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Ryan O'Hearn Continues to Surge, Worth a Waiver-Wire Addition
Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman/outfielder Ryan O'Hearn has enjoyed his first year in the Steel City and has backed up his first All-Star appearance from a year ago, slashing .285/.340/.471 with an .811 OPS, 13 home runs, 51 RBI, 41 runs scored, and a stolen base in 73 games across 300 plate appearances. He is clearly on pace to set new career highs across the board if he stays healthy in the second half. The 32-year-old veteran left-handed hitter has been hitting even better in his last 15 games, going 20-for-63 (.317) with three home runs, six doubles, 16 RBI, and 10 runs scored in 65 plate appearances. That stretch includes five multi-hit games. O'Hearn is now an everyday player, and most importantly, he's improved against same-handed pitchers, hitting .240 (18-for-75) with three of his 13 home runs against left-handed pitchers. He might be producing a bit above his skis, though, with a hard-hit rate in the 62nd percentile, an xwOBA in the 51st percentile, a barrel rate in the 31st percentile, and a chase rate in the 27th percentile. Still, you can't ignore the improvements O'Hearn has made, and he's still worth considering off the waiver wire for outfield depth.
Source: Baseball Reference
Source: Baseball Reference
