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Keith Hernandez profiles Astros outfielder Josh Reddick as a waiver wire pickup and add in Week 5 of the 2019 MLB season.
BALLER MOVE: Add in all leagues
OWNED IN: 23% of leagues
ANALYSIS: With a line of .375/.423/.528 in 72 at-bats, Reddick has been one of the best hitters in baseball in the opening month. His counting stats, however -- three homers, two doubles, 11 runs scored, six RBI and one stolen base -- leave something to be desired. It's a small sample size and his numbers will probably regress towards the mean near a .260 average in the long run, but Reddick is also striking out a career-low 10.3 percent of the time right now.
His .393 BABIP surely won't stay that high all year long and he's not really hitting the ball any harder than he has in the last few seasons. His hard-hit percentage has hovered right around 30 percent since 2016 and is at 31.3 percent in 2019. Reddick is also surprisingly hitting .308 (.923 OPS) with a homer in 13 at-bats against southpaws. In his career against lefties, the 32-year-old sports a .235 average and .681 OPS in 969 at-bats.
You can't ignore his production early on, though, and he needs to be picked up and milked until he starts to cool off. He's also not a bad sell-high candidate if he's already on your roster. If Reddick slows down and struggles at any point this year, he may have youngsters Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez breathing down his neck.
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