Corey Spangenberg (2B/3B/OF, SD) – Waiver Wire Pickups

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OWNED IN: 16% of Yahoo! Leagues  

ANALYSIS: After battling injury for much of 2016, Corey Spangenberg has come back healthy in 2017 and is quietly having a nice season for fantasy purposes. That performance is headlined by eight home runs to go along with six stolen bases and a solid batting average.

These numbers have been backed up by a career high hard hit rate of 27.7% and the lowest soft contact rate of his career by over six percent. That has helped him maintain a 15.1% HR/FB rate, so despite a 49.5% groundball rate Spangenberg has been able to maintain some level of power production. Additionally, his six stolen bases add some nice production in a scarce category for many fantasy owners. This combination of power and speed  is not overwhelming, but still gives him a nice floor of production.

The downfall of Spangenberg is his team context as despite batting second and fifth for much of the season he has just 34 runs and 31 RBI. This isn't likely to change as the Padres continue to languish as one of the worst hitting teams in the league. However, his solid three-category production and multi-position eligibility make Spangenberg an intriguing asset for deep league teams.