Max Stassi (C, LAA) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Two-Catcher Leagues

OWNED IN: 12% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Just 27 AB into the 2020 season, and Max Stassi already looks poised for a career campaign. The 29-year-old backstop has already swung his way to four home runs, a slash of .296/.355/.741, and the addition of six runs and ten RBI for the competent Angel offense. With the performance of the current crop of available catchers in even more fluctuation than in years previous, Stassi has been one of the premier breakout players of the position this year once he started finally getting worthwhile playing time behind Jason Castro.

Stassi has lowered his strikeout rate significantly this season to 16.1%, although his walk rate has taken a slight hit and fallen to 6.5%. The key to Stassi's success has been taking air and improving on his already solid contact on batted balls, as evidenced by his 56.5% fly ball rate (0.54 GB/FB ratio) that he pairs with a 43.5% hard contact rate and minimal 13% soft contact rate, netting a .444 ISO thus far. As long as he can continue to keep strikeouts down, batted balls up (literally), and his contact on pitches at such a high quality, Max Stassi is as safe as a catching acquisition can get for two-catcher and deeper leagues.