Leury Garcia (2B/SS/3B/OF, CWS) - Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickups

3 years ago by Mike Marteny

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BALLER MOVE: Add in leagues of 12+ teams

ROSTERED IN: 19% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The multi-position eligibility, especially in leagues with shallow benches, is intoxicating isn't it? If you have been playing fantasy baseball in any capacity over the last several years, you know the book on Leury Garcia by heart by now. In 2017, he finally became fantasy relevant by hitting .270 with nine homers and eight steals. Not great, but the average wasn't going to kill you either. He's a guy to pick up when he's hot and nothing more. The same is still true for the most part.

Starting with that 2017 season, Garcia has hit between .270 and .280 in every one of those years. That caused him to be a late draft choice this year because we all love the fact that we can plug-and-play at so many different positions. A dreadful April in which Garcia hit just .207 with one walk in the entire month had him dropped in most leagues. It's time to go back and get him.

Garcia has walked 24 times in the last three months and already has a career high in walks despite just 270 plate appearances. Granted, walks don't count for much in most leagues, but that means Garcia is getting on base much more often where he can use his sprint speed, which is in the 82nd percentile.

Garcia's 33.5 hard hit percentage is the best of his career in the Statcast era. All three of his homers on the season have come since June 23, so the hard contact is starting to pay off. Garcia is hitting .379 with two homers, 11 RBI, and six runs scored so far in July.

The hot streak makes Garcia worth picking up, in the short term at least. The power may be more sustainable than in years past, but we still aren't going to confuse him with Frank Thomas anytime soon. We can at least count on him to improve the average and help out some in runs scored and RBI. The sprint speed is there if the White Sox give him the green light on the bases as well.

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