Stephen Piscotty: Deep Waiver Wire
By Brad Kelly
Going into the 2015 season the St. Louis Cardinals appeared to have enough starting outfielders to field two teams. After the trade to being Jason Heyward in, the Cards had five starting caliber outfielders for only three spots.
At the onset it seemed like a good problem to have but, as is the case with most sports, you cannot predict injuries and the Cards are far to well familiar with the injury bug this season.
The first domino to fall was Jon Jay, who hurt his wrist in late June and has now found himself on the DL since July 1. The next, and biggest domino to fall, was Matt Holliday suffering a devastating hamstring injury that may have him on the shelf for the rest of 2015.
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After Holliday’s injury the Cardinals needed to act fast, so they handed the reigns over to Randal Grichuk and he has been one of the better fantasy finds of the season. But, on Monday the Cards were struck yet again by the injury bug, and Grichuk is on now on the DL with an elbow injury. Leaving them even thinner before.
However, though we never want an injury to spur a great opportunity, Stephen Piscotty now steps right into an everyday starting role, and fantasy owners need to start to make note of his presence.
Piscotty was the Cardinals first round pick in 2012, and since that time he has risen the top prospects list to be firmly ranked in the Top 100. Piscotty is a well-balanced player who may not really have one great skill set, but manages to do just about everything well.
In the minors Psiscotty has never hit lower than .270 across any of his three seasons. He has shown some pop hitting 15 homers in 2013 and 11 this season before his call up.
Unlike a lot of teams, when the Cards bring up a prospect I fell confident that they are going to be able to produce, because of the St. Louis’s esteemed track record for player development.
Stephen Piscotty has only 91 plate appearances in 2015, but his stat line reads well, .341/1 HR/11 RBI/11 Runs/.880 OPS. It is a small sample size, but Piscotty seems to have shown across all levels, that he is a good hitter.
I also like that he has recently is a hot stretch over the last seven days that has seen him go 10 for 27, with a homer and 3 RBI. He is showing that he can stick in the big leagues and can fill their outfield void.
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Another added benefit is that the Cards have been slotting him mainly in the middle of the lineup, driving up his counting stats. They have even put him in the two hole as well, showing that they have confidence in him to perform well in whatever role they ask.
Piscotty is a great example of deep waiver wire steal, because people have more or less deemed him as just another replacement level player. When in fact, he is outperforming that designation and could be a great OF5 or even UTIL guy for most squads.
Stephen Piscotty has playing time and early performance going for him. As he continues to succeed, he will slowly but surely start to be become more and more popular amongst other owners. Astute owners will see that he is trending up and appreciate potential, therefore act now before anyone else has the chance to get acclimated with Piscotty’s skill.