RADIO
Welcome to another rendition of middle infield waiver wire options and happy Memorial Day to all. Memorial Day Weekend is always notable on the baseball calendar as we're about one-third of the way through the season and, in my case, it's the first time I'll allow myself to look at the standings; I'm looking forward to seeing how the division races are shaping up.
On the fantasy baseball front, this weekend serves as both a warning and a reminder. The unofficial start of summer should remind us there is a ton of baseball left this season, so don't panic if your team isn't atop the standings. However, it's also a warning that it's not early anymore, and it's time to address weaknesses on your roster. If these weaknesses are at 2B or SS, that's where we come in!
As a reminder, we'll be looking at pickups for shallow leagues (30-49% rostered) and deeper formats (10-29%), as well as highlighting players in the single digits who deserve a spot on your watch list at the very least. These are your second base and shortstop fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 10 -- May 27 through June 2.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball draft tools and resources:- Fantasy baseball draft kit
- Fantasy baseball rankings
- Team Sync platform and Draft Assistant
- Fantasy baseball mock draft simulator
- Fantasy baseball draft cheat sheets
- Fantasy baseball closer depth charts
- Fantasy baseball prospects
Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Luis Garcia, 2B, Washington Nationals (30% rostered)
Luis Garcia has been a mainstay in this column for most of the season thanks to a solid batting line that includes a .280 batting average, five homers, and seven steals while primarily batting third for the Nationals. Despite generally good results, however, we can't seem to get his roster rate over 50%. That should change, at least for this week, as the matchups for Week 10 line up quite nicely for Garcia and the Nats.
Washington has seven games on the schedule this upcoming week and, as of now, is slated to face six right-handed pitchers. Garcia has established himself as a righty masher this season as he's swatted all five of his homers and has a .836 OPS this season vs righties. He should be more highly-rostered in fantasy based on his overall production, but this week in particular, Garcia needs to be added and started in more fantasy leagues.
| Luis Garcia | PA | BA | HR | 2B | SLG | OPS |
| vs LHP | 32 | 0.207 | 0 | 1 | 0.241 | 0.522 |
| vs RHP | 121 | 0.297 | 5 | 9 | 0.500 | 0.836 |
Davis Schneider, 2B/OF, Toronto Blue Jays (22% rostered)
Davis Schneider continues to be one of the few Blue Jay hitters producing this season and as a result, he's hit leadoff in six-straight games thanks to his high on-base percentage. Davis has a .345 OBP thanks to an elite 11.5% walk rate and it's already led to plenty of runs scored as he's crossed home plate 11 times this month. As nice as the walks are, they don't help a ton for fantasy, which is where Schneider's batted-ball profile takes over.
Schneider has been crushing baseballs this season thanks in part to a 17.2% barrel rate, which ranks in the 97th percentile in all of baseball. All of those barrels have led to a 90.6 MPH average exit velocity which is over two MPH higher than league average. Toss in a chase rate that ranks 92nd percentile in baseball and we should expect Schneider to improve on his .237 batting average while continuing to draw plenty of walks and also provide some power moving forward.
Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Jorge Mateo, 2B/SS, Baltimore Orioles (10% rostered)
Jorge Mateo has never been a stalwart for fantasy baseball, but every season he seems to go on a tear for an extended time. Folks, I think we've hit that window as Mateo has been on fire while manning shortstop for one of the best teams in baseball. Over his last seven games, Mateo is batting .300 with seven runs scored, four RBI, and four stolen bases.
Oh, and he also launched this 434-foot homer
Jorge Mateo was batting .300 in his last seven games entering the night.
He continues to stay hot with 434-foot, 3-run 💣 #Birdland pic.twitter.com/aGABGiZgMU
— Rocco DiSangro (@RoccoDiSangro) May 24, 2024
Mateo won't stay this hot forever, but he's scalding baseballs right now and should produce plenty of counting stats playing for one of the best lineups in the league. Now is a great time to consider riding the hot hand, especially if you need stolen bases as -his 99th percentile sprint speed should produce plenty of steals.
Michael Massey, 2B, Kansas City Royals (7% rostered)
The Royals offense has been sneaky-good this season and a big reason why has been the unheralded Michael Massey, who ranks third among all 2B with a .529 slugging percentage. It's not just a ton of extra-base-hits carrying Massey, however, the aforementioned strong Kansas City lineup has led to plenty of runs and RBI as Massey has 40 runs-plus-RBI in only 29 games played.
A look under the hood shows that Massey is currently sporting a career-best xBA (.275), wOBA (.351), and zone-contact rate (93.8%). Throw in the fact he's cut his strikeout rate by one-third from last season (21.5% to 14%) and you've got all the makings of a post-hype breakout for a 26-year-old former prospect.
Waiver Wire Watch List
Nick Gonzales, 2B/SS, Pittsburgh Pirates (8% rostered)
Pirates prospect Nick Gonzales was rudely welcomed to the majors last season as he batted only .209 with an anemic .268 OBP across 35 MLB games. He went back to Triple-A and this season is doing some things to make fantasy managers turn their collective heads. It's only been 13 games, but Gonzales is slashing .300/.357/.500 with two homers, 13 RBI, seven runs, and a stolen base.
These good numbers are coming after he batted .368 with a .608 slugging percentage in Triple-A, so he's proven he can handle any pitcher the minor leagues have to offer. Let's all take a moment to remember Gonzales is a former top-1- pick in the MLB Draft and not all development curves are linear. Gonzales is only 25 years old and has mashed in the minors. He's thriving early on in his second stint in Pittsburgh and should be on the radar of fantasy managers in case he keeps producing.
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!
More Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Advice
