Phillip Ervin (OF, CIN) - Week 23 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 6% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Phillip Ervin was a first-round pick in the 2013 draft. While he doesn’t have a star label on him, he did have a couple of minor league season that increased the hype and consequently the expectations. He has performed quite well since being called up this year. In 171 plate appearances, Ervin is batting .282 with four homers and 24 RBI. He is doing well to limit his strikeouts (20%) as well. Although he doesn’t have a tremendous hard-hit hit rate (36%), he does use the whole field. Ervin is generally a balanced hitter in regards to line-drives (30.5%), groundballs (35.6%), and fly balls (33.9%). It continues to pay off; in the last 30 days, he has four homers, 16 RBI, and three stolen bases to go with a .269 batting average.

Ervin has a full schedule this week with a series in Pittsburgh before returning home for a four-game series against the Padres. The locale hasn’t been problematic for Ervin either as he is hitting .275 at home and .288 on the road. He will face off against five righties and two left-handed pitchers this week. Although he is doing better against lefties (.316), Ervin isn’t doing too shabby against righties either (.270). He is getting more consistent playing time and should be added in deep leagues.