May 4, 2016

Kyle Bishop's first base (1B) and third base (3B) fantasy baseball waiver wire adds. Pickups and corner infield sleepers for Week 5 of the 2016 MLB season.

Can you believe it’s May already? At the current pace, we’ll be hitting the All-Star break sometime before the end of this column.

As quick as the first four weeks of the season felt, there remain many more ahead. Here are some widely available corner infielders worth adding to your fake baseball teams.

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 5 Corner Infield Waiver Wire Targets

Nick Castellanos, 3B, Detroit Tigers (44 percent owned)

Despite finishing April with a .939 OPS, fantasy owners have been slow to warm to Castellanos. Many probably see the sky-high .464 BABIP and worry about regression. No doubt it’s coming, but Castellanos can still be useful as that number normalizes. He’s making higher quality contact than ever before in the early going, and still spraying the ball to all fields. The tools and pedigree are there for a modest breakout.

Byung Ho Park, 1B, Minnesota Twins (41 percent)

Park’s whifftastic ways have subsided of late. Well, relatively speaking. He’s still above 30 percent for the season, though only just. The Twins’ lineup struggles are well known at this point; you don’t make Tanner friggin’ Roark look like Clayton Kershaw if things are going well. They’ve conspired to leave Park with just eight RBI to show for his six homers. In addition to that power, Park has generally hit the snot out of the ball when he’s managed to put it in play. That means his .231 BABIP is likely to rise. The projection systems all have him around .260 and 30 homers. Those numbers will play in almost any format.

Brett Lawrie, 3B, Chicago White Sox (39 percent)

Lawrie’s tour of duty in the South Side is off to a solid start. He’s put together a .267/.347/.444 line with three homers and 23 R+RBI through 25 games. Encouragingly, Lawrie’s walk rate is hovering around 10 percent, which he hasn’t sniffed since his fantastic rookie season. Given his injury history, health is always going to be a question mark. But Lawrie has 20/10 potential and carries eligibility at second base, making him an interesting play in leagues with deeper rosters.

Brandon Drury, 3B/OF/2B, Arizona Diamondbacks (15 percent)

Drury has forced manager Chip Hale to find at-bats for him in his rookie campaign. He’s started eight consecutive games playing four different positions, and gone deep in four of the last five contests. The plate discipline metrics don’t portend good things (dat 0.07 BB/K) but he’s always been a high-contact hitter, which can soften the blow of a less than ideal approach. Drury’s strictly a deep league flier at the moment, but if Arizona keeps using him as they have, he’ll be an intriguing Swiss Army Knife for those owners.

John Jaso, 1B, Pittsburgh Pirates (8 percent)

Jaso doesn’t really have the pop you’re looking for from a corner infielder, which is part of why he’s hardly owned despite a .316/.389/.456 line. He also won’t see everyday playing time due to his issues with left-handed pitching. What Jaso does is make a lot of contact and he understands how to work a walk. He’s a better play in OBP leagues, but the guy does own a career .771 OPS. While Josh Bell looms on the horizon, Jaso is a fine CI option in deep and NL-only leagues as the strong side of the platoon currently keeping the seat warm.

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