Eric Sogard (2B/SS, TOR) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

Riley Mrack profiles Toronto Blue Jays middle infielder Eric Sogard as a waiver wire pickup or add target for Week 7 of the 2019 fantasy baseball season. His spot in the batting order and his hot start to the season make him valuable in deeper mixed leagues.

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ANALYSIS: Since the Toronto Blue Jays called up Eric Sogard to the big leagues, he's done nothing but produce. In his 18 games since April 16, he's hit .328 with four homers, 12 runs, 12 RBI, and two stolen bases. The Jays have used him as the leadoff hitter in all of his games played, a profitable spot no matter what team you're on. The 32-year-old has shown experience at the top of the order with an impressive 13.8% walk rate heavily outweighing his 10.0% K-rate leading to a team-best .423 on-base percentage.

Although Sogard's four home runs have him on pace for well over 20 this season, expecting many more is ill-advised as he's amazingly set his career-high already this season. Anything else he produces in the power department would be a welcomed bonus with the short porches occupying the AL East ballparks. The journeyman's stellar 37.7% line-drive rate is keeping his batting average afloat, but Sogard's maintained stable rates throughout his career so don't expect a significant drop off in average soon.

With the Blue Jays struggling to find offense look for Sogard to get the green light on the bases more often as well. He's stolen double-digit bases twice as a big leaguer, but he's never had consistent at-bats with Oakland or Milwaukee to truly flourish as a base stealer. If he can hold off the young infielders in the Jays farm system the potential is there to eclipse his personal best of 11 thefts this season. With Sogard's bat staying consistent and his everyday role at the top of the order, he holds value in deeper leagues to help out in the average, runs, and steals categories.