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The trendiest names may be gone from your league's waiver wire, but there is still help to be found out there - if you know where to look. That's the goal of this column.
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 8 - May 17 through May 23.
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Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Ian Happ, 2B/3B/OF, Chicago Cubs (40% rostered)
Happ went 0-for-5 in his return to the lineup on Saturday, and owns an ugly .528 OPS on the season. So why recommend him? Simply put, he's a lot better than this. Happ's 115 games in 2019-20 yielded a .260/.350/.530 line and 23 home runs, and there's not a lot in his batted ball data to this point to suggest any skills deterioration. He had a three-hit game that included a homer right before getting injured, and the Cubs had largely stuck with him in the leadoff spot even during his slow start.
Niko Goodrum, 1B/2B/SS/OF, Detroit Tigers (39% rostered)
What a difference a week makes. Goodrum appeared in this space last week in the watch list section, and now he's rostered in five times as many leagues as he was at that point. The versatile 29-year-old has four home runs and six stolen bases in 32 games after reaching double-digits in both categories in 2018 and 2019, and notching five HR and seven SB in just 43 contests last year. The inflated strikeout rate means he'll be a batting average anchor, but the category juice, flexibility, and consistent playing time make him a worthy add in many formats.
Nico Hoerner, 2B/3B/SS, Chicago Cubs (35% rostered)
Hoerner beat Happ back to the lineup by a day after the collision that sent them both to the injured list. Prior to that incident, the former first-round pick had been red hot. Even after going hitless in his return to action on Friday, the 24-year-old has hit .350/.458/.500 with seven RBI and three stolen bases in 12 games. Hoerner hits the ball on the ground too much to expect much help in the power department, but he can give your squad a boost in batting average and steals.
Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Jonathan Villar, 2B/3B/SS, New York Mets (29% rostered)
The return of J.D. Davis is bad news for Villar's playing time, but with Jeff McNeil and Dominic Smith both struggling, there are still multiple avenues to at-bats for the veteran. A stolen base on Saturday gave him three in his last seven games, and he also homered on Friday night. Villar has averaged 16 HR and 41 SB per 600 plate appearances while hitting .265 since 2016, so if he can keep finding his way into the lineup, he's a safe bet to contribute.
Brandon Crawford, SS, San Francisco Giants (24% rostered)
Crawford's home run on Saturday was his ninth of the season and third in his last six games. The veteran shortstop has rarely been more than a short-term stopgap measure for fantasy managers, but a career-best barrel rate suggests he's completely earned his production to date. In addition to the nine bombs, he's scored 19 runs, driven in 21, and swiped three bases in 33 games.
Vidal Brujan, 2B, Tampa Bay Rays (13% rostered)
Bruján has always been a well-regarded prospect thanks to his speed, contact ability, and defense. He's flashed considerably more power in 2021 than ever before though, with four homers in his first 10 games at Triple-A. As a result, he's slashed .368/.467/.711 and attracted some attention in the fantasy community. Wander Franco is deservedly the big name in the Rays' system, but Bruján could arrive in the majors first and would merit an immediate add in many leagues if and when that occurs.
The Watch List
Odubel Herrera, 2B/OF, Philadelphia Phillies (5% rostered)
Herrera has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, homering twice in that span. With Roman Quinn (hand) injured, Adam Haseley dealing with personal issues, and neither Mickey Moniak nor Scott Kingery producing, the starting job in center field has become Herrera's to lose.
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