Jorge Polanco (SS, MIN) - Week 21 Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: Minnesota Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco has not hit for any power to speak of (two home runs) in his extremely limited 173 plate appearances in July and August this season, but he has quietly put together two solid months of production at the plate. Since the beginning of July, Polanco is slashing a respectable .280/.341/.408. In August (69 PA), Polanco has two dingers and produced a solid slash of .288/.304/.455. His ISO for the year sits low at .127 while his hard contact and soft contact remain lukewarm to downright destructive at times with respective rates of 32/3% and 25.6% on the year.

This raw power, as nonexistent as it may be, is also not where his value lies. For one, he has some solid batted ball peripherals to account for his offensive production. He holds an above average pull rate of 43% while his GB/FB ratio sits at 0.92 off of 41.5% fly balls and 20.3% line drives. When considered with the speed he possesses that allowed him to steal so many bases in the minors, his BABIP of .350 appears to be rather sustainable. Also, while his strikeout rate is rather high at 20.8%, his walk rate of 8.1% demonstrates his evolving improvement in the area of plate discipline in comparison to his previous MLB experience.

Polanco was considered a high-level prospect very recently for a very good reason and his play since coming back from suspension has made him a decent fantasy option. For his ability to generate base hits and walks and then start swiping bases, he could hold plenty of value down the home stretch for those in need of consistent production from the historically shallow middle infield positions.