If you're looking to make a big splash on the waiver wire right now, your top choice should obviously be Royals first base prospect Vinnie Pasquantino, who we learned will be called up Monday following the trade of Carlos Santana to the Mariners. Pasquantino isn't guaranteed to be a star, but as I wrote Monday, his contact-heavy approach paired with plus power makes him a pretty good bet to be a solid contributor – and possibly a difference maker.
Of course, if you miss out on Pasquantino, you may still find yourself in need of some help on the wire, either in the form of long-term help as a Bryce Harper replacement – his thumb injury will require surgery – or to replace Jesse Winker after he was suspended seven games for his role in the Angels-Mariners brawl Sunday.
Here's who I'd be looking to add coming out of Monday's action:
Yepez got off to a hot start to his major-league career, sporting a .945 OPS in his first 14 games, then slumped to the tune of a .584 mark over his next 20 games. His quality of contact metrics took a dive during that stretch, but he's been heating up of late, and he hit two home runs over 100 mph Monday, his first multi-homer game in the majors. Yepez is hitting .326 with five homers over his past 13 games and actually profiles somewhat similarly to Pasquantino. He's not a bad consolation prize if Pasquantino is already rostered in your league.
| ||||||
What more does Garcia need to do to prove he deserves to be more widely rostered? He had three batted balls over 102 mph during Monday's three-hit game, and while he's been a little light on over-the-fence pop, he continues to hit the ball well despite an aggressive approach that has seen him walk just once in 101 plate appearances. Garcia has a swing geared for batting average with an all-fields approach and no pop-ups so far this season, and the quality of contact suggests he should at least provide average power moving forward. At just 22, Garcia looks like he's a potential breakout star who isn't getting the credit he deserves from Fantasy players.
| ||||||
Of course, it's kind of easy for interesting young players to get lost in the shuffle because there are quite a few of them out there on the wire at any given moment right now. We're still waiting for Kirilloff to make an impact at the major-league level the way he has in the minors, but maybe Monday's three-hit game can be the start of something. He had a couple of hard-hit balls Monday and now has a very strong 53.3% hard-hit rate in the majors this season, and he has just seven strikeouts in 36 plate appearances since returning from the minors, and if he continues to hit the ball hard while avoiding strikeouts, the production will come. He remains a potential difference maker.
| ||||||
And then you have someone like Cooper, who is hitting .293/.371/.467 over the past three seasons, right in line with his overall production so far this season. He doesn't have big pop thanks to a line-drive heavy approach, but Cooper's underlying metrics back up his strong batting average and he just keeps hitting, going 3 for 4 with a double in a game the Marlins were shut out. Injuries have kept Cooper off the field more often than not over the years, but he's healthy right now and is a solid starter in five-outfielder leagues.
| ||||||
