RADIO
Welcome to week 14 of the fantasy baseball season. We’re continuing our mission to find you the best and brightest players with second base and shortstop eligibility. As noted last week, the own percentage of players are beginning to settle in, so this list may begin to have a bit less turnover, allowing us to go back and focus on a few of the names we wrote about in-depth earlier this season.
This week we’ll focus primarily on three new names because of two names in the Graduated section and one in the Cut Bait section. As always, we’ll give updates on the returning names.
Friendly reminder, we are using Yahoo ownership percentages and position eligibility. On to the middle of the infield!
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Week 14 Middle Infield (MI) Waiver Wire Targets
Logan Forsythe (LAD, 2B/3B): 33% owned
Forsythe has not been nearly the player in 2017 that the Dodgers were hoping for when they traded away Jose De Leon for him this offseason. He is hitting just .245 with only two home runs and has missed time to injury as well. However, he may be starting to show signs of the player he was last season when he hit 20 homers with a .264 average. In the past week, Forsythe had 10 hits and eight runs scored. His runs are always going to be a strong point, as he is sporting an impressive 14.6 percent walk rate this season. His 26.1 percent line drive rate means his average should show some signs of improvement soon, and given that his HR/FB rate is barely a third of last season, he may start to bump into a few long balls as well. His ownership is probably too high for what he has actually done in 2017, but in terms of projecting forward, it looks around right.
Asdrubal Cabrera (NYM, 2B/SS): 18% owned
After a few weeks off the list due to injury and ineffectiveness, we welcome back a familiar face in Mr. Cabrera. Those who have read in the past know that I am a big fan when he is healthy, and after the past week, Cabrera appears to be just that. The injury Cabrera suffered was a wrist injury which is always a power red flag, but he hit two homers last week, bringing him to eight on the season. He is sporting a wRC+ of 106 on the season, and he can contribute at least a bit in all five categories, as his three steals and .260 BA are decent for the middle infield position. Cabrera is still walking at a better rate than any previous season and striking out less, and with him back to health, he’s once again a recommended pickup.
Whit Merrifield (KC, 2B/OF): 18% owned
After falling off the list last week, Merrifield makes a quick return. I still don’t love the rather low ceiling for Merrifield, but if he can start stealing bases with the reckless abandon he did last week (four steals before Monday’s outing), his ceiling is certainly a bit higher. With Merrifield, the floor is high, as he has a strong approach at the plate, and should always be around .280 with the BA. With the Royals offense heating up a bit of late, that should mean a decent RuBIn (runs+RBI) output, despite a low walk rate (5.0 BB%). Merrifield has been caught stealing just once in 12 attempts, so he may well take off more often in the upcoming weeks. If he is indeed able to do so he should start to be on the radar of 12-teamers with middle infield struggles.
Graduated
Scooter Gennett (Cin, 2B/3B/OF): 58% owned
Gennett is almost certainly owned in too many leagues, and that is almost certainly due to his four-homer game a few weeks ago. Outside of that game, he’s been just decent rather than the beast that his Past Month stats look because of that big game. This next guy, for instance, should be owned in way more leagues than Gennett.
Ian Happ (CHC, 2B/OF): 41% owned
We guessed Happ might move into the graduated category last week, and he did indeed, thanks to an eight-hit, two-homer week for the Cubs. He added a steal and got 29 at bats, as there is a ton to like with the Cubs youngster right now.
Keep Adding
Orlando Arcia (Mil, SS): 22% owned
Get him while you can. We had Arcia on this list last week, and hopefully you scooped him up because he may not be available much longer (he went up seven percent in ownership in just a few Monday night hours). He hit .565 last week with three bombs. The youngster may just be putting it all together.
Jed Lowrie (Oak, 2B): 21% owned
Lowrie drops behind Arcia only because of Arcia's crazy week and the potential that the young Brewers shortstop possesses. Lowrie is playing right around his ceiling right now, with a wRC+ that is as high as it has been since 2010.
Brandon Phillips (Atl, 2B): 35% owned
Phillips saw his ownership increase once again despite a rather slow week in which he had just four hits, two runs and an RBI. He still has the nice HR/SB combo, to go along with a plus BA. As long as the 36-year-old stays healthy, he’s a reliable source for fantasy goodness.
Joe Panik (SF, 2B): 13% owned
Panik is starting to find that classic productive level for the Giants, as he had another strong Panik week, collecting eight hits and six runs, adding three RBI and a steal for good measure. This is the type of production you hope for from the Giants two-bagger.
Eduardo Escobar (Min, 3B/SS): 7% owned
Escobar continues to be a solid AL-only option who has the potential to blow up into a lot more thanks to an awesome 24.2 percent line drive rate and surprising 42.2 percent fly ball rate. His 31.7 percent hard hit ball rate shows he can put a little pop into his hits as well, and he is a great add in deeper leagues right now.
Last Chance
Howie Kendrick (Phi, 1B/2B/3B/OF): 15% owned
Kendrick landed himself on the DL with a strained left hamstring, and it’s unknown right now as to how long he’ll be out. In deeper leagues, his .349 BA and eight steals means you should hold onto him until you hear more about this injury, at least. If he’s out for a while, there’s enough middle infield depth that you should be able to find a solid replacement.
Cut Bait
Adam Frazier (Pit, 2B/OF): 8% owned/Jordy Mercer (Pit, SS): 6% owned
These two finally make it to the cut list, as they combined for five hits over the past week, and are really only on your radar in the deepest of leagues. The ceilings for both is extremely low, so it’s not worth keeping them around while they have any sorts of struggles.
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