with four homers and 19 runs in 23 games. Boston handed the leadoff spot right back to him after the IL stint, and he's still on a 100 run pace over a full season despite the missed time.
Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Kolten Wong, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers (27% rostered)
Wong isn't tremendously exciting, but assuming the arm issue that resulted from a HBP on Friday doesn't keep him out of action, he's still worth a roster spot in plenty of leagues. The 30-year-old has multiple double-digit HR/SB seasons on his ledger, and is pacing toward another in 2021. Couple that with a solid batting average and a firm grip on the leadoff spot in Milwaukee, and you have a classic boring but reliable vet. Plus, based on his career numbers at Miller Park it's fair to expect him to start hitting better at home moving forward.
Odubel Herrera, 2B/OF, Philadelphia Phillies (11% rostered)
Over the past 14 days, Herrera is hitting .341 with a homer and two steals. That stretch included a nine-game hitting streak that featured four multi-hit contests. His swinging strike, hard-hit, and barrel rates are all career-bests, and there's virtually no competition in Philadelphia for the starting job in center field.
The Watch List
Willy Adames, SS, Milwaukee Brewers (9% rostered)
The Rays traded Adames to Milwaukee late last week, which should improve his outlook. For his career, Adames has hit much better away from Tropicana Field (.858 road OPS vs. .624 home), and Miller Park is hitter-friendly.
Taylor Walls, SS, Tampa Bay Rays (4% rostered)
When news of the Adames trade broke, fantasy managers briefly got themselves hyped up over the potential promotion of either Vidal Brujan or Wander Franco. Instead, in true Rays fashion, they called up Walls instead. He doesn't have the cache of those more well-known farmhands, but Walls hit well at Triple-A and has enough contact ability and speed to be intriguing.
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