Manuel Margot (OF, SD) - Week 17 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 12% of leagues

ANALYSIS: San Diego has plenty of young, burgeoning stars, and it's easy to forget the impressive play of Manuel Margot since he's been going to work at the plate and on the base-paths for the Padres for years. The 24-year-old former highly-touted prospect has hit six home runs, stolen 12 bases (in an efficient 12 attempts thanks to a top-tier 28.9 feet in sprinting speed per second), and produced a slash of .251/.322/.403 in 211 AB. Though it's never easy to rake at Petco Park, Margot has concocted an interesting formula for creating on offense to meet the conditions of the field in recent work.

In 30 AB through the month of July, "Yoandry" has cleaned up with three homers, two swipes, and .333/.487/.800 slash. Hey may not have the power-numbers like teammates Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes, but we already know that he can run like the dickens, and his plate-discipline and batted ball contact have gotten steadily better as the year has progressed. While he has slightly squandered his 15.5-degree launch angle on just 13% line drives this month, he has improved his hard contact rate to 52.2%, his soft contact rate to 13%, his walk rate to a robust 23.1%, and maintained his strikeout rate at a tolerable 17.9%. With that level of hard contact and a 43.5% flyer clip, Manuel Margot can still hit for measurable power results while burning rubber on the base-paths with considerable success. With the speed to sustain a high BABIP, he is talented asset you will want to be a part of.