Waiver Worthy: Buy Low Candidates Sitting On The Wire (Jurickson Profar & More)

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

When we think about hitting the waiver wire our first thoughts are always grabbing the player who is scorching hot.  However waiting for a player to start producing makes the competition to acquire him that much tougher and having the foresight to buy low and grab a player before he turns it up could be the difference between winning and losing.  As the old adage goes, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, and here are a few potential bargains likely sitting on the wire:

Jurickson Profar – Texas Rangers
It’s easy to sleep on Profar, thinking that he’s all name and no production.  It’s been a miserable start to the season, hitting .143 with 0 HR, 3 RBI and 5 R over 35 AB.  Obviously it’s a small sample size and the underlying numbers do show promise:

• Line Drive Rate – 29.6%
• BABIP – .185
• SwStr% – 6.3%
• O-Swing% – 20.4%

So he’s hitting the ball hard and is showing a strong command of the strike zone, yet he isn’t getting results.  Sooner or later that’s going to change.  Considering his positional flexibility (in most formats he’s eligible at 3B, OF and MI) and the fact that there are AB available (he’s been starting regularly against right-handed pitchers in the outfield), there’s a lot to like.

There’s a hot streak coming, so grab him now before it’s too late.

Domingo Santana – Milwaukee Brewers
He was a hyped sleeper in the preseason, but hasn’t lived up to it once the lights turned on (.193 with 2 HR and 2 SB).  He found himself on the bench yesterday, with Eric Thames playing RF (instead of first base) and for a team rich in outfield prospects Santana needs to turn things around or he’ll be out of a job.

We all know there’s power and speed, the question was always going to be his contact rate.  He has continued to struggle against offspeed pitches (as shown by the Whiff% below), which is an issue, but he’s improved on breaking balls and isn’t chasing outside the zone (25.9% O-Swing%):

• Hard – 10.60%
• Breaking – 8.14%
• Offspeed – 26.09%

Overall is SwStr% is at 9.9%, which is an improvement (13.2%), and we all know the power/speed combination he brings to the table.  Considering his 24.2% strikeout rate (significant improvement), 28.6% line drive rate (26.3% for his career) and .225 BABIP, the upside is fully there.

If someone in your league lost patience, don’t be shy to capitalize and grab him now.

Luis Perdomo – San Diego Padres
Fresh off the DL Perdomo has thrown just 10.1 innings and owns a 6.97 ERA and 1.45 WHIP.  However a lot of that is due to a 51.5% strand rate (and in two starts you know it’s a small sample size).  Over 157.0 innings in the Majors the past two seasons he’s shown the three skills we look for:

• Strikeouts – 6.48 K/9
• Walks – 2.87 BB/9
• Groundballs – 59.5%

There is a little bit more potential in the strikeout potential (7.7 K/9 in the minors) and the other skills play well, especially in Petco Park.  At the worst he’s a streaming option, but he has the potential to be more than that.

Sources – Fangraphs, Brooks Baseball, Baseball Reference

Make sure to check out our Preseason 2017 Prospect Rankings: