Hard to believe we’re nearly at the halfway point of the 2016 season, isn’t it? It’s been a bit of a down year offensively at first base, so hopefully you’ve found this feature helpful. Well, ideally, you drafted one of the big names who haven’t disappointed, but you get the point.
Remember, in addition to this and other columns spotlighting players on the waiver wire, RotoBaller also compiles weekly waiver wire rankings. Be sure to check those out. You’ll see a few of these guys on that list, but all of them can help if your team is in need.
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Week 13 Corner Infield Waiver Wire Targets
Kendrys Morales, 1B, Kansas City Royals (46 percent)
Morales’ rebound last year from an awful 2014 was perhaps one of the more surprising things that happened on the road to a Royals championship. For the first two months of this season, Morales appeared to have fallen down the well again, producing a putrid .193/.262/.330 line. His peripherals remained positive, though, and they’ve been borne out in his June performance. Morales has been fantastic this month, slashing .360/.422/.587 with four homers and 28 R+RBI in 21 games.
Justin Bour, 1B, Miami Marlins (36 percent)
Coming off a breakout 2015, Bour garnered some sleeper buzz in drafts this year. He’s improved across the board in 2016. Plate discipline, power, quality of contact – pick a metric, he’s moved in the right direction. It’s been a linear progression, too, going by monthly splits. In June, Bour has hit .327/.413/.655 with five home runs and 29 R+RBI in just 19 games. The Marlins have stayed in contention despite Giancarlo Stanton’s struggles, and Bour’s success is a big reason why.
Pedro Alvarez, 1B/3B, Baltimore Orioles (8 percent)
Alvarez’s Orioles career couldn’t have gotten off to much worse of a start. Through the end of May, he’d hit just .194/.294/.350 and was seeing the bench fairly often. Alvarez doesn’t offer much value when he’s not hitting for power, and despite calling Camden Yards home, he had just three homers to his name in the season’s first two months. He’s still not playing every day, but has managed to hit twice that many balls out of the park in June despite logging only 15 games. That’s helped him to an excellent .315/.356/.667 line. As usual, Alvarez should be avoided if a southpaw is on the mound for the opposing team, but he’s still mashing righthanded pitching.
Dae Ho Lee, 1B, Seattle Mariners (4 percent)
You could do worse than a platoon of Alvarez and Lee, in fact. Lee’s slammed 10 homers in just 151 plate appearances. Initially he was deployed only against LHP, but the Mariners have apparently seen enough to give him more at-bats against same-sided pitchers lately. And why not? Lee actually has a higher OPS against them. Granted, it’s a small sample, but the 34 year old’s early returns suggest another successful import from Korea.
Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B, Cleveland Indians (4 percent)
Over the last couple of seasons, Chisenhall has shown flashes of the ability that made him a first round pick and top prospect. He hasn’t been able to sustain that success for long periods, but he’s put together some impressive hot streaks. While he’s been in one of those grooves lately (11-for-24 with two homers and 14 R+RBI in his last six games), there are indications that he may be developing into a more consistent hitter. Chisenhall is walking more, striking out less, and hitting more line drives than at any point in his career.
More Options: Yasmany Tomas (31%), Mark Teixeira (30%), Brett Lawrie (34%), Mark Reynolds (29%), Adonis Garcia (2%)
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