RADIO
This week marks the halfway point of the 2021 season. Hopefully you're at or near the top of your league standings. Even if you're not, there's still time to change that. Key to that effort will be effective work on the waiver wire, and this column is designed to help you get there.
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 14 - June 28 through July 4.
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Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Jonathan India, 2B/3B, Cincinnati Reds (49% rostered)
India only barely qualifies, and he shouldn't. The 24-year-old has had an up and down rookie year but is a top 50 player in 5x5 over the last 30 days on the strength of a .324 average, three home runs, four stolen bases and 20 runs scored. The streakiness has still added up to a .270/6/6 player with solid run production (61 R+BI in 64 games), which will play in the vast majority of formats.
Ty France, 1B/2B/3B, Seattle Mariners (43% rostered)
France came flying out of the gate, then suffered a wrist injury. In the five weeks since his return from a brief injured list stint for that, he's slashed .300/.381/.464 with three homers and 27 R+BI. Unlike his early heater, his BABIP doesn't immediately scream regression. Eligibility at three positions makes him an excellent balm for battered rosters.
Myles Straw, SS/OF, Houston Astros (32% rostered)
Many fantasy managers took a late-round flier on Straw this spring, hoping he could steal bags in bunches and hit enough to not be a complete liability in the other categories. He didn't live up to that standard in the season's first couple of months, but the Astros' center fielder has hit .322 in the last 30 days while scoring 19 runs, hitting his first two homers of the season, and doubling his overall theft total from five to 10. His rostered rate has likewise doubled in the last few days, but he remains free to add in plenty of leagues.
Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Willy Adames, SS, Milwaukee Brewers (19% rostered)
Though he's cooled off a bit since his scorching start in Milwaukee, Adames is still hitting .284/.341/.500 with five homers, 35 R+BI, and a stolen base since being traded away by the Rays. The 25-year-old admitted to having some issues hitting at Tropicana Field, and the sharp reversal of his whiff and in-zone contact rates in positive directions since leaving provide compelling support to that assertion.
Wilmer Flores, 1B/2B/3B, San Francisco Giants (15% rostered)
Flores has always been good for a few appearances in this space every season since I began writing waiver wire columns back in 2015. Since leaving the Mets after the 2018 season, the infielder has quietly hit .286/.339/.483 with 28 homers, 86 runs, and 93 RBI over 688 plate appearances, close to a full season equivalent. The Giants have been the season's biggest surprise, and they're doing what the Mets and Diamondbacks usually didn't - let him play every day.
The Watch List
Nicky Lopez, 2B/SS, Kansas City Royals (2% rostered)
Lopez is hitting .339 with a pair of steals in the past 30 days. With Adalberto Mondesi (oblique) back on the injured list once again, he'll have the chance to prove this isn't just a hot streak. It probably is, but Lopez is a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts this year, which makes him worth monitoring.
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