Jesse Winker (OF, CIN) - Week 11 Waiver Wire Pickups

Brady Grove profiles Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jesse Winker as a potential waiver wire pickup or add target for fantasy baseball leagues in Week 11 of the 2019 MLB campaign.

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ANALYSIS: It has been an interesting season for Jesse Winker, to say the least. From two-hand waving at salty Mets fans, to the ugly recent turn of events at the plate, and even leading the majors in home runs to opposite field for a brief stretch, the 25-year old former prospect has been on a proverbial roller coaster for the Reds in 2019. With ten blasts, a .238/.316/.443 in 185 AB and a horrendous start on offense for the month of June, we can see that Winker has some wonky things going on in his work with the bat. Fortunately, even with this slump and some uncharacteristic deviations in his approach, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that he has plenty of production left in the tank.

Even with his usually fantastic walk and strikeout rates taking a hit thus far, they still remain a respectable 8.3% and 17%. It is, at minimum, comforting to know that even at his worst he is still quite disciplined at the plate. Winker has also been hitting for exemplary hard and soft contact rates of 42% and 14%, which have proven rather potent at times in conjunction with a 37.3% pull rate in GABP, as evidenced by an ISO of .205 which is scores better than his mark of 2018 (.132).

So what has been tripping him up? It can likely be attributed in majority to his ballooned GB/FB ratio of 1.83. Even with a solid volume of line drives (24.2%), that's way too much dirt. Despite that, Jesse Winker has never gone long in his professional career without getting in together when facing opposing pitchers. While maintaining solid contact on batted balls and suffering from a couple of unusual statistical deviations, it is a perfect time to buy low, especially with Winker still receiving consistent starts.