Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Matt Dominguez

Matt Dominguez will make good use of the short left field porch at his home park.

Photo courtesy of baseballoogie

The Houston Astros are not quite the laughing stocks that everyone thought they would be. On Wednesday they scored six runs in the top of the ninth to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-1 and avoid a sweep. One of the biggest reasons for their come from behind prowess is their ability to park balls in the seats.

A big factor in the Astros’ run production is Matt Dominguez, who brings raw power from the third base position. Right now, he is on a 25 HR, 80 RBI pace.

He has the pedigree of the 12th overall choice in the 2007 draft by the Florida Marlins. The Astros traded for his power bat in a swap that involved Carlos Lee at the trade deadline last season.

Currently he is batting .230, which is a drag on most teams overall batting averages. While he will never hit for a high average at the MLB levelm Dominguez will bring you a lot of cheap power from a scarce third base position.

His average has some upside this season. His BABIP stands at .236. There is room for improvement because of what he has shown in the past. He had a BABIP of .299 in 113 at-bats with the Astros last season. His minor league BABIP, when he received substantial at-bats, stayed in a range between .270-.290 which is considerably higher than his current level in 2013.

His .256 OBP will make you hesitant, but you are not picking him up for OBP. If you are in an OBP league Matt Dominguez is not for you.

His contact rate is at an average 82.7%. Pitchers have figured out how to get him out by throwing him a steady diet of sliders and cutters. He has negative runs above averages per 100 pitches when thrown a slider or a cutter.

He will not be a savior in all categories for your team. Those guys are few and far between this time of season on the waiver wire. Everyone is in need of homeruns and RBI this time of year, and playing a shallow third base position is an added bonus.

If you have players who can pick up the slack in the average department he is a sure fire pick up. He should hit higher than his current .230 as his BABIP should pick up in the second half of the season.

Owners who have a tendency to knock players on bad teams usually don’t win championships. There is always a bargain to be had on a bad team.

Give Matt Dominguez a shot and watch your power totals increase for your team.