RADIO
We're coming up on the end of the first month of the 2021 season. Hopefully your fantasy squads are dominating to the point where you don't need any help. More likely, whether due to injury or ineffectiveness, you're in search of a boost.
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 5 - April 26 through May 2.
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Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Paul DeJong, SS, St. Louis Cardinals (49% rostered)
In his second game of the season, DeJong hit two home runs. It was 30 plate appearances before he got another hit of any kind. That early skid has his full season numbers still looking a bit rough, but DeJong entered the weekend hitting .310/.394/.621 with three homers and 12 R+BI in his last eight games. He whiffs too much to hit for average, but DeJong can boost you in the counting stats as he has 30 HR power and a spot in the middle of the Cardinals' order.
Nick Madrigal, 2B, Chicago White Sox (46% rostered)
It would be nice to see Madrigal try to steal more bases (he's 1-for-2 this season and in his first 47 MLB games has only attempted five thefts) but he's been held hitless just once in his last eight contests. He has a .295 batting average and he's on a 100-run pace despite spending most of his time hitting ninth.
Adam Frazier, 2B/OF, Pittsburgh Pirates (34% rostered)
Even after a pair of hitless performances on Friday and Saturday, Frazier is still hitting .291/.374/.418 with as many walks as strikeouts. With a solid grasp on the leadoff spot in Pittsburgh, the 29-year-old has 20 R+BI in as many games and has also swiped two bags in three tries.
Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Kolten Wong, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers (18% rostered)
After going 2-for-4 with a walk on Saturday, Wong's season line is up to .259/.429/.407. He's only played nine games so far thanks to a stint on the injured list, but has a homer and two steals in those tilts and has hit at the top of the Brewers' lineup in every game in which he's appeared, giving him plenty of run-scoring opportunities. The 30-year-old has multiple 10 HR/20 SB campaigns to his credit and has batted at least .260 in four of the last six years.
Myles Straw, SS/OF, Houston Astros (18% rostered)
Straw has been as advertised, both the good (four steals in five attempts) and the bad (.549 OPS). He's shown a little more at the plate in the last three games, where he's collected four hits, three of them for extra bases. There aren't many everyday players with speed on the wire, so managers who need a boost there may be well served grabbing Straw and hoping he can build on this mini hot streak.
Starlin Castro, 2B/3B, Washington Nationals (12% rostered)
A textbook example of the boring vet. Castro doesn't merit much attention in shallow formats, but in deep leagues his pop (18 HR per season from 2016-19), consistent average (.278 over that same span, with all four seasons at .270 or better), and multi-position eligibility make him an underrated asset.
The Watch List
Ehire Adrianza, 1B/2B/3B/SS/OF, Atlanta Braves (9% rostered)
Adrianza came off the bench as a pinch hitter in seven of his first eight games this year, but lately he's worked his way into some starts thanks to a .946 OPS. He even got a couple of games in the leadoff spot last week filling in for a nicked-up Ronald Acuña Jr. The 31-year-old Swiss Army Knife has a pair of homers and 14 R+BI in just 34 plate appearances. He can play anywhere on the diamond, so any injury to a Braves regular would open the door for more starts.
Josh Harrison, 2B/3B, Washington Nationals (7% rostered)
Harrison was intermittently useful in fantasy over the years he spent with the Pirates - over a four-year span he hit .290 and averaged nine homers and 15 steals per season. That stretch ended four years ago, but the veteran entered play on Saturday with a .911 OPS and has primarily been hitting either second or fifth in the lineup as the regular second baseman in the nation's capital.
Nico Hoerner, 2B/3B/SS, Chicago Cubs (7% rostered)
Hoerner was recalled from the alternate training site on Friday and is 4-for-7 with three doubles and three walks thus far. The 23-year-old is likely a better player in real life than in fantasy, but he's eligible at three positions and showed flashes in his 2019 cup of coffee.
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