Michael Brantley (OF, CLE) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 45% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The fact that Michael Brantley is only owned in 45% of leagues is shocking. Through 12 games, Brantley is hitting .320 with one home run and eight RBI. Not only is he the only hitter in the Cleveland offense producing, but he is hitting no matter the handedness of the pitchers, which should bode well for owners. Terry Francona is not interested in platooning him with Rajai Davis, and Tyler Naquin offers no upgrade on Brantley right now. Brantley is the clear starter.

Why should owners expect this to keep up? So far he is only striking out 5.8% of the time, which even for a high-contact hitter like Brantley is still half his career average. The downside? He is only walking 1.9% of the time. Still, even with the low walk rate, Brantley is maintaining career norms in LD% and GB% meaning that at worst he regresses to a higher walk rate and keeps putting the ball into play. The one change has been an increase in his Pull% from 39.7% in 2016 to 53.2% this year. Besides, so far this year Brantley is seeing almost 10% more fastballs. It seems that he is sitting on fastballs and punishing them early in the count. This has resulted in lower K% and BB% but higher AVG. Must add in all leagues.