Stephen Piscotty (OF, OAK) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 34% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Oakland Athletics outfielder Stephen Piscotty had one of the more eventful and interesting offseasons in baseball. The talented outfielder struggled mightily after his mother was diagnosed with ALS in May 2017. Speaking from a purely baseball perspective, Piscotty’s nine home run, 40 run, 39 runs batted in season with a .235/.342/.367 line was hugely underwhelming, especially considering his 22 homer season from 2016. His struggles were certainly understandable due to the personal circumstances, and the Cardinals made the move to trade him to Oakland. The story was extremely heart-warming, although Piscotty was expendable for St. Louis thanks to the acquisition of Marcell Ozuna. Piscotty was able to take the field much closer to home and be more available to his family for support. His mother passed away in May, but the experience of being closer to her has clearly been a positive one explicitly in terms of his baseball performance.

Over the last two weeks, Piscotty has looked much more like the 2016 version. Over his last 45 plate appearances, his line has been a sterling .306/.422/.611. The average has been propped up a bit by a .348 BABIP, but his missing pop has returned with aplomb, producing a .306 ISO over that span. He is smacking the hell out of the ball, producing a better BB/K rate, making more contact, and not putting the ball on the ground, all of which he notably did not do a season ago. Furthermore, Piscotty has been trending towards this level for the last month to five weeks. He looks looser at the plate, more comfortable in the field, and frankly like a weight has been lifted off of his back. If he is indeed back to the 2016 version, he is worth an add in all deeper leagues.