Kelly Johnson (3B / OF, ATL) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Very Deep Leagues as a DL Stash

OWNED IN: 11% of Fleaflicker Leagues

ANALYSIS: Kelly Johnson is owned in just 19% of Yahoo leagues, but he’s putting together a solid first month and a half to the season now that he’s back in Atlanta. Maybe it’s the southern comfort that has afforded Johnson his strong start to 2015? He’s already tallied 17 RBI along with 6 home runs and 11 runs scored. It’s his .244 average that brings down his ownership, but there’s some upside there. Johnson has one of the highest LD% rates of his career in 2015 (23.4%), but a paltry BABIP of .224. He’s also striking out the fewest he has since 2009, which combined with his line drive rate is a sign his average will increase.

With eligibility at 1B, 3B, and OF, Johnson can provide some flexibility to daily lineups. Going forward, I’d expect to see a jump in Johnson’s average if he keeps making the contact we’ve seen. Even with his very recent oblique injury and upcoming trip to the DL, he warrants a flier in deeper leagues to see if he can keep this up all year.

He should be back in early June. While I don’t expect the home run output to continue as that’s a bit more of an anomaly (28.6% HR/FB), you can certainly do much worse on the waiver wire than Johnson, who I’d project winds up with 15+ HR and a .265 average, along with solid counting stats hitting in the middle of the Braves lineup. While the Braves don’t pack the power that they used to, hitting in the middle of any order is bound to result in more run and RBI opportunities. Steamer projected 35 runs/40 RBI for Johnson over a full season, yet he’s almost already halfway there on RBI and a third of the way with runs. Pick up Johnson and stash him in your DL for now.