May 30, 2017

Jim Turvey recommends second basemen (2B) and shortstops (SS) who can be valuable waiver wire targets or adds to help fantasy owners for Week 9 of the 2017 MLB season.

Welcome to week 9 of the fantasy baseball season. We’re continuing our mission to find you the best and brightest players with second base and shortstop eligibility. As is always the case, we will say hello to three new names, while this week we say goodbye to a pair of graduates (one of whom burned so bright he was on the list for only one week) while finally agreeing that one player just isn’t ready for the big leagues just yet.

As noted last week, the own percentage of players are beginning to settle in, so this list may begin to have a bit less turnover, allowing us to go back and focus on a few of the names we wrote about in-depth earlier this season. This week we’ll focus primarily on the three new names (well two of them have been here in weeks past but weren’t on last week’s list), but we’re also going to highlight one name who has been on the list a while, while giving updates on the other seven.

Friendly reminder, we are using Yahoo ownership percentages and position eligibility. On to the middle of the infield!

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Week 9 Middle Infield (MI) Waiver Wire Targets

Asdrubal Cabrera (NYM, SS): 19% owned

Cabrera went just 3-for-15 last week, but, more importantly, he also returned from a DL stint that had him out for 12 days. Cabrera has been a long-time favorite of the 2B/SS Waiver Wire, and now that he’s healthy again, he’s worth a look. Cabrera won’t hurt you in any categories and his batted ball profile and plate discipline are very solid. Cabrera owns a 21.9 percent line drive rate in 2017, which should drag his batting average back up to the .270 range he typically sits at sooner than later. His home run total for 2017 will almost certainly fall short of his 26 last season, but if he sits around the 16-18 homer total, he’ll have mixed league value thanks to an everyday spot in the lineup and a good BA and SB total. He’s not the type to win you a league, but he’s very solid all around.

Andrelton Simmons (LAA, SS): 12% owned

Simmons is another name who has flitted in and out of this column in 2017, as low-tier players are known to do. Simmons is back on the list after a 12-hit week, and his slash line is up to .280/.336/.405 on the season. When things are going right for Simmons, he’s similar to Cabrera in that he won’t hurt you in any category and is really quite solid across the board. He has five homers and four steals in 2017, to go along with the aforementioned .280 batting average and 40 RuBIns (runs+RBI). He also has a consistent spot in the lineup thanks to his all-world defense, it just seems like a matter of consistency with his production for Simmons. All players go through their hot and cold streaks, but Simmons seems at the far end of this spectrum, getting red hot for stretches before going ice cold. Use this to your advantage, though, and it can be a blessing not a curse.

Jordy Mercer (Pit, SS): 3% owned

Mercer probably wasn’t on too many folks’ fantasy radar before this past week, and he may be a one-week wonder on this list. But when you collect 12 hits and two homers in a week, you get a spot in this hallowed column. Mercer, even after the big week, is slashing a pedestrian .254/.354/.373, but with his guaranteed spot in the lineup (50 of 52 games played) and the very nice 13.3 percent walk rate, he’s worth a look in NL-only leagues, or even some deep OBP leagues. Mercer’s rather large jump in walk rate (up from 7.5 percent career walk rate) is backed by solid peripherals, as his O-Swing rate has dropped from a 30.4 percent career rate to just 21.8 percent in 2017. That stingy approach has led to strong results of late, and it may lead to more pitchers grooving more pitches to Mercer to avoid falling behind. The one area Mercer doesn’t have a stingy (or solid) approach is on the basepaths, where the 30-year-old is 0-for-4 in terms of stolen base attempts this season.

Graduated

Devon Travis (Tor, 2B): 52% owned

If you didn’t pick up Travis when he was first heating up, there’s almost no way you’re getting him at this point. The preseason breakout pick had another excellent week with 11 hits, two of which left the yard.

Chris Taylor (LAD, 2B/3B/SS): 40% owned

Taylor had a homer and a steal last week and continues to be one of the more added players in fantasy. His walk rate is nice (14.2 percent) and he’s hitting line drives (24.3 percent), but his BABIP (.400) and HR/FB rate (27.3 percent) are due for massive regression. Sell high.

