RADIO
Everyone knows the baseball season is a marathon, but that cliche never feels more true than when we flip the calendar to May. It's easy to lose our collective minds in April, especially if our fantasy baseball teams are underperforming, but we are only one-sixth of the way through the season with roughly five months of baseball ahead of us. Plenty of time left to right the ship.
Patience is always encouraged with high-end players, but those late-round picks who are struggling? It may be time to cut bait now that we're over one month into the season. If you're looking to upgrade at 2B or SS, there are options aplenty that are widely available. Frankly, it's hard to believe how underrostered some players are given their scorching-hot start to the season; let's take a closer look at another list of intriguing middle infield waiver wire additions.
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 7 -- May 6 through May 12.
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Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Blaze Alexander, 2B/SS, Arizona Diamondbacks (26% rostered)
It was another frustrating week for Blaze Alexander as the 24-year-old rookie found himself on the bench twice so that the Diamondbacks could start inferior hitters. We thought when Arizona optioned Jace Peterson and his .211 batting average back to the minors, Alexander would simply be the team's everyday shortstop. We were wrong, as 30-year-old journeyman Kevin Newman started twice at shortstop last week. Sigh.
Despite being on the bench more than we'd prefer, Alexander remains a highly recommended fantasy option as he continues to mash baseballs. Through 23 games, Alexander is slashing a hearty .313/.405/.531 with 12 runs and 13 RBI. He's been stuck on three homers for a while but he just missed his fourth last week in Seattle and he does have five doubles. His defense at shortstop clearly remains an issue, but he has been starting occasionally at DH. Sooner or later, it should become clear to the powers-that-be in Arizona that Alexander's bat belongs in their lineup; he should be in fantasy lineups as well.
Blaze Alexander off the wall INCHES away from sending one out
: FS1 pic.twitter.com/LVyuWFXWM5
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 28, 2024
Vaughn Grissom, SS, Boston Red Sox (31% rostered)
It took some extra time, but Red Sox fans finally got to see Vaughn Grissom in action as the 23-year-old made his season debut Friday night in Minnesota. Grissom, who was acquired this past offseason in the Chris Sale trade, missed the first month of the season with a hamstring injury. He was back on Friday and despite his 0-for-3 night, there's plenty of reason to be excited about the former top prospect.
Grissom's ceiling for fantasy remains sky-high as he was a highly regarded prospect with the Braves and crushed Triple-A last season to the tune of a .330/.419/.501 slash line across 102 games. Toss in eight homers and 13 steals last season and Grissom projects as an across-the-board contributor in 5x5 roto leagues. He could be great in points formats as well, as his career K rate in the minors was under 20% to go along with above-average walk rates at every level.
If he was healthy during draft season, Grissom would've been one of the buzziest players in fantasy. Enjoy the ability to pick up someone with this kind of upside for free off of waivers.
Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Masyn Winn, SS, St. Louis Cardinals (10% rostered)
Don't look now, but we've got ourselves another former prospect finding some success at the MLB level after looking overmatched as a rookie. Masyn Winn struggled mightily in 37 games with St. Louis last season, but he's off to a hot start in 2024 as he's batting .280 with 10 runs scored and five stolen bases. Better yet, his batted-ball metrics have improved across the board.
| Masyn Winn | Batted Balls | Average Exit Velocity | Max Exit Velocity | xBA | wOBA | xwOBA |
| 2023 | 101 | 86 MPH | 103.9 MPH | 0.214 | 0.211 | 0.25 |
| 2024 | 69 | 88.3 MPH | 108.4 MPH | 0.27 | 0.321 | 0.306 |
Winn is not a must-add in all formats as he's yet to homer on the season but the 22-year-old speedster should continue to score plenty of runs and steal bases thanks to his 88th-percentile sprint speed. Heck, maybe he'll even pop some homers as he did launch 18 bombs last season in Triple-A.
Orlando Arcia, SS, Atlanta Braves (23% rostered)
Orlando Arcia has been slumping lately, but he's still batting a respectable .268 on the season while slugging over .400. Furthermore, he played in one of the best lineups in baseball without any real threat to his job security as his elite defense at shortstop will keep his bat in that lethal Braves lineup, even through a slump or two.
Even given his struggles -- Arcia is 1-for-19 over his last five games -- he's still making good contact as his barrel percentage and average exit velocity are both over MLB average. Toss in above average plate discipline and there's no reason to panic with Arcia. Go ahead and keep starting the 29-year-old in deeper leagues and consider adding him off of waivers if you're looking for a new shortstop.
Waiver Wire Watch List
Luis Garcia, 2B, Washington Nationals (12% rostered)
Like Alexander above, Luis Garcia has been on the bench more than we'd prefer, hence his demotion to the waiver wire watch list section this week. Clearly, the Nationals don't want Garcia starting vs. LHP, but he still found a way to make an impact last Friday when he crushed a pinch-hit go-ahead three-run homer.
Overall, Garcia is slashing .300/.344/.456 with two homers, 14 RBI, and five stolen bases without being caught. He's been batting cleanup vs. righties and is hitting too well overall for a rebuilding team like the Nationals to keep on the bench. Let's continue to monitor his playing time, but Garcia is a great fantasy play in daily-lineup leagues where we can start him on days Washington faces a right-hander.
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