RADIO
The most powerful tool in fantasy baseball is, well, power. The home run dominates fantasy unlike any other product. A home run gives your team a home run, a run scored, an uptick in BA and OBP and one or more RBI. Power is a commodity that many owners are willing to sacrifice quality ballplayers and essential roster spots to acquire, making it very difficult to find worthwhile sources of it on the waver wire.
Fortunately, there are plenty of considerable options on the wire in most leagues that are, for some reason or another, overlooked by a majority of owners. In most cases, these sluggers come with serious gambles and/or red flags. What's fantasy baseball without a little bit of risk? This week, we'll take a look at five guys, owned in less than 50% of Fleaflicker leagues, who can contribute some serious slugging potential for the remainder of the 2016 season, or at least the immediate future.
Editor’s Note: to read about even more waiver wire options, be sure to check out our famous waiver wire pickups list which is a running list that is updated daily. Prefer using your phone? Our free waiver wire app is available for download in the Apple & Android Stores.
Week Six Outfield Targets
Brandon Drury, Arizona Diamondbacks
Owned in 22% of Fleaflicker Leagues
The market for Brandon Drury is on fire this week, as it should be, considering Drury has been one of the strongest hitters in the league over the past few weeks. In his last 13 games with the Diamondbacks, Drury has gone 17-for-57 with five homers, eight RBI and ten runs scored. Plenty of waiver wire-level talents can clobber the ball for two weeks, only to fall back to Earth as soon as you pick them up. Drury has been hitting well all season long, even prior to this spectacular stretch. His season line is sitting at .316/.333/.621 with over 100 at bats under his belt. The 23 year-old has been known to display power in the past. Between High-A and Double-A in 2014, the 21 year-old Drury smacked 23 HR and recorded 95 RBI. The walk rate is a bit of a concern as Drury has walked just three times on the year, compared to 21 strikeouts. However, his overall strikeout rate is quite modest for a young hitter, currently sitting at 19.6% on the year. Last year, between the Minors and a month or so with the Diamondbacks, Drury's strikeout rate was a mere 13.7%. This guy has some serious potential and must be owned in all formats. Extra eligibility at third base doesn't hurt either.
Jayson Werth, Washington Nationals
Owned in 25% of Fleaflicker Leagues
Unfortunately for Jayson Werth, strong leadership is not considered an asset in fantasy baseball. The fact that Werth is even owned in this many leagues is purely a result of name (and beard) recognition. The soon-to-be 37 year-old has not shown signs of his previous production for a long time now. After a lackluster 2015 campaign, Werth is off to an even poorer start to 2016. His .202 BA and .267 OBP would both be career lows were the season to end today. Anyone who owned Werth after the first two weeks of the season was undoubtedly holding on to the past.
With that being said, Werth has made a strong case to renew ownership over the past two weeks, going 10-for-50 (I know) with three dingers, 11 RBI and eight runs scored. Somehow, Werth has a way of coming up with big hits with men on base. It certainly helps batting behind Bryce Harper (.434 OBP) and Daniel Murphy (.441 OBP) day after day. Virtually half of his plate appearances occur with men in scoring position. If you're desperate for some RBI potential and willing to take a big hit to your OBP, Werthquake is your guy. But don't give him more than his due amount of patience because you're from the mid-Atlantic region and have his bobblehead/garden gnome on your desk.
Avisail Garcia, Chicago White Sox
Owned in 9% of Fleaflicker Leagues
After starting the season with a strong risk of being sent back to the Minors, Avisail Garcia has finally started to produce for the Chicago White Sox. That terrible start included a stretch of 15 games during which Garcia went 7-for-52 with a .269 slugging percentage. That's awful for any hitter, let alone a DH. Garcia must have heard the demotion rumors loud and clear, as the 24 year-old now finds himself in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak, in the course of which he has posted a .472/.524/.778 line with two dongs and 11 runs scored. Even with those two stretches mixed together, Garcia holds a respectable .273/.350/.477 line on the season, which alone should warrant owning in most formats. Plus, the sky is the limit for this guy. With each season of experience he puts behind him, his production should improve, as it has already for the past few years. There is no reason to doubt Garcia could hit more than 20 HR this year (or much more, for that matter) while keeping a palatable BA in the .275 range.
Khris Davis, Oakland Athletics
Owned in 49% of Fleaflicker Leagues
There is little mystery to what you are going to get with Khris Davis. He's going to strikeout a bunch (24.4 career K%), average somewhere in the .250 range and hit some deep home runs. In his four years in the MLB, Davis averages 31 HR over a 162-game span. Is that type of production worth it? Well, that's for you to decide. With seven homers on the season already, Davis is on pace to hit 38 HR this year, though his average is, for him, below usual standards at the moment at .222.
In his recent games, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that four of his seven homers have come in just 31 May at bats. Davis has been a streaky hitter throughout his career. Thus, it would be wise to pick him up while power is flowing. The bad news is that his 2.5% BB percentage is abysmal, even for him, and is a career low as it stands. With just three walks and 31 strikeouts on the season, Davis is going to have a hard time getting pitches to hit at this rate. As long as the hot stretch continues, Davis should be started in most leagues. But if the well runs dry, expect it to stay dry until the 28 year-old can improve his plate discipline.
Adam Duvall, Cincinnati Reds
Owned in 4% of Fleaflicker Leagues
In search of a cheap power source in deeper leagues? Look no further than Adam Duvall. In his first full MLB season, Duvall is showing that he has what it takes to compete with the big boys in the power department with six home runs and 11 RBI thus far. Not unlike fellow Cincinnati great Adam Dunn, it seems that all Duvall does is strikeout and hit homers. Unfortunately, with an OBP of .298, Duvall does not walk nearly as much as Dunn did, making his astronomical 31.3 career K% much harder to swallow.
Despite his struggles to make contact, Duvall sure can slug. His .551 slugging percentage is top-10 among MLB outfielders. That alone makes his extremely low ownership difficult to comprehend, considering most leagues do not include a strikeout category for hitters. Similarly to Khris Davis, you essentially know what you're going to get with Duvall, though his average is actually more tolerable while his ownership is a full 45 points lower, making his power much cheaper on multiple levels.
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