After week 20 of the 2017 MLB season, half of the six divisions have teams still in contention for the top spot. The other three divisions – the American League West, National League East, and NL West – led by the Houston Astros, Washington Nationals, and Los Angeles Dodgers respectively, appear to be comfortably locked up. However, the current division leaders in the AL East and Central – the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians – both lead their respective divisions by 5.0 games, while the Chicago Cubs lead of 2.0 games in the NL Central represent the smallest margin of all six divisions. With a recap of the standings to-date, here is a look at the best waiver wire pickups for week 21.
Eddie Rosario, OF, Minnesota Twins
Eddie Rosario has been solid all year, posting a .302/.341/.505 slash line so far with 16 HR, 46 RBI, 56 R, and 27 2B. Rosario has really heated up during the second half of the season, slashing .336/.379/.619 while winning AL Player of the Week Honours on August 14th. During that week, Rosario went 12 for 27 with 4 HR, 9 RBI, 10 R, and 3 2B – a very impressive stretch. Additionally, he has also recorded a hit in five straight games and hit safely in eight of his last nine games. For those individuals looking for a boost in the outfield, Rosario could be your man.
Mikie Mahtook, OF, Detroit Tigers
Mikie Mahtook has also conjured up a solid campaign in limited games this season for the Detroit Tigers, posting a slash line to-date of .303/.364/.458 with a .368 BABIP. While Mahtook had a relatively slow start during the first half of the season, similar to Rosario, he has also heated up during the season half – .333/.408/.553 with a .387 BABIP, 5 HR, 13 RBI, and 25 R in only 32 games started. It also helps that he is currently hitting second for the Tigers, which should allow him to see plenty of at-bats moving forward.
The Tigers are out of it, which should give an opportunity to guys like Mahtook. They enter the week in fourth place in the American League Central with a record of 54-69. They are currently 14.5 games out of first place in the division and 9.5 back in the Wild Card.
Randal Grichuk, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
A third outfielder makes our list this week in Randal Grichuk. After a poor first half in which Grichuk slashed .215/.270/.408, he has really picked it up after the All-Star break – .317/.349/.604 with a .394 BABIP, 6 HR, 16 RBI, and 16 R in only 25 games started. The Cardinals badly needed an offensive boost and as a streaky hitter, Grichuk’s performance as of late could not have come at a better time. However, one area of concern surrounds Grichuk’s 27% strikeout rate, which raises some concerns regarding his ability to maintain his current second half numbers. In the short-term, Grichuk still qualifies as a good player to pick up.
The Cardinals continue to fight it out in the National League Central. They enter the week in third place at 63-61. However, they are only 3.5 games out of first place. We’ll see if they can keep up the fight as we move into the final month of the season.
Cory Spangenberg, 2B/3B/OF, San Diego Padres
In addition to Cory Spangenberg’s solid 2017 season, his positional flexibility is another appealing factor. So far this year, Spangenberg has posted a slash line of .278/.331/.434. While he has fallen off slightly after the All-Star break, he should continue to maintain decent production moving forward for the remainder of the regular season. With a career-best 29.8% hard-hit ball rate and a 15.1% soft-hit ball rate, Spangenberg has been able to consistently receive playing time, usually in the outfield, while batting in the middle of the lineup. While Spangenberg is not great at any of his positions, his flexibility does help his case as the San Diego Padres will miss the playoffs for yet another year.
The Padres are in the midst of a tumultuos season as they are 55-69. Only four other teams in the National League have less wins than them. They are an incredible 33 games out of first place in the National League West.
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