April 25, 2017

Jim Turvey recommends second basemen (2B) and shortstops (SS) who can be valuable waiver wire targets or adds to help fantasy owners for Week 4 of the 2017 MLB season.

We march along in April, as statistics move closer to being meaningful, but still aren’t quite there. We’re still early enough in the season that there are plenty of movers and shakers in the fantasy ranks. Players are being added and dropped left and right as fantasy owners try to catch lightning in a bottle/avoid missing out on the next big thing.

As always, we have your middle infield targets for you here today, with three new middle infield waiver wire targets for Week 4 that can be added in slightly deeper leagues, as well as updates on a few names who might still be available on your waiver wire. There are two names we’re no longer suggesting and one name who has graduated from this list as he is no longer likely to be available in even your 10-team mixed league. Friendly reminder, we are using Yahoo ownership percentages and position eligibility.

On to the middle of the infield!

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Week 3 Middle Infield (MI) Waiver Wire Targets

Andrelton Simmons (SS, LAA) - 13% owned

Simmons hit two homers and stole a base last week, continuing a hot start to 2017. Prior to Monday night’s game, Simmons had three homers and two steals, to go along with a .300 average on the year. Simmons is one of those guys who has always been better in real life than in fantasy, but he has shown flashes of value in the fantasy realm in the past. In 2013, he showed 20-HR potential, but that has been missing in seasons since. This year, Simmons is hitting the ball harder than ever (per hard hit ball rate), but he probably won’t keep up this home run pace. That being said, if he can hit 10 home runs and steal around 15 bases (10 steals in 124 games in 2016), he will have value in many leagues. Add in a plus average and that’s when he could really jump up the rankings.

Simmons’ .300 average isn’t propped up by a fluky BABIP (.316) while he has always shown the plate discipline skills to post a solid BA. It was simply his lofty ground ball rate that held him back in previous seasons. This year Simmons has cut his ground ball rate (50.0%) to the lowest it has been since that 17-homer 2013 season, a great sign for both Simmons’ power and his average. Simmons is posting the second-best line drive rate of his career, and all signs are positive right now for the Angels' defensive wizard.

Joe Panik (2B, SF) - 20% owned

Panik had an excellent last week and is hitting .333 (before Monday’s game) all of the sudden with his typical 12 HR/8 SB production. It was only two seasons ago that Panik hit .312 over a 100-game sample, and his line drive (25.9%) and hard hit ball rate (33.3%) are back at those 2015 levels again this year. The Giants have been struggling this season, but Panik has nine runs and seven RBI, solid figures for a second baseman available in 80 percent of leagues. Panik maintained his excellent batting eye even through his poor 2016 season, and he is once again walking more than he is striking out in 2017. Panik is very reliant on his BA for value, but when he is sporting a nice average, he is severely underrated, based on fantasy players continued ignoring of BA as a category.

Kolten Wong (2B, STL) - 3% owned

After an early-season stretch in which Wong was making more noise off the field than on, this past week has been a nice sign. Wong has hiked his batting average back over .220 with a pair of multi-hit games. He also hit his first home run of the 2017 season as well as stealing his first two bases, all in the past seven days. Wong was one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball over the first couple weeks, and his BABIP (.237) suggests his batting average should continue to trend upwards in weeks to come. Wong also has some good signs in the plate discipline portion of his player card, as he is walking more than he is striking out in 2017. If he can bring back some of the pop he has flashed at times in his career, he could move from being just an NL-only option to a deeper mixed league candidate.

Graduated

Cesar Hernandez (2B, PHI) - 73% owned

Hernandez’s rise has been meteoric over the past few weeks, and he is now owned in almost three-quarters of all Yahoo leagues. In the last week he had another homer and two steals to go along with a .321 batting average.

Keep Adding

Taylor Motter (SS/OF, SEA) - 29% owned

Motter is being added by lots of power hungry owners out there, as his three home runs in the past week bring him to five on the season. Motter is still smashing the ball (50.0% hard hit ball rate), so expect more of the high-power, low-BA output. Even with Jean Segura returning from injury soon, the Mariners should likely find a way to keep his hot bat in the lineup. 

Brandon Phillips (2B, ATL) - 48% owned

Phillips had a second straight solid week, hitting .357 with a homer and a steal in 28 at bats. Phillips is due for a bit of regression, but he’s still got rosterable talent even when that decline comes.

Jorge Polanco (2B/3B/SS, MIN) - 16% owned

Polanco had an interesting week, as he only collected four hits. Although, he scored two runs, drove in five RBI and a stole a bag. I still love the way his advanced numbers are trending this season.

Asdrubal Cabrera (SS, NYM) - 48% owned

Cabrera had a bit of a slow week, but he is still a recommended pick up thanks to a strong batted ball profile and a regular spot in a decent lineup.

Jed Lowrie (2B, OAK) - 3% owned

Lowrie scored four runs last week, and while he didn’t leave the yard or have any RBI, he remains a solid AL-only option while healthy.

Scooter Gennett (2B, CIN) - 5% owned

Gennett remains for now, but his playing time is a bit worrisome. He only grabbed three starts in the past week, but he had a hit in each, and he appeared in all six Reds’ games. If he keeps hitting, the Reds should find a full-time spot for him soon.

Last Chance

Ryan Schimpf (2B, SD) - 28% owned

Schimpf is on his last legs as a recommend at this point. While it’s fair to assume his .094 BABIP (before Monday’s game) is going to improve, Schimpf might not be in the lineup long enough to catch that positive regression. Schimpf has also seen his hard hit ball rate drop from 39.7% in 2016 to 17.1% in 2017. Only one more week for this guy if he doesn’t pop a few homers and start getting on base a bit more.

Cut Bait

Marcus Semien (SS, OAK) - 37% owned

Semien was moved to the 60-day DL, so you can avoid him for a while.

Howie Kendrick (1B/2B/3B/OF, PHI) - 22% owned

Kendrick ended up on the DL this past week, and he should be out for 2-3 weeks. Keep an eye on how he hits when he returns before looking to add him again.

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