RADIO
Kyle Bishop suggests five middle infield targets for week 18, second basemen (2B) and shortstops (SS), for fantasy baseball owners to consider adding to their rosters in 2018.
A few middle infielders have been moved in recent deals, and a few more may follow suit before this week’s trade deadline. Those players will, however, likely all be widely owned. We’re here to talk about some guys you might be able to acquire without the benefit of having to strike a trade in your fantasy league.
Every Sunday until the end of the season, we'll look at the best middle infielders available in at least 50 percent of Yahoo leagues. These are based on standard 5x5 scoring; adjust accordingly for your specific setup.
Let’s get to it. Below are your second base and shortstop waiver wire targets for Week 18.
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Week 18 Middle Infield (MI) Waiver Wire Targets
Lourdes Gurriel, 2B/SS/OF, Toronto Blue Jays (37% owned)
By the time you read this, it may already be too late – Gurriel’s ownership rate has skyrocketed from near-zero to its current mark over the last 24 hours, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it climb over 50% before the weekend is over. Gurriel has been outside his mind of late; Saturday’s showing (2-for-4, two RBI) was his tenth (!) consecutive multi-hit game. He had two home runs on Friday night, giving him three in his last five contests. You get the idea. Dude is locked in right now. The plate approach isn’t awesome, but so long as the hits keep falling, who cares?
Ketel Marte, 2B/SS, Arizona Diamondbacks (19% owned)
Arizona’s acquisition of Eduardo Escobar could end up cutting into Marte’s playing time when Jake Lamb heals up from his recent injury. If he keeps swinging the bat like he has been, though, getting at-bats won’t be a problem. The 24-year-old is hitting .288/.371/.571 since the beginning of June with eight home runs and 59 R+BI. He’s also collected 15 other extra-base hits and is walking nearly as often as he strikes out. Early-season struggles are still weighing down his overall numbers, but it certainly appears that Marte has turned a corner.
Wilmer Flores, 1B/2B/3B, New York Mets (7% owned)
The Mets have been a train wreck as usual, but for once they seem willing to let Flores play regularly instead of blocking him with retreads. Closing in on his 27th birthday, Flores has slowly but steadily improved each season in the major leagues. Currently, he’s hitting .271/.327/.454 with nine home runs in 269 plate appearances. Nothing flashy, sure, but solid enough to justify a roster spot in deep and NL-only leagues. He’s also running the best walk and strikeout rates of his career; the latter would rank third in MLB if he had enough plate appearances to qualify for the leaderboard.
Joey Wendle, 2B/OF, Tampa Bay Rays (6% owned)
Wendle’s appeared in this space a handful of times in 2018 as a solid play in AL-only and deep league formats. Sure, the counting stats are modest but batting average can be tough to come by these days, and that’s where he can help you. The (still technically a) rookie is hitting .286 on the season, and .363 over the past month of action.
Adalberto Mondesi, 2B/SS, Kansas City Royals (4% owned)
Then again, Mondesi has been a boon to your batting average in recent days as well, and he’s got speed to offer on top of it. The 23-year-old has hit safely in eight straight, collecting multiple hits in five of those games. He’s slashed .294/.310/.471 with three homers and seven steals in just 87 plate appearances thus far. If nothing else, this latest stab at the majors has already gone much better than Mondesi’s first two cameos in 2016 and 2017. He still strikes out a lot, but Mondesi is a great play for those in need of steals, and there’s surprising pop in his bat when he does connect.
