Yonder Alonso (1B, CLE) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

May 15, 2018

Kyle Ringstad profiles Cleveland Indians first baseman (1B) Yonder Alonso as a waiver wire pickup and add in Week 7 of the 2018 MLB season for his power.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 32% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Hard-hitting 1B Yonder Alonso needs to be owned in more leagues, simply put.  His 2018 numbers to this point are not great, as he's hitting just .216/.284/.440 with 9 HR and 23 RBI over 148 AB. However, there are quite a few key factors that make Alonso a very intriguing player moving forward. The most glaring stat is his .211 BABIP, which is extremely low compared to his career .297 BABIP. This suggests he is getting unlucky with the balls he's putting into play, and that his batting AVG should continue to rise as a result.  Additionally, Alonso's .224 ISO is high, he has a 37.5% Hard Hit %, and he ranks 16th among all qualified hitters in Barrels/PA (11.1). He's also walking more (8.8%) than his career average, but he is striking out at an alarming rate (20.9%). It should also be mentioned that he has guaranteed  playing time, as the only other 1B on the roster is Encarnacion - who is always slotting in as the DH.

If you need even more reason to buy in on Alonso, know that he's hitting in the middle of the lineup in a great offense (9th in runs scored, 8th in RBI, 15th in AVG), and plays half of his games at the hitter-friendly Progressive Field (Park Factor: Runs (5th), HRs (11th), 2Bs (3rd)). His 2018 projections have him at .255-.270 AVG, 17-22 HR, and 55-70 RBI.