2B and SS Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 22

August 20, 2023

Mike's fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for 2B and SS and Week 22 of the 2023 MLB season. Consider adding and streaming these shortstops and second basemen.

As the marathon known as baseball season hits the three-quarter mark, so too does fantasy baseball season; time to prepare for the home stretch. We can smell the finish line in roto leagues and the playoffs are right around the corner in leagues utilizing that method to crown a champion. Buckle up.

Whatever format you play, it's time to start zeroing in on specific matchups and planning ahead for how you can finish at the top of the league standings. If you need a middle infielder to take your team over the top, you've come to the right place!

As a reminder, we'll be looking at pickups for shallow leagues (30-49% rostered) and deeper formats (10-29%), as well as highlighting prospects in the single digits who may get the call and deserve a spot on your watch list at the very least. These are your second base and shortstop fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 22 -- August 21 through August 27.

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Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues

Royce Lewis, SS/3B, Minnesota Twins (38% rostered)

Though the first two seasons of his MLB career have been marred by injuries, when healthy, all Royce Lewis does is hit. This isn't to say Lewis is "injury prone" -- he lost a full calendar year with a torn ACL -- but it's because of that injury and another IL stint that Lewis isn't rostered in nearly as many fantasy leagues as his talent indicates.

In 41 MLB games over the last two years, Lewis is slashing .329/.364/.507 with six homers and two steals. In his last season at Triple-A, he slashed .313/.405/.534 with five homers and 12 steals. Best of all, his Statcast page fully supports his production as his average exit velocity (88.9 mph), hard-hit rate (39.7%), and barrel percentage (8.2%) are all above league average. This is a highly talented player with a significant prospect pedigree. He's healthy right now and should not be available in this many fantasy leagues.

Ezequiel Tovar, SS, Colorado Rockies (41% rostered)

Ezequiel Tovar entered the season as the number-one prospect in the Colorado organization and his rookie season has been a wild ride. Tovar started the year ice cold but picked things up in a major way in June. He slumped again in July, before a hot August. Check out the monthly splits:

Through all the ups and downs, however, Tovar has put up a productive season. Especially considering he was just 21 years old back on Opening Day. On the year, he's batting .264 with a .739 OPS and has 14 homers, seven steals, and 117 runs-plus-RBI in 115 games. Tovar has all the tools to be an above-average hitter and he gets to play half of his games in the most hitter-friendly environment in baseball. He should be rostered in most fantasy leagues.

Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues

Nicky Lopez, 2B/SS, AtlantaBraves (12% rostered)

Sometimes in baseball, the stars align perfectly to maximize a player's fantasy value. That's exactly what happened to Nicky Lopez, who now finds himself starting every day for the best team in baseball. After four seasons in Kansas City, the Royals cast Lopez aside, only for the Braves to pick him up as a bench infielder. Lo-and-behold, just as soon as Lopez joined the Braves, Ozzie Albies (hamstring) wound up on the IL. Thus, this opened up everyday at-bats for Lopez.

He's only been in Atlanta for six games. But in that small sample, Lopez has a homer, eight RBI, and five runs scored. He's not a star player by any means, but playing every day for Atlanta should mean plenty of counting stats. Lopez is a solid option in deeper leagues as long as Albies remains sidelined.

Masyn Winn, SS, St. Louis Cardinals (23% rostered)

The Cardinals are officially in rebuild mode. This means we get a look at their top-ranked prospect Masyn Winn, who was called up on Thursday. Winn is a contact-oriented speedster; in Triple-A, he had 17 steals and scored 99 runs in 105 games while striking out only 16% of the time.

Don't be fooled into thinking Winn is just a slap hitter, though. He can hold his own in the power department, as evidenced by his 18 homers and .834 OPS this season in the minors. He may be great and he may struggle in his first taste of the majors. For now, Winn is worth a speculative add in fantasy as his upside is much higher than most of the waiver wire fodder available in late August.

Other Options to Consider:

• Edouard Julien, 2B, Minnesota Twins (20% rostered)
• Michael Massey, 2B, Kansas City Royals (4% rostered)

Prospect Watch

Jordan Lawlar, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks (5% rostered)

Last week, Jordan Lawlar was promoted to Triple-A and he promptly hit his first home run at that level. Arizona continues to fade in the standings and Lawlar continues to mash in the minors, thus creating a real possibility we see the top D-Backs prospect later this season.

Last year, Arizona gave Corbin Carroll a look late in the year and he's one of the leading candidates to win Rookie of the Year this season. Expect them to handle Lawlar similarly so he can get a look at MLB pitching before becoming the full-fledged starting shortstop in 2024. He should be rostered in all dynasty leagues and is worth a look in redraft if/when he gets the call.

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