We’re back to help you crush your fantasy baseball competition by highlighting some hot players to snag off the waiver wire. For a player to qualify for this article, they’ll need to be available in at least 50% of Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues. For deep league players, one of these third basemen sits on the wire in 90% of fantasy baseball leagues.
Jose Reyes, Mets (30% owned)
Reyes’ ownership figures cratered early in the season when he ended April with a .174/.260.302 slash line with a .194 BABIP. In May, he’s gotten that all the way up to .233/.294/.400. Still not great, but he still has an absurdly low .200 BABIP, which is over 100 points below his career average. Over the last two weeks, however, Reyes is rocking a .306 batting average with three home runs, three stolen bases and twelve a piece runs & RBI. He finally bounced back from his dismal start to the season, which saw his average dip as low as .095 on April 22 before turning it on. He’s been on a hot pace, and as his BABIP normalizes, he will continue to roll.
Ryan Schimpf, San Diego (23% owned)
The multi-position Schimpf was a hot sleeper candidate going into the year, but he failed to live up to expectations early. He started off slow but has turned it on lately. He leads second basemen in home runs over the couple weeks, and he is the #6 ranked second baseman in that span. That’s not a super fluke, either. He’s absolutely selling out for fly balls, hitting a whopping 69.5% of his balls in the air. His 22% HR/FB rate is off the charts, but even if that regresses, that insane fly ball rate will sustain power production.
Christian Arroyo, San Francisco (9% owned)
The Giants called up their top hitting prospect on April 24, and since then, he’s continued his torrid pace he started in the Pacific Coast League. This season, Arroyo is hitting for more power than he ever has in his career. Originally chalked up to the PCL’s hitter-friendly environs. He started off hot, as well, smacking three home runs in his first 61 plate appearances. While his 22% HR/FB rate indicates that will not hold up, Arroyo should heat up in the batting average department. His .270 BABIP drags down his average to a paltry .228. He’s hitting very few balls softly, which means his BABIP, and then his average should straighten out. The Giants’ anemic offense sadly drives him down. His three home runs account for half of his runs and RBI (six apiece) going into Wednesday’s action.