Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: Justin Upton, Jonathan Schoop Highlight Week 13 Adds (June 18)

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: Justin Upton, Jonathan Schoop Highlight Week 13 Adds (June 18) article feature image
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Norm Hall/Getty Images. Pictured: Justin Upton.

Cody Bellinger’s return to the IL has me doubting his fantasy viability the rest of this season.

His fractured tibia was a freak injury, but lasting two weeks before his hamstring injury puts his chances of being relevant this season in doubt. I say this as someone who drafted Bellinger as my first-round pick and was fortunate to double up on Dodgers outfielders.

That's not the case for most players who drafted the 2019 NL MVP and have been left scrambling to fill even 50% of his fantasy production.

I hope he gets at least one good month of production in 2021 before a strong return in 2022.

Pick Them Up

Justin Upton — OF, Los Angeles Angels

Yahoo: 60%, ESPN: 63%

Upton has been the biggest benefactor of Mike Trout’s extended absence and is hitting .315/.456/.630 in June. There's plenty June ball remaining, but Upton’s 20.6% walk rate would be his highest in June of his career.

Jonathan Schoop — 1B/2B, Detroit Tigers

Yahoo: 63%, ESPN: 61%

The biggest surprise when looking through Schoop’s numbers is that he's only 29 years old. It feels like he has been in the league for 15 seasons.

Schoop will be a trade chip in one month’s time and could go to a team looking for infield help. Until then, he brings upside that is not tied to luck or a fluky career year.

He's on pace to hit over .270 for a second consecutive season, a would-be first in his career. His previous closest run to that was 2015-17 when he hit .279, .267, and .293, respectively.

Amed Rosario — SS/OF, Cleveland Indians

Yahoo: 53%, ESPN: 51%

Rosario is reaching career highs in average and OBP, and after asking for more stolen bases, he has one in back-to-back series.

He also has multiple multi-hit games over the same period.

Hunter Renfroe — OF, Boston Red Sox

Yahoo: 20%, ESPN: 29%

The Red Sox had only two games this week prior to their weekend series in Kansas City, but the veteran still had four hits, one home run, four RBIs and one walk.

Renfroe will continue to get better pitches to hit in a loaded Red Sox lineup, and the home runs should continue to fly as the weather continues to get warmer.

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Worth A Look

Tyler Naquin — OF, Cincinnati Reds

Yahoo: 59%, ESPN: 72%

Naquin’s production has been up-and-down like the Reds' offense, but his bounce back from a poor 2020 deserves praise. He also has a chance to top his career-high of 116 games played in a season.

Freddy Galvis — 2B/SS, Baltimore Orioles

Yahoo: 22%, ESPN: 33%

Galvis is hitting above his career slash line and has a career-high .753 OPS while owning a .289 BABIP, barely below his average. Galvis is another trade candidate who will take a bigger fantasy hit than Schoop for teams searching for offense-first position players.

Jonathan India — 2B/3B, Cincinnati Reds

Yahoo: 41%, ESPN: 38%

The rookie India has a .780 OPS despite a massive slump and is getting the chance to hit lead-off for the Reds. India has less than a 2:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 30% of his hits have gone for extra bases.

J.P. Crawford — SS, Seattle Mariners

Yahoo: 17%, ESPN: 21%

Crawford has matched his 2019 season-best WAR at 1.3 in 23 fewer games.

His .330 BABIP is a career-high, so I looked at his expected numbers. Crawford’s expected batting average, slugging, and on-base average are all lower than their actual counterparts, but none are alarmingly off.

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Short-Term Solutions

Robbie Grossman — OF, Detroit Tigers

Yahoo: 52%, ESPN: 61%

Grossman has a four-game hitting streak and finishes a series against the Angels before facing a depleted Cardinals rotation.

Steven Duggar — OF, San Francisco Giants

Yahoo: 6%, ESPN: 5%

Duggar had seven hits in the Giants' four-game series against the Diamondbacks and has the Phillies and Angels on tap.

He's been one of the unexpected surprises for a team not expected to be competing in the NL West. Duggar has a .467 BABIP, or else he would be a traditional add.

Jose Iglesias — SS, Los Angeles Angels

Yahoo: 4%, ESPN: 7%

When in the Angels lineup, Iglesias is hitting in the middle of the lineup. Does it make sense? No. Take advantage of the oddity.

I Am Skeptical

Myles Straw — OF, Houston Astros

Yahoo: 16%, ESPN: 12%

Straw is supposed to be a source for stolen bases. Since May 1, he has four. The Astros will be looking for outfield help at the trade deadline.

Jurickson Profar — 1B/2B/OF, San Diego Padres

Yahoo: 20%, ESPN: 28%

I prefer having players attached to good offenses. The Padres' offense is heating up, except for Profar.

He has eight extra-base hits and one homer among his 45 total hits. It's good to see Profar on a three-game hitting streak after going hitless in his previous 10 appearances.

Joc Pederson — OF, Chicago Cubs

Hope you enjoyed Pederson's hot streak. He is 2-for-12 this week and has managed a 14:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in June. Both walks came appropriately on June 2.

Christian Arroyo — 2B/3B, Boston Red Sox

Yahoo: 4%, ESPN: 3%

He did not start either of Boston’s two games this week but managed to hit a grand slam. Fourteen of his 32 hits have gone for extra bases despite him never having more than eight extra-base hits in a season before 2021.

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