RADIO
Lauren's fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for 1B and 3B for Week 10 of the 2024 season. Consider adding these free agent first basemen and third basemen.
Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues (30-50% rostered)
Josh Smith, 3B/SS/OF, Texas Rangers (33% rostered)
Josh Smith has continued to fill in nicely for the injured Josh Jung for the Rangers. He collected eight hits — good for a .320 average -- and two RBI last week, though it hasn't helped Texas much. They've lost six straight games.
Josh Smith AL MVP campaign is here to stay pic.twitter.com/fZrmvpLVnR
— Writing For the Rangers (@WritingRangers) May 22, 2024
The reigning World Champions are now five games below .500 and will need their heavy hitters, like Marcus Semienand Nathaniel Lowe, to get it going. In the meantime, the 26-year-old Smith has attempted to pick up the slack and get the Rangers back into the American League West race.
Alec Burleson, 1B/OF, St. Louis Cardinals (33% rostered)
Things have begun to look up slightly for the Cardinals. Although still waiting for their lineup to mesh, Alec Burleson has turned it up a notch this month. Across his last 15 games, the 25-year-old has batted .393/.404/.625, with 22 hits, three dingers, and seven RBI. Overall, he's sporting a .865 OPS in May.
Alec Burleson since April 9th (86 PA)
.329 AVG
.361 OBP
.570 SLG
.241 ISO
5 HR
.404 wOBA
166 wRC+Season Percentiles:
68th xwOBA
87th xBA
78th xSLG
77th Avg Exit Velo
78th Hard Hit %
69th LA-Sweet Spot % pic.twitter.com/LqVRun57Lj— Ben (@Sneaky__Ben) May 18, 2024
On the year, he's batting .304, ranking in the 85th percentile in xBA. Fortunately, Burleson singles his way on base because he doesn't walk much, drawing just six free passes in over 140 plate appearances. However, he does balance out that ratio by keeping strikeouts to a minimum, striking out just 22 times.
Waiver Wire for Deeper Leagues (10-30% rostered)
DJ LeMahieu, 1B/2B/3B, New York Yankees (14% rostered)
The Yankees, already in first place in the AL East, will get a boost in the corner infield soon. Veteran DJ LeMahieu is expected to return Tuesday for New York after beginning the year on the IL with a right foot injury. Despite one of his replacements, Jon Berti, now hurt, the team will not activate LeMaheiu early and he will make his season debut in Anaheim.
DJ LeMahieu rips a Double off the wall to get us started! #RepBX #HVR30 pic.twitter.com/7yN4KYKoWf
— Hudson Valley Renegades (@HVRenegades) May 23, 2024
LeMahieu has participated in games with High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset, where he batted .500 and reached base at a .714 clip. The 35-year-old will reclaim his everyday role at third base upon being reinstated.
Colt Keith, 2B/3B, Detroit Tigers (15% rostered)
Has Colt Keith finally arrived in the major leagues? If his month of May is an indicator, then we feel confident in saying yes. The former top prospect has slashed .357/.403/.482, collecting 20 hits, five of which went for extra bases. He's also added 11 RBI and four walks, bringing his strikeouts down from 16 in April to 10 this month.
First Major League home run for Colt Keith! 👏 pic.twitter.com/26oWLupbJG
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 24, 2024
The 22-year-old, still searching for his first major league home run on Friday, took Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah deep in the second inning to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Granted, Manoah's struggles are widely known at this point, but it's still an encouraging sign and confidence boost for Keith as he continues to get acclimated to the bigs.
Deeper Waiver Wire Options to Consider (Under 10%)
Mark Vientos, 1B/3B, New York Mets (4% rostered)
Not a lot has gone right for the Mets this season, and their offense is desperately looking for a sparkplug. It's possible it could be Mark Vientos, who was recalled from the minors on May 15 and has since hit a pair of homers, four doubles, and drove in four runs.
BACK-TO-BACK JACKS!
Mark Vientos followed J.D. Martinez with a solo shot of his own! pic.twitter.com/PJ7672rMMl
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 25, 2024
The 24-year-old appeared in 65 games for New York last year, adding nine home runs and 22 RBI but striking out a whopping 71 times and putting up just a .620 OPS, hence why he failed to make the Opening Day roster. But with the Amazins nearing the bottom of the National League, perhaps a shakeup at third base is needed to get their bats going.
More Waiver Wire Pickups to Consider
- Kevin Newman, 1B/2B/3B/SS, Arizona Diamondbacks (6% rostered)
- Edmundo Sosa, 3B/SS, Philadelphia Phillies (9% rostered)
- Mark Canha, 1B/OF, Detroit Tigers (26% rostered)
- Tyler Freeman, 2B/3B/SS/OF, Cleveland Guardians (30% rostered)
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!
