Luis Urias (2B/SS/3B, MIL) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Pickups

3 years ago by Mike Marteny

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BALLER MOVE: Add in leagues of 12+ teams

ROSTERED IN: 18% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The multi-position eligibility, especially in leagues with shallow benches, is intoxicating, isn't it? The .238/.416/.756 triple slash line suggests that Urias may be getting a little unlucky with his average. Is also suggests that he is hitting for quite a bit of power. Who can't use 12 double and eight homers from a guy eligible at three positions that are very shallow after the top few players? The question is, can Urias keep this up? Let's take a closer look.

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We'll start with the average. Urias is only a career .230 hitter, but it is also worth noting that he has never had more than 249 major league at bats in any season and he is still just 24 years old. Urias never hit worse than .296 in any of his five minor league seasons, so we have every reason to think the average will continue to climb. Urias hit just .206 in April, so that has something to do with the low overall average. However, Urias is riding a modest seven-game hitting streak and is hitting .275 in June.

How about the power? Urias did hit 19 homers and 19 doubles in 73 games for AAA El Paso in 2019. However, he did not hit a homer in 120 major league at bats in 2020. Chalk it up to just a weird year all the way around. Urias has raised his hard hit percentage from a career-worst 27.3% last year to a career best 41.9% this year. His 2.3 degree launch angle last year had a lot to do with the lack of power. It's up to a career-best 13.8 degrees this year. Urias also barreled just one pitch in the entire 2020 season. He has 15 barrels already this year for a nice 9.7%.

Those improved metrics paint a nice picture going forward. Urias has also lowered his strikeouts from 26.7% last year to 24.3% this year. That's still a touch high, but the 12% walk rate is in the 80th percentile of all of baseball. His power looks sustainable. Urias has a shot at 20 homers and double-digit steals with a good average. That make him worth an add in most leagues right now.

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