Waiver Wire: Is Nick Castellanos Coming Alive?
By Brad Kelly
Jul 21, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers third baseman
Nick Castellanos(9) hits a home run in the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Nick Castellanos was a popular rookie sleeper pick heading into the 2014 season. But, after a pretty underwhelming season, .259 AVG/11 HR/66 RBI, he found himself being largely undrafted going into 2015.
While I will concede that his 2015 campaign has not been entirely a great or breakout season, he currently has a.245/10 HR/ 47 RBI line, there have been some positive sign as of late pointing to Castellanos finally breaking out of his early season funk.
Castellanos has always been one the Tigers more touted prospects as he seemed to have the bat and glove to certainly stick at the big league level. I think that fantasy expectations were little to high for him in 2014 though, as most owners fell into the hype trap.
Castellanos may not develop into a high average hitter as some were projecting, but I certainly think that he has some more room to grow power wise and will eventually grow into a middle of the order power bat.
In an otherwise fantasy deficient season, he finds himself on my waiver wire add list because of his recent surge and some positive statistical indications that point to a decent second half stretch. Castellanos, like most young hitters, just has not been able to stay off of pitches outside of the strike zone. His O-Swing%, pitches swung at outside of the strike zone, is up to 36.5% as opposed to the 32.3% in 2014. That for me is the direct correlation for his drop in average and his struggles to maintain decent stats.
With that said there are some positive signs. When looking at what kind of contact he is making, he has still been able to maintain a MedContact% of 55% and 32.5% in the HardContct% categories. Basically, when he has been able to not chase breaking balls, he has been able to square up pitches in the zone and make good contact.
From a monthly standpoint, he has struggled every month but July. While that is not very encouraging, we are just judging him from here on out. Castellanos’s July has been terrific, .286/6 HR/19 RBI, and his current seven game surge is major reason.
Over the last seven games Castellanos has mashed for a, .308/4 HR/9 RBI line. Now I am not one to chase crazy weeks because they are nearly impossible to maintain, but Castellanos’ peripherals point to that he can maintain this uptick in power, ultimately being what we are looking for in a CI pickup.
I like Castellanos as a waiver wire pickup due to these reasons and the fact that he will still have a favorable spot in the lineup. With Dave Dombrowski basically declaring that Tigers are not going to be sellers, it should mean that the core of the Tigers lineup should stay intact, helping his counting stats even more.
Castellanos has been back and forth in sixth and seventh slot in the lineup with the likes of Yoenis Cespedes, J.D. Martinez and Victor Martinez batting in front leaving him plenty of RBI opportunities.
Fantasy owners should not chase the ungodly stat line that Castellanos posted over the last week, but he certainly deserves a look as a waiver wire option. He is only one homer away from tying his career high of 10. I hold that if Castellanos maintains a more patient approach at the plate, he should have no problem flirting with the 20 HR mark, by the time the season ends. Making him an ideal pickup down the stretch.