James McCann (C, CHW) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

Brady Grove profiles Chicago White Sox backstop James McCann as a potential waiver wire acquisition of value for fantasy baseball leagues in Week 7 of the 2019 MLB campaign.

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OWNED IN: 32% of leagues

ANALYSIS: After a 2017 season that seemed to pack plenty of promise for the future, James McCann took a massive step back last year in his fifth season as a Detroit Tiger. Maybe he just needed a change in scenery though, as he has already smacked four home runs, produced a slash of .350/.395/.575, and...stolen two bases (?) through his first 80 AB with the South Side Sox. The changes in "McCannon's" game are readily visible: he has improved his plate discipline with a 24.4% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate, he is producing career-best figures of 39% and 11.9% for hard and soft contact, and he has been clubbing pitches at an exit velocity of 90.6 MPH for an average distance on dingers of 401-feet off the back of a .225 ISO.

His BABIP of .436 is definitely high and his BA can be fully expected to diminish (eventually) as a result. However, that is by no means cause for alarm when taking into account the fact that McCann is making the highest quality contact of his career at a notoriously shallow position for fantasy baseball managers to fill. It may be unusual to see the former Arkansas Razorback already accumulating a career-high total for steals but a base-running backstop is nothing to sneeze at, and although he is hardly J.T. Realmuto on the path, his sprint speed of 26.0 feet per second is akin to other base-stealing catchers such as Russell Martin and John Ryan Murphy. With his present performance and supportive peripherals, there shouldn't be many catchers higher on your list than James McCann.