1B and 3B Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 21

August 19, 2019

Kyle Bishop's fantasy baseball first base and third base waiver wire pickups for Week 21. Consider adding and streaming these free agent corner infield options.

The end of the 2019 season is now, incredibly, just six weeks away.

With fantasy football kicking into high gear and many owners out of the running in baseball leagues, we can expect there to be fewer suitors for any waiver wire pickups moving forward. The owners who remain, of course, are generally of a higher skill level and will be motivated to squeeze blood from the stone just like you. The difference could be that you're reading this.

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 21 of the 2019 fantasy baseball season.

Pickups for Shallow Leagues

Ryan McMahon (1B/2B/3B, COL) — 47% Owned

After a mediocre showing in the season's first half, McMahon has hit .295/.375/.634 with 10 home runs and three stolen bases in just 34 games since the break. Five of those bombs have come in the past week, and with his second-half surge has come greater opportunity; he's been slotting fifth in the Rockies' lineup more often than not lately. With eligibility at first, second, and third, he makes for an excellent utility player in almost all formats.

Brian Anderson (3B/OF, MIA) — 45% Owned

As recently as June 2, Anderson was hitting just .241/.321/.358 and it was fair to wonder if his modest breakout in 2018 was a mirage. All he's done since is slash .273/.352/.567 with 15 homers and 82 R+BI in the 65 games since. That stretch has put the 26-year-old well ahead of last season's pace, and cemented him as a core performer for both the Marlins and fantasy owners.

Kyle Seager (3B, SEA) — 29% Owned

Reports of Seager's demise appear to have been exaggerated, though it's hard to blame anyone for writing him off. The 31-year-old entered 2019 injured and coming off the worst season of his career, and his line stood at a putrid .186/.260/.331 at the conclusion of play on July 21. Since then, however, the veteran has absolutely gone off, hitting an absurd .357/.419/.786 with 10 homers, half of which have come in his last six games.

Pickups for Deeper Leagues

Ian Happ (2B/3B/OF, CHC) — 24% Owned

Happ entered the year buried on the depth chart, and consequently has spent most of it at Triple-A. Since being recalled on July 26, though, the 24-year-old has been quite productive. He owns a .278/.361/.574 line with four homers and 23 R+BI in 21 games and is drawing regular at-bats as a result. Happ still whiffs quite often, but in this small sample, he's done a much better job of making contact within the strike zone and is elevating more than ever before.

Jon Berti (2B/3B/SS/OF, MIA) — 11% Owned

It's doubtful that more than a handful of baseball fans have even heard of this dude, but Berti is an organizational soldier given a golden opportunity to establish himself with the listless Marlins. The 29-year-old has posted a .797 OPS with three homers and five stolen bases in his 38 games and has assumed primary leadoff responsibilities for Miami. His speed makes him a worthwhile investment for fantasy owners scrounging for steals down the stretch, and the positional flexibility is a nice bonus.

Mark Canha (1B/OF, OAK) — 6% Owned

He still isn't getting much love in the fantasy community, but Canha continues to mash. He hasn't hit for as much power in August as he did in July, but he's batted well over .300 for the month so far, bringing his average up into the .260 range to complement his counting stats. The 30-year-old has a .886 OPS and 18 homers in just 90 games and hits in the middle of an Athletics lineup that ranks in the top 10 in runs scored.

For Your Radar

Josh Naylor (1B/OF, SD) — 1% Owned

Naylor drew his first-ever MLB start against a lefty on Sunday. Though he went 0-for-4, it's encouraging that the Padres gave him that opportunity. They've let him play almost every day since dealing Franmil Reyes at the deadline, and he entered Sunday's action with a .308/.400/.641 line in August. He had three homers and nine RBI in those 15 games, but most importantly for a player whose plate discipline is a work in progress, he had as many walks as strikeouts. With San Diego essentially out of the wild-card race, it behooves them to play Naylor regularly down the stretch to see what they have.

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