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Antonio Losada profiles Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier as a waiver wire pickup and add in Week 20 of the 2019 MLB season.
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OWNED IN: 15% of Yahoo! leagues
ANALYSIS: It's a shame Kevin Kiermaier has lost time to injuries. Just this season he has been injury-listed three times, the last one in late July. It kept him out for the last 10 days of the month. Fortunately for him and Tampa, he's back in the lineup. Although it took a few games for him to catch up (he went 0-14 from Aug. 1 to Aug. 5) he's back on the productive track (5-9 in his last two games).
Yes, that is a tiny sample. But Kiermaier's full-season numbers are already better than those he posted last year. On virtually the same PAs, Kiermaier already has more hits (85 to 72), extra-base hits (34 to 28), home runs (11 to 7) and RBI (45 to 29). He has also raised his Launch Angle and his Exit Velocity, barrelling the ball 5.6% of the times he hits it.
For someone producing at such level (he has also stolen 17 bases and is projected to grab another six) and whose defense (14 DRS, sixth-best league-wide) will also help him remain in Tampa Bay's lineup on a daily basis, it is hard to understand why he is so readily available in fantasy leagues when healthy.
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