Keep Adding

Didi Gregorius (NYY, SS): 39% owned

Gregorius still isn’t drawing any walks and his swing rate on pitches both in and out of the zone is slightly terrifying, but we’re going on 14 months of him making this work. He’s not going to reach the 20 homers he hit in 2017, but he may get to 15 and do so with a plus-BA.

Neil Walker (NYM, 2B): 38% owned

Walker has faced a similarly-increasing ownership pattern in the past few weeks as Gregorius. This New York middle infielder may well reach the 20-homer plateau and should do so with a solid batting average and good RuBIn totals. These two are mighty similar in my book, with Walker the safer bet but Gregorius the higher ceiling.

Jed Lowrie (Oak, 2B): 19% owned

If anyone has been reading this column consistently, you had to know Lowrie was going to be the returning player chosen to be highlighted first. This author (who has been wrong about plenty including - as noted in Monday’s column - a premature call for the demise of Craig Kimbrel) has been banging the drum for Lowrie since very early in the 2017 season, and it seems as though the general public is starting to come around. Lowrie saw his ownership nearly triple in the past week thanks to a nine-hit week in which he scored six times and knocked in four. Lowrie is now slashing .293/.364/.473 for a 134 wRC+. Among second baseman (FanGraphs doesn’t have a middle infield category), only Jose Altuve and Daniel Murphy (each of whom would have cost you a very high pick this season) can match each third of that slash line. Before Monday’s 0-for-4 outing, Lowrie had the best wRC+ of all second basemen. Now being in O.co is a wRC+ boon while being a real-life negative, but the point remains - Lowrie has been awesome in 2017. With a solid plate discipline profile (32 strikeouts to 19 walks) and a great batted ball profile (24.8 percent line drive rate, 43.6 percent fly ball rate, and 38.7 percent hard hit ball rate), there’s no reason to think this production will slow down due to anything other than an injury. Join me on the Jed Lowrie Bandwagon, where all we do is knock on wood for 24 straight hours to prevent said injury.

Tim Beckham (TB, 1B/2B/SS): 28% owned

The Beckham train lost a bit of steam last week, as he failed to either score or knock in a run before a three-run jack on Monday night. He did have a stolen base, but his OPS was also just .498 before Monday night's game. The terrible plate discipline (69 strikeouts to just nine walks) will do that sometimes, but this is still a former number one overall pick who is leading all shortstops in hard hit ball rate in 2017.

Adam Frazier (Pit, 2B/OF): 35% owned

Frazier had two homers and a steal last week but totaled just five hits. Frazier is still at the nexus of definite improvements (especially in the walk rate and power department) and definite luck. His batting average should drop and it would be surprising to see him keep hitting homers at this pace.

Jose Reyes (NYM, 3B/SS): 20% owned

After an ice-cold start and a red-hot follow-up, it seems as though Reyes is finally settling in to the player he will end up being for 2017. Last week, Reyes scored five runs, stole a base, and had an OPS of .624. Take away a run here or there, miss a steal one week, and move the OPS a few points either way, but that’s about what a typical week should look like for Reyes from here on out.

Joe Panik (SF, 2B): 11% owned

Panik had only four hits last week, but he did have one long ball and managed to score four times. The four hits are disappointing though, because that’s what you have him around for - solid, if unspectacular, BA. Definitely more valuable in deeper leagues where floor is as important as ceiling.

Last Chance

Kolten Wong (StL, 2B): 5% owned

Wong is in the “Last Chance” section not because of production but because of injury. Wong was placed on the 10-day DL retroactive to May 27, so he may be back sooner than later, which is the way he’ll stay on this list. He’s not dominant enough to keep on your roster through a lengthy injury, but his 0.90 BB/K ratio and .278 BA are worth hanging onto (in deeper leagues) if this is a short DL stint.

Cut Bait

Christian Arroyo (SF, 3B/SS): 4% owned

It seems like only a matter of time before the Giants decide to move Arroyo back to the minor leagues, as the 21-year-old is slashing .190/.244/.306 in 131 plate appearances. He’s been colder than ice since a hot start, and it looks as though he needs some more refining at the lower levels before becoming a relevant fantasy commodity.

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