We are over halfway through August, but there’s still six weeks of the regular season to go in major league baseball. This is the stretch run for fantasy baseball teams trying to make their league’s playoffs and take home that league title. Today, I’m going to look at six guys who are available in 70% or more of Yahoo fantasy baseball leagues that I think could be great additions to your squad down the stretch. I’m only recommending players who are 30% owned or less because I hate reading articles that recommend players who are 50 or even 60% owned in leagues. If you play in a competitive league, those players simply aren’t on your waiver wire and it’s not helpful. Here are my favorite six hitters to snag off the wire. Hopefully, they are still out there as free agents in your league.
Anthony Santander (OF) – Baltimore Orioles
29% Owned in Yahoo leagues
Santander has been a nice surprise for the Orioles in the second half of the year. He’s now hitting .297 in 239 plate appearances and has settled into the 3-hole for the Orioles. He’s a switch hitter who has shown some nice power with 11 homers this year and 15 doubles. The 24-year outfielder should continue to hit near the middle of the order for Baltimore the rest of the way and has 3 homers in his last 10 games. Camden Yards is a great park for hitters, especially in the hot and humid weather during August and September.
Corey Dickerson (OF) – Philadelphia Phillies
29% Owned in Yahoo leagues
I was sad to see Dickerson depart from my beloved Buccos, but I am happy for him that he gets to be in a pennant race with the Phillies. He missed a good chunk of time earlier in the year which has kept his overall season numbers down, but when he’s been healthy he’s been hitting the ball well. Since arriving in Philadelphia he’s swatted three homers and driven in 10 runs in only 10 games. Philadelphia badly needs another good left-handed power bat and the injury to Jay Bruce that has lingered means Dickerson should continue to get regular playing time down the stretch. He’s been hitting in the top half of a Philly lineup that has been resurgent lately and plays his home games in a park that is great for left-handed power hitters.
Carson Kelly (C) – Arizona Diamondbacks
23% Owned in Yahoo leagues
With 17 homers on the season, Carson Kelly has the eighth-most of any catch in baseball. What’s really impressive is that he’s cracked that many long balls in only 243 at-bats as he’s been in a timeshare with Alex Avila for Arizona. However, Kelly has been earning more time in the Diamondbacks lineup due to his power surge. His .893 OPS is second only to Mitch Garver among catchers and he continues to impress with his ability to draw walks (33) and make contact (only 55 strikeouts). The catcher position is always a tough position in fantasy baseball because of the lack of depth and it’s tough to roster guys who don’t get the majority of starts behind the plate in weekly leagues. But Kelly is a guy I’d take a good look at as he is earning more starts with his stellar hitting.
Mike Yastrzemski (OF) – San Francisco Giants
23% Owned in Yahoo leagues
I couldn’t get this article done fast enough! In the time that I started writing this article to the time that I finished it, Yaz hit three more homers in one game! Yastrzemski has easily been the Giants best hitter over the last month, posting a .297/.363/.681 slash line with 9 homers. He’s been hitting in the leadoff spot or the two-hole and I don’t expect him to remain this low-owned for long. The Giants home park isn’t the best for hitters, but they do have series in Wrigley Field and Arizona coming up again this month and an awesome road trip to Fenway and Sun Trust Park, two great hitters’ parks, late in the season.
Kyle Seager (3B) – Seattle Mariners
20% Owned in Yahoo leagues
Kyle Seager was not fantasy-relevant for much of the 2019 season but is one of the hotter hitters in baseball recently. The Mariners third-basemen is slashing .337/.400/.698 over the last month with eight homers and 19 RBI. He’s finally healthy after missing a big chunk of the season and making up for lost time. Seager has been a 20-30 home run guy during his career and is finally rounding back into form with 14 homers in only 244 plate appearances. He recently moved into the cleanup spot for Seattle and he’s poised for a big finish to the season. If he keeps up this hot streak, he won’t be available in your league for long and this type of power isn’t usually very easy to find on the wire.
Josh VanMeter (2B, 3B, OF) – Cincinnati Reds
17% Owned in Yahoo leagues
Josh VanMeter has come out of nowhere to be a potential impact player for fantasy teams as the rookie is posting some solid numbers for the Reds since being called up in July. The light-hitting utility man had never posted any significant power numbers until this season at AAA when he hit 14 homers in only 211 plate appearances and now has 4 homers in his first 137 plate appearances for Cincinnati. He’s been a valuable, versatile player for the Reds and has been in the lineup more consistently since the departure of Yaseil Puig in the Trevor Bauer trade. VanMeter is getting on base plenty with a .365 OBP and playing his home games in Great American Ballpark he will have a chance to rack up some more home runs even if he does lack power as plenty of long fly balls end up turning into cheap home runs in that stadium.
I’ll continue to keep looking at trends, players, and stats the rest of MLB season with the goal of unearthing some data that we can use to our advantage. If you’re not a premium member at FantasyData, click here and consider joining today! FantasyData is the leader in all things fantasy sports including real-time fantasy stats for your season-long and DFS needs!
