Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 4

Clint Frazier (OF, NYY) — 31% Owned

Frazier is the prime beneficiary of a horrible situation on the Yankees side of New York. Injuries continue to pile up, with Aaron Judge seemingly being the most recent victim of the infectious injury bug. In only 52 at-bats, Frazier has climbed to a second-place tie on the team’s homer charts behind Gary Sanchez. His five homers equal that of big-time power bats of Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner (yep, he’s a power bat now with an 18.1% launch angle — tongue in cheek). While Frazier hasn’t walked much (5%), he also hasn’t struck out much either (19%).

Frazier gets a full week of games in California with four games against the Angels and three against the Giants comprised mostly of right-handed pitchers (5). His historical performance against right-handers hasn’t been impressive, but in 42 at-bats, Frazier is batting .357 this year. The Yankees offense is at its weakest. Frazier will get constant playing time, but he won’t have as many counting stats until Stanton and Sanchez return to the lineup. Despite this, he should be owned more than his current level.

Avisail Garcia (OF, TB) — 11% Owned

Garcia was thought to be in a better position once he finally moved from the White Sox to Tampa Bay. Early on, it appears to be accurate as Garcia has hit four homers, 10 RBI, and a .348 batting average in the last 14 days. He even chipped in a stolen base during that time. Garcia needs to work on his plate discipline as he has a 27% strikeout rate this year. A couple of the primary causes are a 42% chase and a 20% swinging strikeout rate. Even the contact rate (64%) is lacking. Despite this, Garcia makes it work primarily with a .395 BABIP, which is in line with his norm. This coming week he faces the Royals at home before traveling to face the Red Sox. Garcia will face four right-handed pitchers and three lefties. Though he has a career .262 average against righties; he’s primed to do well if he can maintain his .348 against them thus far this season.

Delino DeShields (OF, TEX) — 7% Owned

Deshields is a prime acquisition target for those that want to rack up some cheap steals. In the last two weeks, he's stolen four bases and has maintained a solid .269 average as well. Generally, people aren’t concerned with batting average for power hitters. However, individuals that are reliant upon speed, batting average can be a real drain if it is below average. A .243 career batting average isn’t reassuring but his 18% walk rate this year (11% career rate) will allow him to get on base often enough to maximize his speed. Thankfully, he is hitting .333 over the last week. He might need this streak of confidence and walk rate to find success this week in Oakland and Seattle. He will go up against five right-handers and two lefties. He is only a .239 hitter against righties. The additional silver lining is that the Athletics and Mariners pitchers aren’t elite caliber.

Leury Garcia (OF, CWS) — 8% Owned

Garcia is a cheap acquisition this week. He is a speed guy, not a power hitter, especially with an 86.9mph average exit velocity and a 6.1 launch angle. On the year, Garcia has a .276 batting average to go with one homer, 13 runs, and four stolen bases. Even on a weak team, he will continue to rack up the at-bats batting leadoff. The counting stats will come in spurts hitting ahead of Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu, and also resurgent Yoan Moncada. Garcia has one of the best schedules this week with three games in Baltimore before returning home to face the Tigers. Speed against week opponents is the best thing going for him. It is quite appealing as well since every fantasy managers is interested in adding to their stolen base total.

Repeat Customers On Waiver Wire List

Jesse Winker (OF, CIN) — 45% Owned

Why is he still so under-owned? I don't get it. Winker is getting the job done. He is no longer the .147 hitter he was a couple of weeks ago. In the last 14 days, Winker has hit six homers and 10 RBI. He's brought his batting average up to .183. I know, it isn't sexy, but a .119 BABIP can't go on forever. No one can be that unlucky. Winker gets to face five righties this week and is probably licking his chops. He is coming out of his funk, and hopefully, you'll be there to gain from his revival.