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Points leagues are a different beast compared to rotisserie leagues, as you are looking for someone who can fill the whole stat sheet, and when you can find some of those guys on the wire, they are golden.
Here are a few guys who can contribute in deep points leagues, one at each position to consider for the next week. These are your deep points leagues waiver wire pickups for Week 12. Let's get to it.
Note: All ownership percentages are courtesy of Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.
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Points League Deeper Waiver Wire Adds - Week 12
C - Tyler Flowers, Atlanta Braves- 19% owned
New Braves catcher Tyler Flowers has been a stud offensively for the Braves. This season he is having a career year, slashing .333/.435/.473 with five home runs, 23 runs scored, and 21 runs batted in over 177 plate appearances. He has seen another big drop in his strikeout rate over the past few years, falling from 36% back in 2014, down to 28% last season, and now down to 19.8% this season. The hard contact isn’t what it was last season, but he is squaring up and hitting more line drives which has helped fuel his .409 BABIP. Flowers has posted BABIP above his career average each of the past four seasons and sat at .366 last season, so thinking there will be a huge regression coming isn’t exactly true. He has slowed down a bit recently, but his June stats have been good: he is hitting .268/.362/.488 with two HR, 11 runs scored, and five RBI. Also, congratulations to him and his family on their fourth child.
1B - Trey Mancini, Baltimore Orioles- 22% owned
Mancini was already seeing close to full playing time, but the injury to slugger Chris Davis ensured he received full time work. He has certainly earned it; the rookie is hitting .306/.349/.550 this season with 11 HR and 37 RBI. During June he’s been even hotter at the plate, slashing .339/.373/.643 with four HR and 10 RBI. He is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak, with five extra-base hits over that span (three doubles, two HR). His 27.2% strikeout % (K%) doesn’t help in points leagues, but when you hit for average and power like Mancini does it makes up for the negative points. If he is still lingering on your waiver wire, pick him up and ride this heat wave at the plate.
2B - Yangervis Solarte, San Diego Padres- 22% owned
Solarte has rebounded nicely after a tough month of May. During that month he hit .217/.318/.293 with only one HR and nine RBI over 27 games. During June he has been able to completely flip the script, slashing .309/.387/.636 with six HR and 14 RBI in only 14 games. The power this month is unheard of from Solarte, who’s career-high in HR is 15. With nine bombs already this season, it seems like he’s locked in for career-high numbers across the board. His walk and strikeout rates are trending in the right direction this season (9.6%, 11.1% respectively), and like many hitters this season his fly ball % is up to a career-high. With hits in nine of his past 10 games, Solarte is red hot and deserving of a pickup if you need second base help.
3B - Matt Davidson, Chicago White Sox- 10% owned
Matt Davidson has been one of the most surprising power hitters we’ve seen this season. On the year he is slashing .263/.307/.559 with 15 HR and 36 RBI while mainly playing designated hitter. He did show power in the minors, but I don’t think many expected it to come this quickly. Over the past six game he has gone absolutely bonkers at the plate, which has put him at or near the top of every waiver wire list. He has hit .417/.440/1.125(!) at the plate with two doubles, five HR, and nine RBI over those six games. Obviously there’s no way he can keep that up, but with 15 HR already on the season Davidson has a shot at 25-30 HR with a respectable average if he can cut down his K% (40% in June).
SS - Eduardo Escobar, Minnesota Twins- 8% owned
Escobar has been on the Twins roster for six seasons now, and hasn’t made much noise in the fantasy world while playing part-time all over the diamond. Settling in at mostly third base and shortstop, Escobar has found a nice groove at the plate during the month of June. Over 42 PA he is hitting .513/.548/.769 with three HR, eight RBI, and one steal. His production has him breathing down the neck of Jorge Polanco, who he is pushing for the bulk of the playing time at SS. He has a 7.1% BB% during June with a microscopic 4.8% K%, so even if he doesn’t hep much one day he likely won’t hurt your team either. While he’s not a rest of the season option at SS, Escobar can be a good fill-in piece to get you over the hump while he’s locked-in at the dish.
OF - Shin-Soo Choo, Texas Rangers- 16% owned
Even at 34-years of age, Shin-Soo Choo continues to show us he’s got enough left in the tank to be fantasy relevant. He has been hitting at or near the top of the Rangers lineup all season, he has hit 10 HR with 32 RBI and 38 runs scored, while hitting .261/.380/.431. That high OBP comes from his 15.25 BB%, which would be a career-high for the 13-year vet. Choo is still hitting the ball hard with minimal soft contact, though it may be tough for him to maintain this HR pace with a 52.1% GB% and a 25.2% FB%. Still, even if he isn’t hitting HR he can be a solid contributor for runs and OBP.
SP - Alex Meyer, Los Angeles Angels- 9% owned
It’s been a long time coming for Alex Meyer, but we are finally seeing what he can do on the mound when healthy and pitching well. This season over nine starts, he is 3-3 with a 3.52 ERA 1.41 WHIP. He holds a great 27.1% K%, while holding opposing hitters to a .206 batting average against. Over his past four starts he’s notched three quality starts while allowing three runs combined. He struck out nine in two of those outings. His Achilles heel continues to be his walk problem; in those four starts he walked at least four in two of them, and on the season he holds a 14.8% BB%. As long as he holds hitters close to the Mendoza line the walks shouldn’t be a big issue, but they are a red flag if he can’t get his control under….control.
RP - Archie Bradley, Arizona Diamondbacks- 24% owned
Archie Bradley has been dominant as a reliver for the Diamondbacks this season. Over 24 appearances, he has a 1.16 ERA and 0.81 WHIP with a 26.7% K-BB%. The move to the bullpen has allowed him to unleash max strength on his fastball, which has gotten as high as 99mph this season but on average sits at 96.3mph. He used the heater to blow by hitters and his curve to keep them off balance. With how dominant he’s been, he has been used more like Andrew Miller than anything else. He gets put in in the most difficult non-save situations, while Fernando Rodney notches the saves. He does have 11 holds, which places him 12th among all relievers. His excellent ratios can help your team, and if Rodney slips he would be the first man up for the job.
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