Yan Gomes (C, CLE) - Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Two-Catcher Leagues

OWNED IN: 10% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Yan Gomes has been a streaky staple at backstop for the Cleveland Indians for six years, and it appears as if the one-time Silver Slugger has removed the varnish and found his stroke once more. Last year, Gomes produced passable HR and OPS figures of 14 and .708 but through 110 AB in 2018, Gomes has already stepped it up. He currently holds a slash line of .264/.336/.473 with six homers on the year and has also maintained a superb BA of .286 through the last two weeks.

Now, Gomes has a BABIP of .365 so far in 2018. That typically doesn't bode too well for a catcher. However, there is much less reason to fret when you read the story that his metrics tell of his action on offense. He has upped his line-drive percentage by 4.3%, his fly-ball rate by 7.4% to a solid 49.3%, and has lowered his grounder rate by 11.7% all the way down to 29%. Additionally, he has super-sized his hard contact rate by 11.5% while inversely lowering his soft contact rate by the same amount, respectively producing highly impressive figures of 40.6% and 10.1%.

Catcher is never an easy position to add depth to, and many of the mid-season options available leave a lot to be desired in their game. With that considered, Yan Gomes has a solid track record of being able to rack up all-around production at the plate with particular power upside. His K% and BB% (33.6%/7.4%) are cringe worthy, this much is true. Despite that you can feel a little more safe in trusting Gomes as a Two-Catcher league option while he is producing an XBH%, HR%, and average exit velocity that sit well above league averages and his personal tendencies for the top-10 ranked Cleveland offense.