MLB Week 20 Hitting Waiver Wire: The Return Of Luke Voit
| Name | Position | Team | ESPN Own % |
|---|---|---|---|
| C.J. Cron | 1B | Colorado Rockies | 54.9 |
| Abraham Toro | 3B, 2B | Seattle Mariners | 38.1 |
| César Hernández | 2B | Chicago White Sox | 52.9 |
| Jack Mayfield | 3B | Los Angeles Angels | 2.1 |
| Luke Voit | 1B | New York Yankees | 66.5 |
1. C.J. Cron | 1B | Colorado Rockies
A waiver wire post staple in 2021, it’s about time somebody in just about every league rosters C.J. Cron and leaves him there for the rest of the season. In 358 plate appearances, Cron has a .255/.366/.487 slash line with 48 runs, 18 home runs, 60 RBIs, one stolen base, and a 76-to-44 strikeout-to-walk ratio. More importantly, Cron has been even better lately. Since the beginning of August, he has posted a .387/.486/.806 slash line with nine runs, four home runs, 17 RBIs, and a 5-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Maintaining a 1.000+ OPS with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of one is nothing to scoff at. Cron has been pretty darn good and deserves to be putting up points on somebody’s roster rather than being wasted away on the waiver wire.
2. Abraham Toro | 3B, 2B | Seattle Mariners
Toro was never quite able to live up to the sky-high expectations he set for himself with his monstrous numbers in AAA. First debuting for the Astros at age 22 in 2019, Toro just hasn’t been very good. However, since being traded to the Mariners at the deadline, something seems to have clicked. It’s still a small sample size, but Toro has been red-hot with Seattle. In 59 plate appearances, Toro has a .373/.458/.647 slash line with 10 runs, three home runs, seven RBIs, one stolen base, and a 6-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He may not keep this up, but he’s hitting too well right now to leave off fantasy rosters.
3. César Hernández | 2B | Chicago White Sox
Another familiar name on waiver wire lists is Cleveland’s César Hernández. Oh wait! He plays for the White Sox now. With Chicago losing Madrigal for the year (and then trading him away anyway), they needed a viable second baseman for their pennant push this fall. Enter César Hernández. While he’s not putting up spectacular numbers or anything, when you mix his production with the White Sox lineup, good things should happen. So far on the year, Hernández is slashing .236/.316/.430 with 68 runs, 20 home runs, 50 RBIs, and a 99-to-46 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The slash line isn’t spectacular. However, he’s been hitting even better lately and now gets the benefit of hitting in the loaded White Sox lineup.
4. Jack Mayfield | 3B | Los Angeles Angels
For those deeper leagues out there, here’s a player that is owned in less than 5% of all leagues. Jack Mayfield, The Angel’s 2021 solution for losing Anthony Rendon for the rest of the year. Overall this year, and for his entire short MLB career really, Mayfield’s numbers do not look particularly great. However, he’s on a nice little hot streak lately. In the month of August, Mayfield is slashing .250/.308/.556 with four runs, three home runs, six RBIs, one stolen base, and a 10-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. For those out there that are really needing to deep dive on the waiver wire right now, pick him up and ride this out. Anybody putting up an .850+ OPS for any stretch of time is worth giving a shot on their roster.
5. Luke Voit | 1B | New York Yankees
Yeah, yeah, Luke Voit is so 2019/2020 and Anthony Rizzo is now the Yankees’ starting first baseman. Hear me out, though. Since being activated from his rehab assignment, Luke Voit has started every game at first base. I understand that Rizzo was placed on the COVID list and is expected back next week, but the point being here that tight rosters usually find a way to work themselves out in baseball. I’d be willing to bet that one way or another, Voit will find himself on the lineup almost every day. Keep in mind we’re talking about somebody with a career .866 OPS in over 1000 career plate appearances.
