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Ellis Canady recommends corner infielders, first basemen (1B) and third basemen (3B) who are valuable waiver wire targets or adds for Week 25 of the 2018 fantasy baseball season.
If you're reading this, then you likely still have some skin in the game. The championship round of the playoffs is starting in head-to-head leagues. Also, there are only a couple of weeks left for your Roto leagues. Whether you are coasting to a victory or scrounging for wins, take some time now to inventory your roster to see where improvements can be made. Never settle or become complacent.
The corner infield positions traditionally offer power with the potential for high averages. However, at this stage of the game, to get power, you'll likely get a mediocre batting average. The other route is to get players that are a little more well-rounded. In this piece, I'll identify waiver wire targets for first base and third base in week 25 who should be able to contribute in multiple categories. These players are owned in 50% or less of Yahoo! leagues.
If you have any questions on corner infielders or any dynasty question for that matter, message me directly on Twitter @EllisCan2.
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Week 25 Corner Infield (CI) Waiver Wire Targets
Ji-Man Choi (1B, TB) 11% owned
At 27 years old, Choi has come out of nowhere to be a viable fantasy asset down the stretch. He has made an impression in the second half with seven homers, 24 RBI and a .290 batting average. Choi’s success is due in part to a 44.7% hard-hit rate contributing to a .517 slugging. Choi will even bring recent success into the upcoming schedule. In the last 14 days, he hit four homers with a .316 average.
Choi will spend the week on the road but he could hardly get a couple of better destinations. He will play in Texas before traveling to Toronto. Choi will go up against four righties and three lefties. He is a definite streaming option. Play him against righties as he is hitting .288 with eight homers and 37 RBI in 146 at-bats. Contrarily, Choi only has a .158 batting average with one homer and two RBI in 19 at-bats against lefties.
Jeff McNeil (2B/3B, NYM) 28% owned
McNeil has turned it on and just will not stop. In the last 30 days, he has 19 runs, 12 RBI, and a .386 batting average. Admittedly, he doesn’t bring a ton of power with only one homer during that time, but he does surprise with a little speed, adding five stolen bases. Batting out of the two-hole with a .392 on-base percentage this year, McNeil has plenty of opportunities to accrue runs for your team. It’s helpful that he has very good bat control with only a 7.7% swinging strike rate.
McNeil has a full schedule this week, all on the road. This week takes him to Philly and D.C. He faces a full seven-game schedule, all against righties, which includes Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Aaron Nola. Despite a few challenging opponents this week, the schedule is still in McNeil’s favor. He has a .349/.396/.512 slash line against right-handed pitchers this year.
Ryan O'Hearn (1B, KC) 10% owned
O’Hearn continues to surprise and give the Royals hope that there are some young bats that can turn this organization around quicker than expected. Power. He is giving you nearly a homer a week. It starts with a 49% hard-hit rate combined with a 43% fly ball rate. Then you see a .632 slugging and then all you need is a decent contact rate (70%). If O’Hearn can keep his 15% walk rate and a 27% strikeout rate, he can be a quality producer on your fantasy squad.
Like a couple of other players this week, O’Hearn will spend a full slate on the road. He will head to Pittsburgh and Detroit this week, where he will face off against five righties and two lefties. He will enjoy that schedule as he is batting .360 with nine homers and 23 RBI against right-handed pitchers. VERY IMPORTANT: Do not leave him in your starting lineup against the two left-handers. He is only hitting .032 in 31 at-bats.
Tyler White (1B, HOU) 50% owned
White is right on the line, but why? How greedy are fantasy managers if they are not happy with the performance he provides. In the last 14 days, White has one homer with 11 RBI to go with a .286 batting average. He has a schedule of six games at home with a series against the Mariners before the Angels come into town. Currently, the schedule has him facing three righties, two lefties, and an Angels pitcher to be identified later. We have gone through this before, it doesn’t really matter who he faces. He is hitting .298 against right-handers and .315 against left-handers. What else do you need?
Let’s play the Fantasy Dating Game. I’m looking for a fantasy manager that likes a .304/.382/.613 slash line. I have very little problems getting to first base with my 11% walk rate. Like everyone else, I have my rough patches with a 20% strikeout rate. I usually do what I set out to do and only have a 6.4% swinging strikeout rate. If you like what you’re hearing, pull back the curtains and give Tyler White a big ol’ hug. Get him on your rosters.
Luke Voit (1B, NYY) 29% owned
Voit has slowed down in the past week, batting only .222 in the last seven days. However, let’s not forget how he was doing prior to that. In the last 30 days, he is still hitting .333 with seven homers and 15 RBI. Voit’s slash line of .290/.377/.570 is still quite attractive. He has a decent plate discipline and only chases balls outside the zone 28% of the time.
Voit will enjoy playing the whole week at home against the Red Sox and Orioles. During those games, he will face four right-handed pitchers and two lefties. If you have the luxury of streaming Voit, play him against the lefties. He is batting .304 against them at home. Though he is batting .288 against righties, he only has a .200 average against them at home.
Matt Davidson (1B/3B, CWS) 30% owned
Davidson shot out of the gates to start the season. He had nine homers with 18 RBI in March and April. However, since then he only has 11 homers in the rest of the season combined. He is dedicated to the fly ball revolution with a 47% rate. Although he doesn’t have an extremely high hard-hit rate, 39% is still well enough to produce some serious results.
Davidson missed four games recently due to a calf injury but should have no issues when the week begins. The White Sox only has six games on the schedule, with three games in Cleveland before returning home to face the Cubs. He will face four righties and two left-handed pitchers. You’ll need to stream to satisfy your team needs. If you need power, then play him against righties where he has 15 homers this year. If you just need a little better batting average then start him against left-handed pitchers, where he is hitting .294. Davidson should be reserved for those deep deep leagues.
