1B and 3B Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 8

May 20, 2019

Kyle Bishop's fantasy baseball first base and third base waiver wire pickups for Week 8. Consider adding and streaming these free agent corner infield options.

This point of the season is a rough one for reinforcements on the waiver wire. Pretty much everyone is still trying to win, and with early breakouts long since snapped up and injuries taking their toll as usual, it can be tough to find help that doesn't require a trade partner.

Tough - but not impossible. As always, we're here to help.

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 8 of the 2019 fantasy baseball season.

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Pickups for Shallow Leagues

Christian Walker (1B, ARI) — 45% Owned

Walker has predictably cooled a bit in recent weeks, but he's still hitting .275/.352/.531 with eight home runs. He's even chipped in three stolen bases. Jake Lamb is at least a couple of weeks away from returning, and Walker has made a solid case to remain in the lineup when that happens. He could strengthen that case with another hot streak in the interim.

C.J. Cron (1B, MIN) — 40% Owned

Even after a hitless effort on Sunday, Cron sits at a healthy .263/.325/.533 on the year. A year after joining the 30 HR club for the first time, he's already got 12 this season, with half of those coming in his last 15 games. The roster gets a bit more crowded now that Miguel Sano is healthy, but Cron has played almost every day and routinely hits in the heart of the Twins' batting order.

Miguel Sano (1B/3B, MIN) — 40% Owned

Speaking of Sano, he's also worthy of consideration now that he's fully recovered from a leg injury suffered back in January. The 26-year-old had a season to forget in 2018, thanks in part to other health issues, but he produced an .859 OPS and 28 homers in just 483 plate appearances the year prior. He's already gone deep once in four games since returning to action, and has appeared at third base in addition to designated hitter so far. Things may get tight when Nelson Cruz is healthy again, but the Twins will likely find plenty of at-bats for Sano as they evaluate whether the former top prospect remains a viable everyday option.

Pickups for Deeper Leagues

Scott Kingery (3B/SS/OF, PHI) — 17% Owned

Kingery missed a month with a hamstring issue, but returned to action on Sunday and showed no ill effects from the injury or the layoff. He singled and stole a base while playing in center field, and is now hitting .406/.462/.686 in 39 plate appearances. He doesn't have a grip on a starting job at the moment, and Cesar Hernandez is locked in right now, so his natural position of second base is blocked. But both Maikel Franco and Odubel Herrera are struggling, so Kingery could easily find himself in the lineup regularly as a replacement for either.

Logan Forsythe (1B/2B/3B, TEX) — 9% Owned

Forsythe had pretty much fallen completely off the radar for fantasy owners after back-to-back lousy seasons, but the veteran infielder was useful for large stretches of 2015 and 2016. Signed off the scrap heap by the Rangers, Forsythe looks to have recaptured that earlier form. He's hitting .318/.420/.518 with three homers, a stolen base, and 42 R+BI in 33 games for Texas. The 32-year-old won't keep hitting for average, but he's got a solid plate approach and qualifies at three positions. Deep leaguers could do worse.

For Your Radar

Chris Davis (1B, BAL) — 2% Owned

Davis looked like he might be on his way out of baseball as he opened the season 0-for-33 with 16 strikeouts on the heels of a nightmarish 2018 (.168/.243/.296, one of the worst full-season lines in modern MLB history). Since that awful stretch, though, he's been pretty decent! The 33-year-old has a .263/.337/.488 line with five homers in the month and change since he finally got on the board for 2019.

Pablo Sandoval (1B/3B, SF) — 1% Owned

Another guy who seemed as likely as not to be out of a job this season, Panda has instead managed to turn back the clock in the early portion of this season. A pinch-hit home run on Sunday gives him seven on the year, with a vintage .301/.326/.675 line in 86 plate appearances. He doesn't play every day, but lately, when he's been in the lineup, he's been penciled into the heart of the order.

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