Leury Garcia (OF, CHW) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

Riley Mrack profiles Chicago White Sox outfielder Leury Garcia as a waiver wire pickup or add target for Week 4 of the 2019 fantasy baseball season. His spot in the lineup and his wheels on the basepaths make him valuable in deeper mixed leagues.

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ANALYSIS: Flying under the radar so far in 2019 is White Sox outfielder Leury Garcia. Batting leadoff for any team in the majors holds significant fantasy appeal, but for the improving South Side Chicago team, it’s an even bigger boost. Yoan Moncada is finally living up to his hype, Tim Anderson is tearing the cover off the ball, and Jose Abreu is no stranger to driving in 100 runs. These bats make everyone else around them valuable, especially in Garcia’s case. He has batted first in all 17 games that he’s played so far and he’s taken advantage batting .276 with one homer, 13 runs, nine RBI, and four steals. With no one in line to supplant the 28-year-old at the top of the lineup, it appears like Garcia is there to stay for the duration of the year barring a significant decline to his game.

The most intriguing aspect of Garcia’s game is in his legs. He swiped 12 bases a season ago in 275 plate appearances with only one caught stealing over the last two years. With more opportunities this season than ever before, Garcia has a legitimate shot at stealing over 20 bases in 2019 which is a hard commodity to find on the waiver wire. His .271 average since the start of 2017 is admirable although we’d like to see a little bit more out of his 3.8% walk rate in this same span. Garcia is an excellent target in deeper mixed-leagues to cash in on his speed, his sturdy batting average, and his potential to score a plethora of runs batting in an upward trending offense.