Mallex Smith (OF, TB) - Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 28% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Mallex Smith cooled off after a hot start to the 2018 season, but has hits in three of the last four games, including a 3-for-5 effort with a stolen base against the Angels on Friday. The stolen base was his 10th of the season in 14 attempts and the three hit performance was his second of the week.

Smith's .402 BABIP is the contributing factor to why most do not believe in his .315 batting average, but his 17.3% soft hit ball rate and 24.7% line drive rate show that he is hitting the ball squarely. The speedy Smith has also seen improvements in strikeout rate (19.9% is better than his 21.6% career average) and his ground ball rate (46.2%) is his lowest at any level since posting a 45.5% rate with Triple-A Gwinnett when he was with the Braves.

The 25-year-old Smith only has scored 15 runs and knocked in 10 this season, but appears to be turning into a prototypical lead off hitter.  A speed merchant in the minors (Smith stole as many as 88 bases in a full minor league season- 2014 with the Padres), his .386 OBP makes him a nice addition in deeper leagues.