Fantasy Baseball 2017: Week 5 Waiver Adds for Each Hitting Category
By Bill Pivetz
With one month in the books, you know where you stand when it comes to your offense. Here are five players to add off the waiver wire for each category.
The first month of the fantasy baseball season is all but done. This is the time to analyze your roster and see where you stand. Our contributor Gavin Tramps wrote a piece highlighting the offensive category leaders here. This piece is going to talk about a player you need to add to get a boost in each major offensive category.
Trying to improve your offense is easier than improving pitching. With offense stats, you want the most in all categories (unless you use strikeouts). On the other hand, there are two pitching categories that you want a low number and one bad outing can destroy that.
There are a few surprising offenses so far. It’s important to know which ones are flukes and which ones you need to capitalize on. If a team that is prone to low run totals is off to a hot start, like the Arizona Diamondbacks or Miami Marlins, you may want to stay away for the rest of the season. You may get nice stats for a week or two but everything regresses back to the mean.
The players I pick will be owned in less than 51 percent of ESPN leagues. Others may be available in your league but these are the ones that will be available to the majority of the readers.
RUNS
Joey Gallo (16 runs)
Gallo is doing a fine job filling in for Adrian Beltre at third base. He is prone to striking out, a lot. He has 27 strikeouts in 69 at-bats. Gallo does have 16 runs, seven home runs and 16 RBI with a .232 average. The runs are what I will focus on here.
Gallo has a .361 on-base percentage. He already has 12 walks with 16 hits. He does have three successful steal attempts, so when he is stealing he’s being smart about it.
It also helps that Elvis Andrus and Shin-Soo Choo are hitting and Choo along with Nomar Mazara and Rougned Odor are driving in base runners, like Gallo.
Gallo is owned in 42.7 percent of leagues, up 29.7 percent over the last week. With no return in sight for Beltre, Gallo will continue to get regular playing time.
HOME RUNS
Scott Schebler (7 home runs)
I could have picked Gallo again, but that doesn’t benefit you in any way. Schebler has almost reached his 2016 home run total of nine. He also has 15 RBI and a .203 average and .280 OBP.
He isn’t making constant contact but when he does, it’s good. Schebler has a 35.2 hard hit rate. With the Cincinnati Reds scoring more runs than expected and Great American Ball Park leaning towards hitter-friendly, Schebler is an attractive option for home runs.
He is owned in just 7.7 percent. If you have a big enough lead in average, then take a chance on Schebler. If not, I would look elsewhere. He is a very streaky hitter, going 7-for-35 in his last nine games.
RBI
Yonder Alonso (14 RBI)
Again, the previous two batters could have fit here as well, but I have to change it up. On an Oakland team that with not a lot of star power, Alonso is driving in runs.
In his last 10 games, he has seven RBI with three homers and a .276 average. As long as the batters in from of him get on base, like Jed Lowrie and Khris Davis, then Alonso will have his chance to hit them in.
Alonso has a 41.3 hard hit rate, which would be the highest since his rookie season in 2010. He also had a 50 percent fly ball rate, 30.4 ground ball rate and 19.6 line drive rate. His 17.4 HR/FB rate is the highest since 2011. If he can continue the hard contact with the fly balls, he’ll be driving in a lot more runs.
Alonso is owned in just 6.1 percent of leagues. He is a deep option at first base and may not be someone you want to start every day, but with the right matchup, he is worth a roster spot.
STEALS
Jarrod Dyson (8 stolen bases)
Stolen bases are a weird category. There are a lot of fast guys in the league but just don’t run. Whether it’s a situational thing or just a managerial thing, who knows but you cannot predict steals.
The only thing you can do is add someone who has the potential to run a lot. Dyson is that guy. He has eight steals in nine attempts. He is second behind Billy Hamilton. For someone with a 214.5 ADP, that’s all he’s supposed to do. Dyson had at least 30 steals in four of his 5 previous seasons.
With the teammates he has around him in Seattle, Dyson will have plenty of opportunities to get on base and run. And, with the demotion of Leonys Martin, Dyson has the starting center field job.
AVG
David Peralta (.341 average)
This one was a tougher to sort. I could have easily talked about a batter who has a .500 average but that same batter could have just 10 at-bats. But adding a part-time batter helps no one. I set the bar to a minimum of 50 at-bats. While I think you should be using OBP, Peralta is a top average contributor.
I know I said the Diamondbacks offense is expected to fall, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have good hitters. My co-expert Brad Kelly recently wrote about Peralta here.
But, to talk specifically about average, Peralta has 10 multi-hit games and two four-hit games. If he can go 2-for-3 every game, he’ll improve your average by the middle of May.
Peralta is owned in a surprisingly 40.2 percent of leagues. That number should be closer to 70 percent. He may not give you power, but getting on base can help you in other areas too.
These five hitters are widely available in ESPN leagues. If they continue their current trends, they will help you improve in all five batting categories. It’s had to find consistent options but with five months left, you need all the help you can get.