Fantasy Baseball: Five Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 2

Could your fantasy baseball team need a boost? Here are five guys to target for week two.

Week one of the baseball season is in the books as well as week one of the fantasy baseball season. You are either happy about how your team did or want to make a couple of moves to shake things up because those early picks had a bad first week.  Remember, Anthony Rizzo won’t hit .160 forever. Mookie Betts won’t hit .167 forever either (though that flu bug probably had something to do with that). Nomar Mazara won’t hit .417 with nine RBI every week either. It’s all about finding that happy medium.

It also doesn’t mean that players who are off to good starts are a mirage. It could be their breakout season if they are a young player, or a return to form for a player who may have struggled. Sometimes that free agent pickup may help boost your team to a championship.

Are any of these guys that? Probably not, but they could be better than a late round guy you grabbed taking a flyer, or a player who could help you out as an injury replacement for someone now on the DL or currently day-to-day like Matt Kemp and Stephen Piscotty.

Here are five guys you should take a chance on right now to help your team this week and even moving forward this season.

OF – Mitch Haniger

Owned in 20% of ESPN leagues and 22% of Yahoo Leagues

Haniger was the other piece the Mariners got in the Jean Segura/Taijuan Walker trade to boost their offense, but Haniger may be the sleeper of the entire deal. Last year for the Diamondbacks’ AA and AAA clubs he hit .321 with 25 homers. He came up and hit five homers in 34 games for the Diamondbacks last season.

Haniger only hit .214 last week, but he also hit three homers and stole a base for the Mariners. In a lineup that features sluggers like Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager and on a team that’s off to a slow start, Haniger may get some opportunities.

He’s going to get a chance to hit for the Mariners all season long with Ben Gamel in AAA so far and Jarrod Dyson and Guillermo Heredia spending time in left field. Haniger is guy who has some pop and may be a nice guy to grab early before he becomes a more popular add later on.

SS – Chris Owings

Owned in 26% of ESPN Leagues, 37% of Yahoo Leagues

You don’t want to pay for saves if you can avoid it in fantasy baseball and you don’t want to pay for speed if you can avoid it either, because you can always find it down the line. Enter the Diamondbacks shortstop, who is also outfield eligible. Claiming a guy who can play multiple positions is always a plus.

Owings hit .360 with a homer, drove in five and stole four bases in the first week of the season. Look, he’s not going to do this all year, but he has the starting position moving forward, and if he shows that he can take a walk or two in a lineup with a healthy A.J. Pollock, Paul Goldschmidt and Jake Lamb, he could be a nice piece for your fantasy club.

He’s entering his age-25 season, and last year he led the NL in triples with 11 and stole 21 bases in 119 games.

This may be a case of guy who’s putting it all together, and if that’s the case, you can grab him now while his ownership rate isn’t super high and plug him in at either position and see what happens.

SP – Brandon Finnegan

Owned in 65% of Yahoo leagues, 51% of ESPN Leagues

Finnegan made history in 2014, pitching in the College World Series and the World Series in 2014. In 2015, Finnegan was one of the big pieces of the trade that made Johnny Cueto a Royal. Now, Finnegan is a part of the Reds rotation.

He went 10-11 in 31 starts with a 3.98 ERA. His second half numbers were what you should pay attention to. His K/9 rate went up from 6.48 to 9.17 in the second half. His WHIP dropped from 1.41 to 1.29.  He, like a lot of young pitchers, struggled the third time through the order, but there’s no reason to think that that can’t get better this season.

In his first start against the Phillies, he fired seven shutout innings, getting the win and striking out nine. He goes into his next start today against the Pirates, which will be more of a test for him. However, if you have a starter that you took a flyer on late who didn’t look good, go add Finnegan now.

RP – Brandon Kintzler

Owned in 61% of Yahoo leagues, 33% of ESPN leagues

Do you have Jeurys Familia, who’s going to be out for another week and a half, or are you just looking for another closer? Head up to Minnesota and grab Brandon Kintzler. Glen Perkins is on the DL and isn’t coming back for a while so you may as well grab Kintzler to get some saves for your fantasy baseball team.

Kintzler recorded 17 saves last year for the Twins and chalked up three last week as the Twins have gotten off to an excellent start this season. He’s not a big strikeout guy. He only struck out 35 in 54.1 innings last season, but this is another reason why you don’t pay for saves in a draft when you can grab closers later down the road.

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Next: MLB Week One Power Rankings

Look, we don’t know how good the Twins are going to be. (Though they can’t be as bad as they were last season, can they?) What we do know is that if they are going to win games, they can be close, and if you need another closer, grab Kintzler.

There you have it. Five guys who can help deepen your fantasy baseball lineup. Good luck in week two and the rest of the season.