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Here we are again, staring down the barrel of another fantasy baseball stretch run. Unlike last year, it only feels like the season just started. Then again, if you've been less than successful at navigating the minefields of injuries, COVID cases, and the league's half-cocked crackdown on foreign substances, it may seem to you that this season has been a slog. Time dilation is a remarkable thing.
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 20 - August 9 through August 15.
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Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Myles Straw, SS/OF, Cleveland Guardians (44% rostered)
Straw has been included in this column a couple of times now, but it's worth noting that being traded is likely to be a boost to his fantasy value. While he was buried in the Astros' lineup, he's hit leadoff in every game but one with Cleveland so far. The centerfielder has stolen 19 bases this season and gotten his average up to a respectable .264 after some early struggles.
Abraham Toro, 2B/3B, Seattle Mariners (35% rostered)
Toro has been nothing short of incredible lately, with a .388 batting average, five homers, 21 R+BI, and a stolen base in the last 14 days. He's always had an intriguing bat and it looks like playing every day suits him better than the part-time duties he had in Houston. Originally only eligible at third base, he's now picked up the keystone as well and with it, a spot in this feature. He may not be available for long, though - his rostered rate has nearly tripled over the weekend.
Cesar Hernandez, 2B, Chicago White Sox (34% rostered)
I've been telling you people for years: Cesar Hernandez Is Good. He hit his career-high 20th home run of the year on Saturday and has pulled his average up to .240 after languishing in the .220 range for the bulk of the season. The 31-year-old has also remained a fixture in the upper third of the lineup even after being traded, making him a good bet to maintain his excellent run production (65 R, 50 RBI).
Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Amed Rosario, SS/OF, Cleveland Guardians (29% rostered)
Rosario had a pair of multi-hit games and stole three bases last week. Overall, he's hit .269 with six homers, 12 steals, and 83 R+BI in 100 games. If you've missed out on his teammate Straw, the 25-year-old is a nice consolation prize.
Aledmys Diaz, 1B/2B/3B/OF, Houston Astros (16% rostered)
The return of Alex Bregman (hamstring) will push Diaz off of third base, but he's eligible at three other positions and one of them is first base, which is vacant thanks to Yuli Gurriel (neck) landing on the injured list with a stiff neck. Diaz should slide in there for at least the majority of the week as Gurriel's earliest return date is Friday. Diaz has hit .286 with three homers and 15 R+BI in the last 14 days.
Brendan Rodgers, 2B/SS, Colorado Rockies (26% rostered)
Rodgers's recent home run binge got him some love from fantasy managers, but he's still available in nearly three-quarters of Yahoo! leagues. The Rockies' rookie has been a top-6 middle infielder and top-25 overall player in 5x5 during the past two weeks, hitting .365 with four homers, 11 runs, and eight RBI. Other recent surges from middle infielders like Kike Hernandez and Kyle Farmer may have overshadowed Rodgers a bit, leaving him as a great grab if available on your waiver wire.
The Watch List
Brandon Drury, 1B/2B/3B/OF, New York Mets (3% rostered)
Drury had a couple of decent seasons for the Diamondbacks in 2016-17, but played poorly with the Yankees and Blue Jays. Now back in the National League with the Mets, he's put up a .906 OPS in part-time duty and is a top-80 player over the last couple of weeks despite only starting about half of his games in that time.
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