1B and 3B Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 4

August 10, 2020

Mike Kurland's fantasy baseball first base and third base waiver wire pickups for Week 4 of the 2020 MLB season. Consider adding and streaming these free agent corner infield options at 1B or 3B.

Entering week four, the season is still moving forward. Some teams playing more than others and it certainly is interesting. Which players have COVID-19? Which schedules will be altered? Who is pitching on which days? Essentially, it continues to bring chaos and we need to embrace it.

Before we dive in, we need to keep a few things in mind:

• We focus on players rostered in 5x5 Roto formats in Yahoo! leagues.
• Player eligibility will also be determined by the Yahoo! player pool.
• We aim at players rostered in 40% of leagues or less. This allows us to provide names to help leagues of all sizes.
• They will be in order of rostered percentage from highest to lowest.

There has been and will continue to be a ton of turnover. Be quick on the trigger and get your adds in before the next person. Staying a step ahead is key and the goal here is to keep you a step ahead. Now, let's get to those players to add for Week 3.

First Base Waiver Wire Options

C.J. Cron (1B, DET) - 36% Rostered

After missing half the week, Con came back with something to prove. He went 3-for-12 with two of those three hits leaving the yard. This is a very strong finish to the week considering no games being played the first four days of the week. With the Cardinals and Pirates missing the first three days of the week, you will be without Paul Goldschmidt and Josh Bell and on a short week for them, Cron could easily fill in those home runs you will be missing. He hasn't hit the ball as hard as he has in past seasons, but with a barrel rate of 21.7% the quality of contact is there. That will help carry the power until the rest catches up.

Miguel Cabrera (1B, DET) - 16% Rostered

Although he is only batting .213 on the season, he has four home runs and is absolutely crushing the ball. The Migi of old is long gone but the metrics are showing the power output can still be there this year. He has a hard hit rate in the 97th percentile, an average exit velocity in the 94th percentile and the barrel rate is in the 80th percentile. So he is hitting the ball hard and getting good quality of contact as well. His xBA is .298. That 85 points higher than the actual batting average and shows it should positively regress.

Jesus Aguilar (1B, MIA) - 7% Rostered

Aguilar missed a few games late last week, as did all the Marlins, but he was able to avoid COVID and returned to action with the team. He continues to hit third or fourth in the order and the power outbreak appears to be continuing. He has hit two home runs over the last week alone. He is swinging a hot bat. He has made a small change to his swing mechanics and with it has come a change in the launch angle. It is a career-high 19.1 degrees at this time and he is also boasting career-best marks in sweet spot% (48.3%) and exit velocity (91.1mph). We could be seeing the resurrection of Aguilar. I am not ready to say it is occurring but requires monitoring and at the very least, should be rostered while he is hot.

Third Base Waiver Wire Options

Dylan Moore (2B/3B/SS/OF) - 28% Rostered

Moore offers multi-position eligibility and in a season with all the chaos we have going on, it can offered added value. He is running as hot as anyone. Over the last week, he has two home runs, three stolen bases and is hitting .292. He offers power and speed and is on a team willing to run. The Mariners are second in the league with 16 steals as a team. With steals at a premium, Moore should be added for steals potential alone.

Brian Anderson (3B/OF, MIA) - 27% Rostered

Anderson is often overlooked. He is boring but a solid fantasy producer. He does not offer much for speed but will give you some power and RBI without sinking your batting average. Currently with two home runs, nine RBI while hitting .303. He will not sustain the high batting average but as long as he is, ride it. I know this is not a flashy or fun pick, but flashy and fun is not always needed. Floor and safety is also needed and this is what he offers.

Deeper-League Dart Throws

These are a few players to go after in your deeper leagues or if you're in a pinch in general. These players will be rostered in less than 10% of leagues.

Todd Frazier (1B/3B, TEX) - 7% Rostered

Frazier plays every day and is hitting in the middle of the lineup regularly. Has two home runs and a stolen abse on the year while hitting over .300. Maybe Frazier has one more year left in the tank after all.

Jake Cronenworth (1B/2B/SS) - 6% Rostered

Cronenworth earned every day playing time at first base with Hosmer sidelined. Now that Hosmer returned, he has shifted to start at second base. He offers multi-positional eligibility and could offer a spark to a struggling offense.

Rio Ruiz (1B/3B, BAL) - 5% Rostered

Let’s try this again. Last week he got hurt right as this article dropped essentially and barely played  since being back, he’s played every game and hit in the middle of the lineup. Cheap power to be had here and worth taking a chance on him.

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