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It's frankly flabbergasting to find ourselves in August already, but here we are.
With fantasy football kicking into high gear and many owners out of the running in baseball leagues, we can expect there to be fewer suitors for any waiver wire pickups moving forward. The owners who remain, of course, are generally of a higher skill level and will be motivated to squeeze blood from the stone just like you. The difference could be that you're reading this.
As a reminder, our focus is on players who are below 50% owned in Yahoo leagues, and standard 5x5 scoring. Your mileage may vary, in terms of availability or league settings. Using that cutoff point for ownership rate, however, these are your corner infield waiver wire targets and adds for Week 18 of the 2019 fantasy baseball season.
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Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Adam Duvall (1B/OF, ATL) — 47% Owned
I confess that I had all but forgotten this dude existed. After averaging 32 home runs and 101 RBI in 2016-17, Duvall hit a putrid .195/.274/.365 last season and opened this season in the minor leagues. The 30-year-old has returned to the bigs with a bang, though, slashing .400/.421/.886 with five homers in nine games. We all know it can't last, but Duvall has enough past success in MLB to make him a decent bet to be useful over the remainder of the season. Plenty of fantasy owners have already jumped on board this week, as his ownership rate demonstrates.
Josh VanMeter (2B/3B/OF, CIN) — 39% Owned
Like Duvall, VanMeter is one of the most popular adds in the game over the last couple of days. He doesn't have a track record in the majors to point to, but the 24-year-old has gotten off to an excellent start in his rookie campaign. After posting a 1.097 OPS at Triple-A, he's slashed .287/.398/.483 with four homers and four stolen bases in just 103 plate appearances. With Scooter Gennett and Yasiel Puig shipped out and Derek Dietrich coming back to earth in the last several weeks, VanMeter should get every opportunity down the stretch to prove he's a long-term piece for Cincinnati.
Christian Walker (1B, ARI) — 31% Owned
It's difficult to understand why Walker remains so available in so many leagues. After going 2-for-4 with a walk on Sunday, he's up to a .257/.349/.483 line this season, with 20 homers, seven steals, and 112 R+BI in 104 games. That production is enough to put him ahead of more widely-owned first basemen like Daniel Vogelbach, Hunter Dozier, and Matt Carpenter. It's past time to give the man his due, folks.
Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Brian Anderson (3B/OF, MIA) — 13% Owned
Anderson went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk on Sunday. That dinger was his 17th of the season and fourth in his last seven games. The 26-year-old owns a pedestrian .241/.322/.431 overall line, but since June 1 he's hit .258/.340/.537 with 12 homers and 65 R+BI in 54 games. The list of players who have produced like that in the last months but are still free to add in almost 90 percent of Yahoo leagues? Pretty short.
Mark Canha (1B/OF, OAK) — 7% Owned
Canha can be included in that aforementioned list. He's currently rocking a .901 OPS and has bashed 34 homers in 200 games since the start of last season, but few fantasy owners appear to have noticed. The 30-year-old has also seen a lot of time recently in the cleanup spot of a lineup that ranks in the top 10 in MLB in runs scored.
J.D. Davis (1B/3B/OF, NYM) — 5% Owned
It's been a rough season for Davises in MLB. Khris Davis has been a shell of himself, Wade Davis just lost the closer gig in Colorado, Rajai Davis has been stuck in the minors, and Chris Davis...well, he's Chris Davis. J.D., by contrast, has been a pleasant surprise in Queens. The 26-year-old went deep again on Sunday, giving him a tidy .297/.366/.483 line with 11 homers in 287 plate appearances. He's drawn regular starts in left field over the past week, and is an intriguing option in deeper formats if that holds.
For Your Radar
Brandon Dixon (1B/OF, DET) — 1% Owned
Dixon has plenty of flaws, as you might imagine for a player who is 1% owned. Most prominently, he chases a lot of pitches out of the zone, which leads to many whiffs and few walks. But he does also have 14 homers and four stolen bases after routinely reaching double-digits in both categories as a minor leaguer, and an easier path to everyday at-bats with Nick Castellanos dealt to Chicago. Dixon may only be useful in very deep mixers and AL-only leagues, but keep him in mind for the stretch run.
More Waiver Wire Pickups and Streamers
Check out RotoBaller's entire fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and sleepers list, updated daily!
