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The All-Star break is upon us, but there’s no such thing as a break with RotoBaller. We’re still here to offer advice on everything from prospects to waiver wire pickups to help you make a championship push in the second half.
Every Sunday until the end of the season, we'll look at the best middle infielders available in at least 50 percent of Yahoo leagues. These are based on standard 5x5 scoring; adjust accordingly for your specific setup.
Let’s get to it. Below are your second base and shortstop waiver wire targets for Week 16.
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Week 16 Middle Infield (MI) Waiver Wire Targets
Derek Dietrich, 1B/2B/3B/OF, Miami Marlins (47% owned)
The Marlins are (with apologies to lead MLB editor Pierre Camus) not very good, but Dietrich has been a bright spot for them in the season’s first half. The versatile veteran has hit .288/.350/.452 with 11 home runs and 49 runs scored across 92 games, primarily hitting in one of the first two spots of the Miami batting order. Dietrich has played almost exclusively in left field this year, but for the remainder of the season he’ll be eligible at every position save for catcher and shortstop.
Jason Kipnis, 2B/OF, Cleveland Indians (32% owned)
Longtime readers may recall that Kipnis is basically the bane of my existence as a fantasy analyst. I freely admit to being wrong on a regular basis, but no other player has made me look like an idiot quite so often. Like most fantasy owners, I wanted no part of him this spring, and for a while it appeared we were right to feel that way. Even now, Kipnis’ season line ranks among the worst of his career, but a truly awful start obscures how well he’s hit lately. Over the last seven weeks (156 plate appearances), he’s slashed .270/.359/.496 with eight homers, three stolen bases, and 41 R+BI.
Scott Kingery, 2B/3B/SS/OF, Philadelphia Phillies (24% owned)
Kingery hasn’t lived up to expectations as a rookie, although to be fair, those expectations were absurd – I recall multiple people speculating that he could produce a 30/30 campaign, something that no MLB player has done since 2012. The 24-year-old has only gone deep four times and has a lousy .611 OPS on the season. However, he has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks. Kingery’s two-hit performance on Saturday marked his seventh multi-hit effort in the past month. During that span he’s hit .280, scored 17 runs, and swiped three bags.
Jedd Gyorko, 1B/2B/3B, St. Louis Cardinals (13% owned)
Gyorko slumped hard in June, but he’s slashed .324/.444/.622 since the calendar flipped to July. He has four multi-hit games already this month, and has walked more often than he’s struck out. While he’s pacing toward his lowest power output since 2014, Gyorko entered this season having averaged 25 HR/600 PA for his career. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him pop balls over the fence more often going forward, and his positional flexibility makes him interesting in deep and NL-only formats.
Joey Wendle, 2B/OF, Tampa Bay Rays (2% owned)
Another player who was probably happy to see the end of June, Wendle pushed his July batting average up over .400 with a two-hit effort on Saturday. That was his second consecutive multi-hit game, and fifth in the last two weeks. You’ll get a batting average boost from the Rays’ rookie and not much else (save for the occasional stolen base), but he’s a viable option for AL-only owners who could use a lift there.
