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Mike's fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for 2B and SS and Week 27 of the 2023 MLB season. Consider adding and streaming these shortstops and second basemen.
We made it to the last week of the regular season, and thus, the last chance to make waiver wire additions. If you're here, congratulations, that means you've got something to play for in the last week of the season. Let's go wrap up that championship!
Before we dig into the last batch of waiver wire names, let me say thank you for reading. It doesn't matter if you're here weekly, occasionally, or just stumbled on this article today looking for a middle infielder for the last week of the season; it's been a great ride and I hope the advice here aided a successful fantasy baseball season. Now with that out of the way, let's hit the waiver wire one more time!
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 27 -- September 25 through October 1.
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Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Ezequiel Tovar, SS, Colorado Rockies (41% rostered)
It's been an up-and-down rookie season for Ezequiel Tovar. At times, he looked the part of the player who entered the season as the number-one ranked prospect in the Rockies' farm system. At other times, he looked like a 21-year-old rookie not ready to handle Major League Baseball pitching. That maddening inconsistency comes with the territory of young players, particularly Rockies players, as "The Coors Effect" is very real. It often makes hitting on the road difficult for Rockies players.
That's not an issue for the last week of the season, however, as Colorado will be in the friendly confines of Coors Field all week long. As you'd expect, Tovar has much better numbers at home than on the road this season. Start Tovar with confidence ahead of a seven-game week.
| Ezequiel Tovar | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA |
| Home | .289 | .329 | .462 | .339 |
| Away | .223 | .351 | .370 | .266 |
Zack Gelof, 2B, Oakland Athletics (48% rostered)
One of the few bright spots for the A's this season has been the ascension of Zack Gelof, who crushed it in the minors this season. He then carried that success to the Major League Baseball club upon his promotion in mid-July. Through 60 MLB games, the 23-year-old is slashing .276/.346/.531 with 13 homers and 13 stolen bases as he's been an across-the-board contributor in fantasy. Throw in his numbers in Triple-A (.304 BA, .529 SLG, 12 HR, 20 SB), and it's a wonder how this guy isn't rostered in more fantasy leagues.
The best part of Gelof's game is his sterling Statcast metrics, which fully support his success. He's rocking a 90.6 mph average exit velocity, a 43% hard-hit rate, and has 92nd-percentile sprint speed. Those numbers suggest Gelof should continue to play at a high level and he's a great play in fantasy for the last week of the season.
Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Ronny Mauricio, 2B/SS, New York Mets (27% rostered)
Ronny Mauricio lit the league on fire in his first taste of the majors. Though he's cooled off a tad, his upside is as high as anyone this available in fantasy. First of all, Mauricio has skills rarely seen for middle infielders. Case in point, his first hit was a double that was blasted 117.3 mph, which remains the hardest ball hit by a Met this season. His first homer was "only" 112 mph and traveled a whopping 440 feet. Incredible stuff from a 22-year-old rookie.
Overall, Mauricio has a pristine 91.5 mph average exit velocity and a 42% hard-hit rate. He may be slumping slightly, but he's still making great contact and running wild on the bases when he does reach. If you added Mauricio already or need a high-upside play for the final week, he is still a viable starter in fantasy.
Edouard Julien, 2B, Minnesota Twins (19% rostered)
If you need a matchup-play for this week, look no further than the Twins. Minnesota has six games this week at Oakland and at Colorado, who rank 29th and 30th in team ERA, respectively. That means a big week could be in store for Edouard Julien, who tends to lead off for the Twins versus right-handed pitching.
Julien put up solid overall numbers in his rookie season as he's sporting a .268/.378/.458 slash line through 101 games. It's the matchups, however, that add extra appeal to starting the 24-year-old in fantasy. Start Julien with confidence if you're in the market for a 2B to stream this week.
Other Options to Consider:
- Ezequiel Duran, 2B/SS/3B/OF, Texas Rangers (35% rostered)
- Brendan Rodgers, 2B, Colorado Rockies (7% rostered)
Prospect Watch
Ceddanne Rafaela, SS/OF, Boston Red Sox (7% rostered)
With the minor league season winding down and the MLB season right behind it, there's not much to look at in the world of prospects. So let's use this space to highlight Ceddanne Rafaela of the Red Sox, who recently picked up SS eligibility. Through his first 20 MLB games, the 23-year-old is batting .305 with two homers, nine runs scored, and a stolen base as his elite defense has him playing almost every day for Boston.
He's a deep-league option, but Rafaela has sneaky sleeper appeal if you're stuck at shortstop or in the outfield for this week.
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