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Week One saw Chris Davis dominate and Will Middlebrooks have a 3-HR day against the Blue Jays. Justin Upton, with 5 HR through Week One is showing he can play anywhere and last year’s 17 HR are an aberration. For fantasy owners still looking for power, we have chosen five guys from our Ultimate Waiver Wire Watch List who could be very cheap sources for power going into Week 2 and beyond:
1) Mark Reynolds (Yahoo owned: 43%, CBS owned: 59%): Can’t be surprised that he is on this list. All he does is go yard-- four of his five hits in Week One were homers, with two of those coming off David Price and Mark Buehrle. We all know he’s going to hurt your average and have streaky weeks where he’s feast or famine, so ride him while he is hot. With 1B and 3B eligibility, he’s a good fill-in at a CI or a thin 3B position.
2) J.P. Arencibia (Yahoo owned: 52%, CBS owned: 63%): He saw a 10% jump in CBS ownership leagues this week following a 2-HR game against Boston and then proving that power is legit by going deep again two days later against Cleveland. He’s always had power potential with 23 HR in 2011 and 18 HR in 2012. Now he’ll need to show that he can maintain a serviceable average. He’s still striking out too much (7 K versus 1 BB in Week One) so let’s see how he performs in Week Two before declaring him a breakout stud.
3) Garrett Jones (Yahoo owned: 38%, CBS owned: 30%): He didn’t do anything noteworthy during Week One, which means he should still be available in nearly 65% of all leagues. That said, he remains a guy to look at, particularly if your team is now dealing with injuries. With Freddie Freeman sidelined for two to three weeks and Michael Cuddyer dealing with a sore wrist, Jones is an ideal candidate to replace an injured player in the short-term. Add in that the Pirates play three games in Arizona this week, he could go for a bomb or two and get on more owners’ radars. The time to invest is now.
4) Vernon Wells (Yahoo owned: 11%, CBS owned: 39%): The Yankee lineup is decimated-- no Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, A-Rod or Nunez, so with all these injuries, Vernon Wells is guaranteed daily playing time. He’s already put up 2 HR and to put last year in perspective, he did have 11 HR in 243 AB. Project that for an entire year and Wells is a 20-HR player. He could be rejuvenated with a full-time hitting fifth in the Yankees lineup.
5) Lucas Duda (Yahoo owned: 6%, CBS owned: 34%): Lucas Duda remains the everyday LF for the New York Mets and has started every game so far. He rewarded a few lucky fantasy owners with a solo HR this week off a LHP. A good sign is that had six walks through Week One, which puts him among the top five for plate discipline. The Mets play in Philly (good) and in Minnesota (not as good for park factors, but all RHP for the series against the Mets) this week.
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Be sure to check out RotoBaller's complete Waiver Wire Watch List for more guys to look at to help you win your league.
