Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: Week 7

April is over, and we are just over a month into the regular season. The sample sizes are lengthening, and the injuries are piling up. Week 7 is upon us, and we dive into the week’s best adds, and names to keep an eye on moving forward. 12+ team leagues are going to differ a little bit just due to the player pool selection being limited.

Infielders

C.J. Cron – 1B – 19% Owned

C.J. Cron has eight home runs this season, but that .299 OBP has killed him a bit in the fantasy world. However, he is at least in the 65th percentile in xBA, Hard Hit %, xwOBA, and xSLG. He is also barreling up the baseball at a career high, and his strikeout rate is cut down from the 25% during the last two seasons. Cron has made strides in a few key areas at the plate, but some categories haven’t hit yet. With the Twins bats firing on all cylinders right now, Cron is going to be in a top ten offense for the rest of the season. Let’s not forget this is the guy who hit 30 HR last season after finally surpassing 500 PA.

Eric Sogard – 2B/SS – 16% Owned

Not the most exciting player in the world, as he looks to be more in line with playing E-Sports than baseball. Eric Sogard has bounced around the league, but has earned himself a job in Toronto. Leading off most nights, Sogard is a fine middle infield pick up. He has four home runs, although that is not what he is known for. The juiced baseballs might help out a bit there. He is in the 71st percentile in xBA, backing up his .310 average this season. He also has over a .400 OBP. Sogard has a 14% walk rate this season, and 10% strikeout rate. He doesn’t make hard-contact, but a plus contact bat will find his way on base.

Outfielders

Josh Reddick – OF – 18% Owned

Josh Reddick is hitting in the bottom of the order out in Houston, which isn’t a bad offense to hit in the bottom of the order of. He has a .331/.383.441 slashing line to start the season. He has a .305 xBA and 11% strikeout rate this season. His xBA is 91st percentile in the majors already, and he is around league average in xwOBA and xSLG. Reddick had a down 2019 hitting just .242 with less than 50 RBI and runs, but the year before he was a quality fantasy outfielder. He is a fine outfielder to round out an outfield or at least stick on your bench. I found it odd he was this low, but this is an insanely deep position of course.

Leury Garcia – OF – 19% Owned

Leury Garcia is a 28-year-old switch hitting outfielder, who can bring some SB to the table. He has five this season, and is in the 75th percentile in sprint speed. He is hitting .290 this season, but signs point towards some regression. Garcia has the advantage of leading off for Chicago, and that is always good correlation with fantasy production. On pace for 20+ stolen bases and 119 runs, this isn’t a bad way to go for a fill-in option. Not a sexy bat with power, but if you are in need of stolen bases and runs, he can chip in.

Pitchers

Brandon Woodruff – SP, RP – 43% Owned

Brandon Woodruff has been solid this season, with a 3.27 xFIP and 29.7% strikeout rate. His control is solid with a 6.6% walk rate. Woodruff struggles a little bit with left-handed hitters, but still has a 25% strikeout rate against them. Righties he handles well, as they have just a .263 wOBA and .066 ISO off him this season. Woodruff is striking out right-handers at a 33% clip. Woodruff brings you above average strikeouts, and the .385 BABIP is way too high. His ERA should start to climb down closer to his ERA estimators. He has allowed one earned run in each of his last three starts, and outside of the Dodgers start, he has looked great. He won’t go deep into games, but 5-6 innings with above average strikeouts will certainly help out your team.

Kyle Gibson – SP – 23% Owned

The Twins have a few arms in the middle of the rotation that are fantasy relevant, yet Kyle Gibson is the only one lesser owned. He has a 3.40 xFIP and a 24.5% strikeout rate that climbed after last start. He is holding right-handers to a .275 wOBA and .060 ISO this season. Hitters have less than a 70% contact rate against him, and his first pitch strike sits at 67%. Gibson has a 59% whiff rate on his slider, and a 46% whiff rate on his changeup. It doesn’t stop there, as his curve has a 38% whiff rate. He has excellent off-speed stuff, and we finally saw him put it all too work against Toronto. He has a 50% groundball rate, and has allowed three earned runs or less in five of seven starts.