RADIO
Thanks to Ellis Canady for filling in last week (and for touting Cesar Hernandez, who is Good). For the remainder of this all too short season, this beat will be covered by yours truly.
As in prior seasons, our focus will be on those players who are rostered in under 50% of Yahoo leagues. Your mileage may vary depending on depth, platform, and other league factors. We'll run down options for various league depths in an effort to provide as many fantasy baseball manager as possible with viable pickup options. Despite best efforts and intentions, however, it really do be like that sometimes.
With a 60-game slate, deft work on the waiver wire is even more critical than it is in a typical 162. Injuries and ineffectiveness will be that much more difficult to overcome, so every decision takes on added importance. Without further ado, here are your waiver wire targets for the middle infield in week 2.
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Shallow Leagues (50-30% Rostered)
Kolten Wong (2B, STL) — 49% rostered
Wong has hit safely in each of the Cardinals' first three games, going 4-for-12 and scoring three runs. He's likely to be a good source of the latter, given that he's been handed the leadoff role. The 29-year-old has three seasons with at least 11 home runs and 15 stolen bases to his credit; that includes last year when he swiped a career-best 24 bags. And though he's a career .261 hitter, Wong actually hit .285 in two of the past three campaigns. There's a lot to like here, which is why he barely makes the cutoff for this list.
Ian Happ (2B/3B/OF, CHC) — 40% rostered
Coming off a rookie year in which he hit 24 home runs with a .842 OPS in 115 games as a 22-year-old, Happ had a lot of hype behind him in the fantasy community entering 2018. When he homered in the very first at-bat of that season, it felt like a good portent. Then the former first-round pick never quite got going, and fantasy managers fell out of love. Last year, Happ launched 11 bombs in just 156 plate appearances. So far in 2020, he's added a second Opening Day homer to his ledger, and a second one on Sunday. He won't hit for average, and the run production will be limited if he continues to bat ninth, but the pop, the occasional stolen base, and the positional flexibility are all valuable here.
Deeper Leagues (30-10% Rostered)
Nick Solak (2B/3B, TEX) — 24% rostered
Solak impressed in a late-season cameo with the Rangers in 2019, slashing .293/.393/.491 with five home runs and two stolen bases in just 135 plate appearances. The roster is crowded, so his playing time is a bit murkier than ideal. But Solak has started two of Texas' three games thus far (hitting second in one of them) and singled as a pinch-hitter in the other. While he isn't eligible there currently, the 25-year-old is able to play the outfield as well, meaning there are plenty of paths for him to rack up at-bats.
Freddy Galvis (2B/SS, CIN) — 10% rostered
Admittedly not the most exciting option, Galvis is nonetheless viable in deeper formats. He has averaged 17 home runs and 11 stolen bases during the past four seasons, including a career-high 23 in the former category a year ago. Galvis also enjoys a friendly home park and has a firm grasp on a starting role in a talented Reds lineup. The veteran has hit safely in all three games to this point, with a double and a homer.
Super Deep Leagues (< 10% Rostered)
Jonathan Schoop (2B, DET) — 9% rostered
A mid-20s home run total doesn't go as far as it used to, but it still carries some value, and that's precisely what Schoop has provided over the past four seasons. It's true that he whiffs a lot and rarely walks, and those flaws have kept him from becoming the star he looked like he could be back in 2017, when he was a four-category stud (.293/92/32/105). But the 28-year-old is locked into a starting role and hitting second for the Tigers. Is the lineup bad? Sure, but that's still a prime spot for run production.
Leury Garcia (SS/OF, CHW) — 7% rostered
Garcia was a fixture on our Waiver Wire Pickups List last season, during which he quietly hit .279 with 93 runs scored and 15 stolen bases. It's only fair to show him a little love after a two-homer game on Saturday. He'd hit just 23 HR in his first 1550 MLB plate appearances, so nobody should expect that kind of pop - or any, really. But Garcia is the starter at second base (where he'll be eligible soon) and has already proven he can contribute in deep formats.
The Watch List
Jurickson Profar (2B/OF, SD) — 7% rostered
Profar has averaged 20 home runs and 10 stolen bases in the past two seasons, and he was penciled into the cleanup spot in the Padres' first two games. The fantasy community has largely bailed on him after he hit .218 last year, but there might be some sneaky value here.
Wilmer Flores (1B/2B, SF) — 2% rostered
This is Flores' eighth year in MLB, and he has yet to get more than 510 plate appearances. Nobody will reach that mark this season, of course, but the 28-year-old may finally get to play every day in San Francisco. He's suited up for all four of their games so far, batting either second or third and has hit safely in all of them, including his first homer with the Giants. The infielder has averaged 20 HR/600 PA over his career and hit .317 with Arizona last year.
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