We’re past the official halfway point of the 2016 season, and the All-Star Break begins next week. The following players may not be suiting up in the Midsummer Classic, but they can still pitch in for your fantasy teams, and three of them are available for free in over 80 percent of leagues right now.
Remember, in addition to this and other columns spotlighting players on the waiver wire, RotoBaller also compiles weekly waiver wire rankings. They're a great reference tool to aid your second-half push.
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Week 13 Corner Infield Waiver Wire Targets
Brandon Moss, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals (40 percent)
On May 18, Moss was hitting a pedestrian .212/.303/.452. Since then, he’s produced a .287/.374/.661 line, with 10 of his 17 homers coming in that span. Moss shouldn’t be in your starting lineup if a southpaw is on the hill for the opposing team, but he’s laid waste to RHP all season. Every one of his home runs has been off a righty, against whom he’s posted a 1.040 OPS.
Brett Lawrie, 3B, Chicago White Sox (38 percent)
Lawrie’s locked in right now. Over the last two weeks, he’s hitting .368/.383/.649 with four homers and three steals. Some of that is driven by a sky-high .436 BABIP, but he’s also just plain hitting the snot out of the ball lately. Halfway through the year, Lawrie is on pace for a 20/15 season with career bests in walk rate and isolated power. Perhaps most encouraging is that he hasn’t missed a single game with injury. Believe it or not, he’s still only 26 years old.
C.J. Cron, 1B, Los Angeles Angels (13 percent)
Speaking of locked in, how about Cron? He was largely ignored by the fantasy community before going 6-for-6 with a pair of homers on Saturday, but he’d already been on a nice little run prior to that outburst. Since June 15, he’s got six multi-hit games and an impressive .377/.415/.672 line to his credit. Cron got off to a slow start, but he’s posted a .311/.347/.525 since the end of April. The Angels don’t have much firepower outside of Mike Trout, which limits Cron’s ability to pile up counting stats, but he’s a strong play in AL-only and deep mixers.
Yangervis Solarte, 1B/3B, San Diego Padres (10 percent)
Most of the fantasy love directed toward the Padres has been focused on Wil Myers and Melvin Upton, and deservedly so. But Solarte’s having a nice season himself. He missed a good chunk of the first two months with injury, but has compiled a .299/.387/.497 line with six homers and 47 R+RBI in the 43 games he has played. Small sample caveats aside, Solarte is currently running career bests in walk rate and contact quality. He’s eligible at second base as well as both corner infield positions, making him a useful bench bat in plenty of formats.
David Freese, 1B/3B, Pittsburgh Pirates (8 percent)
Freese is on pace for his best season since 2012 despite a career-worst strikeout rate. He’s been fairly consistent from month to month, but has kicked things into a higher gear of late. Over the two weeks, he’s hitting .319/.385/.574 with three homers and 18 R+RBI. The Pirates are hanging around the edge of the NL wild card race, and how the next few weeks shake out could determine whether or not they promote top hitting prospect Josh Bell, or decide to ship out a few veterans in advance of the deadline. Assuming his playing time isn’t threatened, though, Freese is a solid NL-only option.
More Options: Javier Baez (33%), Mark Reynolds (28%), Lonnie Chisenhall (26%), Luis Valbuena (5%)
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