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Now that we're officially in the second half, it's important to take stock of fantasy teams and make the smartest moves, which may be different pending on the team or league. If your team has tons of steals and runs but is lacking in the power categories, then make a move to address that area. On the flip side, your team might mash, but lose stolen bases almost every week. In a league with playoffs, that should be addressed prior to the postseason.
As a result, this is the time of year when the best move is dependent on team needs. Player A may be better than Player B in a vacuum, but if Player B corrects a weakness, that's the guy to pick up. Luckily, we've got a fresh batch of 2B/SS waiver wire options to address the needs of any fantasy squad.
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 fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 16 – July 25th through July 31st.
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Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Ramon Urias, 2B/SS/3B, Baltimore Orioles (38% rostered)
The Orioles have been one of the best stories in baseball and its scorching-hot July has the O's on the fringes of the playoff race. Right in the middle of all this winning has been Ramon Urias, who has been on a tear since returning from injury on July 4th.
In that span, the versatile infielder is slashing .372/.413/.628 with 14 RBI in only 13 games. On the season, Urias is sporting a career-best 22% K-rate and his 50% hard-hit rate ranks in the top 93rd percentile in the Majors.
Nico Hoerner, 2B/SS Chicago Cubs (44% rostered)
Weekly readers know about my affinity for Nico Hoerner, but if you're new here, go pick up the Cubs shortstop. Hoerner offers one of the rarest talents in fantasy baseball by being an elite source of batting average widely available on the waiver wire.
On the season, Hoerner is batting .304, which is very good. However, he's been even better after a cold start to the season, as he batted .344 in the month of June. His Statcast metrics back this up as he's in the 92nd percentile in xBA, has a microscopic 10.4% K-rate, and has 91st percentile sprint speed.
Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Jorge Mateo, 2B/SS/OF, Baltimore Orioles (27% rostered)
In the intro, we teased how you should target certain statistical categories where your team may be struggling. Well, if you need stolen bases, look no further than Mateo, who's 22 thefts lead the Majors.
Mateo has the green light to run at-will and he's electric on the base paths for the red-hot Orioles. The one caveat is he's only batting .206, but he does have seven homers and 33 runs scored, so he's not a complete zero in the non-SB categories.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS, New York Yankees (20% rostered)
IKF hasn't been fantasy relevant for much of the season, but he's been on a tear in July and the high-octane Yankees offense has given him plenty of RBI chances. Kiner-Falefa is batting .328 in June and it's already translated to 11 RBI this month.
The former Ranger is a glove-first shortstop, but if he continues to hit this well, he should rack up the counting stats in the second half. Throw in his 13 stolen bases and Kiner-Falefa is worth a look in deeper leagues.
Waiver Wire Watch List
Ezequiel Duran, 2B/SS/3B, Texas Rangers (5% Rostered)
One of the top prospects for the Rangers, Ezequiel Duran has a cup of coffee in Texas earlier in the season where he batted a respectable .257 with a .414 slugging percentage.
Duran was sent back to Triple-A, but he's back now and worth a look in deep fantasy formats. The 23-year-old slugged .590 in Triple-A so he definitely has the potential to develop into a plus-power bat in the Bigs.
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