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This week’s corner infielders to target for fantasy baseball have a little bit of old and a little bit of new, so let’s get right to our four recommended waiver wire adds.
Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Week 7 corner infield targets
Carlos Santana, 1B, Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster percentage: 21.7%
The Pirates’ joyride through the early part of the 2023 season hit a bit of a bump in the road this week, but Santana is still worth a look — particularly if you’re in need of help in the RBI category. The first baseman’s 30-homer days are likely behind him, but he’s making very good contact right now and, most importantly, is locked into a cleanup spot every day that has him on pace to knock in 100 runs this year. Plus, kicking in a couple steals doesn’t hurt, does it?
LaMonte Wade Jr., 1B/OF, San Francisco Giants
Roster percentage: 8.7%
Wade became a late-night sensation during the Giants’ dream 2021 season, and after an injury-ravaged 2022 he’s back with a vengeance this season. Wade leads off regularly against righties and has already popped six homers with a steal so far with 12 runs scored. He’s mashed righties his entire career, and while he won’t start every single day, his production should compensate for the occasional benching against a lefty.
Matt Mervis, 1B, Chicago Cubs
Roster percentage: 7.5%
Welcome to the Show, finally! Mervis knocked in a run with his first career hit on Friday against the Miami Marlins, and David Ross has already committed to the top prospect being in the lineup every day — they didn’t bring him up from Triple-A just to ride the bench. Mervis showed massive power and a surprisingly good feel for hitting in the Minors, and he should be a major factor in a solid Cubs lineup.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B, Cincinnati Reds
Roster percentage: 1.5%
Encarnacion-Strand is hitting the bejeezus out of the ball in Triple-A right now, and the only reason he’s not up in Cincy already is due to service time manipulation. The Reds could’ve used him in their infield yesterday — they’ve taken to starting Spencer Steer at first with Wil Myers and Joey Votto out — and if he keeps hitting like this it’s only a matter of time.
In his last 22 G of any sort (spring training + AAA), Christian Encarnacion-Strand has gone 34 for 70 with 11 HR, 4 2B, 3B, 27 ribbies and 18 R.
— wick e. pedia (@wickterrell) May 5, 2023
One (1) BB and 12 K in that stretch, but [/flexes arm, taps bicep] I don't give a crap about that part.
I’m still somewhat skeptical that Encarnacion-Strand will hit enough to get his prodigious power into games, but he’s cut his strikeout rate to just 15.6%, and if that number is for real, he could make a lot of noise.