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The Major League Baseball season has reached the All-Star break, meaning most of the players will get some much-deserved time off. In the world of fantasy baseball, however, there are no breaks; we've got fantasy teams to overanalyze in this stretch of days with no meaningful baseball.
That's right, the All-Star break is a great time to take stock of your team and your league standings and to formulate a plan to win a championship a few months from now. If improving your team means grabbing a new middle infielder, you've come to the right place. Below we've got a fresh batch of names that could be in store for a big second half and can help your fantasy squad reach the glory of a league title.
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 17 -- July 15 through July 21.
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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
David Hamilton, 2B/SS, Boston Red Sox (38% rostered)
The youth movement happening in Boston continues to churn out intriguing players for fantasy. David Hamilton has turned heads in his rookie season and should be rostered in about twice as many fantasy leagues. Yes, we know Hamilton can run; he's got 94th percentile sprint speed which has led to 23 stolen bases while being caught only twice. All those thefts have made Hamilton an asset in category-based fantasy leagues, but he's got sneaky value in points leagues as well.
The 26-year-old has shown decent power as a rookie as he's got five homers and a respectable .412 slugging percentage. He's also got 11 doubles and a triple on the season as his swing and speed is perfectly tailored to take advantage of playing in Fenway Park. Throw in the fact he bats atop a good Red Sox lineup -- he's got 34 runs scored this season -- and we could see Hamilton continue to be a useful player in fantasy into the second half.
David Hamilton has been everything we wanted Victor Scott II to be this season.
Since 5/24: 79 PA, .338/.380/.487, 2 HR, 13 SB
Season: 150 PA, .288/.340/.446, 4 HR, 18 SB#DirtyWaterpic.twitter.com/03aPhO2Bhx— Eric Cross (@EricCross04) June 17, 2024
Luis Garcia Jr., 2B, Washington Nationals (47% rostered)
Nationals second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. has had an up-and-down season thanks to his struggles against lefties, which has led to him being on the bench more often than we'd like for fantasy purposes. However, when you look at the sum of his season, we see a highly productive hitter. The 24-year-old former top prospect is slashing a cool .276/.308/.431 with 10 homers, 12 steals, 44 RBI, and 32 runs scored while batting primarily third for Washington when the opposing starter is right-handed.
Better yet, Garcia is sporting career-best batted ball metrics across the board. His .288 xBA is 91st percentile among all hitters and he's also rocking career-highs in average exit velocity (88.9 MPH), barrel rate (8%), and xwOBA on contact (.390). Toss in a sub-20% strikeout rate and we've got a highly useful player who should be in more fantasy lineups than not, especially if the Nationals are lined up to face mostly RHP in a given week.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Angel Martinez, 2B/SS/3B/OF, Cleveland Guardians (12% rostered)
Angel Martinez has taken Cleveland by storm as he posted a .899 OPS through his first 10 career games. Obviously, that's a ridiculously small sample, but now may be the time to add Martinez in fantasy as he won't be available in this many leagues for long with the way he's started his career. He won't sustain a near-.900 OPS, but if we look at his minor league track record there's reason to believe Martinez could continue to contribute at the MLB level.
Through 26 games at Triple-A, Martinez was slashing .316/.416/.537 with five homers and 35 runs-plus-RBI. If we look back to last season for a larger sample, Martinez's numbers still look good for a 21-year-old playing in Triple-A, which led to him being ranked as Cleveland's number nine prospect coming into the season. How good Martinez's season goes is anyone's guess, but right now, it's worth taking a flyer on a high-upside player sandwiched between two All-Stars in the Guardians' lethal lineup.
Angel Martinez first career HR. He’s off to a smoking start to his MLB career. Since coming back up on July 4, In 23 PA:
7 hits/2 2B/1 HR
8 BB/1 K
Looks like he might earn an everyday role.pic.twitter.com/FOhpj3m2yO— Chris Clegg (@RotoClegg) July 9, 2024
Spencer Horwitz, 2B/1B, Toronto Blue Jays (21% rostered)
The Toronto offense has been searching for answers all season long and it appears it's been able to find some production in the form of Spencer Horwitz. The 26-year-old rookie had an incredible first month in the majors as he's slashed .319/.431/.495 since his promotion on June 8. Add in his four homers, 13 runs, and 10 RBI, and Horwitz has been a spark for a Blue Jays lineup that ranks 24th in baseball in runs scored.
A look under the hood on Horwitz reveals more promising signs. Thus far, he's sporting a sub-20% strikeout rate to go along with a sky-high 13% walk rate. These numbers are backed up by his elite plate-discipline metrics in Triple-A, where he actually walked more often than he struck out. The league will surely catch up to Horwitz to some degree, but for right now, it's worth riding the hot hand with a player with multi-positional eligibility.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Watch List
Joey Ortiz, 2B/3B, Milwaukee Brewers (24% rostered)
This deep into the season, there aren't a ton of ultra-exciting prospects left in the minors and, since we recommended three rookies above, we should look towards the injured list for players to stash. Joey Ortiz was having a big season for the Brewers before winding up on the IL with neck inflammation. Through 74 games, Ortiz slashed .269/.373/.444 with seven homers and five steals.
His injury wasn't considered serious and this weekend he's on a rehab assignment in the minors. Assuming there are no setbacks, we could see Ortiz back in Milwaukee to start the second half. If that's the case, he's another worthwhile name to consider adding in deeper fantasy formats.
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