1B and 3B Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 17

July 22, 2019

Kyle Bishop's fantasy baseball first base and third base waiver wire pickups for Week 17. Consider adding and streaming these free agent corner infield options.

Another week has come and gone, and suddenly August is within view. Is it me, or has this season simply flown by?

With the dog days looming, you can expect the waiver wire to be less of a bloodbath soon. Also-rans will lose interest as they turn their attention to fantasy football or enjoying what remains of the summer. For now, help may still be a bit scarce - but you can still find it. And you're here, so you're already ahead of the game.

As a reminder, our focus is on players who are below 50% owned in Yahoo leagues, and standard 5x5 scoring. Your mileage may vary, in terms of availability or league settings. Using that cutoff point for ownership rate, however, these are your corner infield waiver wire targets and adds for Week 16 of the 2019 fantasy baseball season.

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Pickups for Shallow Leagues

Garrett Cooper (1B/OF, MIA) — 36% Owned

While he's absolutely been the beneficiary of some good fortune (.392 BABIP, 36.7 HR/FB%), Cooper's still a middle of the order bat running an .892 OPS. To be fair to the 28-year-old, he's scorching the ball, which A) tends to lead to a high BABIP and B) is something he did regularly as a minor leaguer. The power is still likely to dry up simply because he hits the ball on the ground so much (54.5 GB%, with an average launch angle on all batted balls of 2.3 degrees.

Yandy Diaz (1B/3B, TAM) — 35% Owned

Diaz's ownership rate has hovered in this range for a while, seemingly never recovering from the double whammy (slump, then injury) that followed his sizzling April. But the muscly-armed infielder has amassed roughly a half-season's worth of plate appearances with the following results: .270/.342/.483, 53 R, 14 HR, 37 RBI. Not quite starting first or third baseman caliber in standard mixers, but that production will absolutely play in a CI slot.

Miguel Sano (1B/3B, MIN) — 29% Owned

Sano failed to reach base in five trips to the plate on Sunday, striking out twice. Even after that difficult day, his OPS for the year stands at an impressive .877. That would be the best mark of his career since his rookie season, but fantasy owners seem reluctant to welcome him back into their good graces. A low batting average is the cost of doing business with Sano, but the 26-year-old is contributing enough in the counting stats to overlook that.

Pickups for Deeper Leagues

Renato Nunez (1B/3B, BAL) — 24% Owned

Nunez is one of 31 players with at least 22 home runs so far this year. Care to guess how many of the other 30 qualify for this feature? Just one (the 39%-owned Jay Bruce), and he's currently on the injured list. In fact, only six of the players in that group are even below 65% owned (Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler, Franmil Reyes, and Dan Vogelbach are the others). The point is, Nunez is having quite the unheralded season. Sure, his team is garbage, but that hasn't stopped him from compiling 102 R+BI in 93 games anyway - the cleanup spot is a good place to be no matter which team's uniform you wear.

Niko Goodrum (1B/2B/3B/SS/OF, DET) — 19% Owned

Goodrum is hitting for a bit less power and running a little more often, but otherwise he's basically replicating his 2018 season. In the current environment, more speed and less power is a trade most owners will gladly take. The Tigers' Swiss Army Knife has a a good shot at a 15/15 season, with nine homers and 11 steals already banked, and is also on pace for about 80 runs scored. Not flashy, but certainly useful in deep formats when you take into account his positional flexibility.

Eric Thames (1B/OF, MIL) — 7% Owned

Thames ended a home run drought that had lasted for over a month on May 30. Since then, he's hit .292/.377/.637 and wrested primary first base duties from Jesus Aguilar, returning the dubious favor done to him in 2018. Yet his ownership rate remains mired in the single digits. That's an oversight on the part of the fantasy community.

For Your Radar

Mark Canha (1B/OF, OAK) — 4% Owned

Get ready to be surprised. Since the start of last season, here is what Canha has produced:

647 PA, .251/.349/.487, 103 R, 33 HR, 80 RBI, 4.0 WAR

That's...really good! Obviously playing time has been inconsistent, but lately the veteran has been playing every day and hitting the middle of the A's lineup (which, if you weren't aware, entered play on Sunday tied with the Astros for seventh in MLB in runs scored).

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