Does your fantasy baseball team need an offensive boost? Well, we're here to help. Monday's list of three to add includes a trio of hitters, all of whom are remarkably available in more than 75% of ESPN leagues. Check to see if they're still on the waiver wire in yours and, if so, you probably want to make sure that they're no longer up for grabs by the end of the day.
1) Eric Haase, C, Detroit Tigers: At first glance he seems to be more journeyman than fantasy contributor, as he's a 28-year-old rookie in his second major-league organization, with three seasons of minimal big-league play entering 2021. Nevertheless, Haase has quickly and quietly become one of the more attractive catching adds in fantasy and the No. 3 name at his position (over the last 15 days) on the ESPN Player Rater.
In June alone, he has six home runs. For the season, he has three multi-homer games, which matches Salvador Perez for the most by any catcher-eligible player in 2021. Power has never been a problem for Haase, who hit 29 combined homers between the majors and minors in 2019, 20 in 2018 and 27 in 2017. Rather, it's the 22% line-drive and 56% hard-contact rates which boost his overall profile. These are things that should help inflate his doubles total and keep his batting average above the Mendoza Line. Remember that he's a big swing-and-miss type, and that threatens his success in terms of average.
The Tigers have recognized how important Haase's bat is to their offense, and have begun giving him starts both in left field and at designated hitter in order to compensate. In fact, he has started nine of their 11 June games this far, including three in left field and one at DH. As a 25-30 homer candidate if given that consistent play, he's a definite add who could provide Gary Sanchez-like numbers at a considerably lower cost.
2) Miguel Andujar, OF, New York Yankees: Everyone's racing to push the panic button with the Yankees, who have lost 13 of their last 18 games, averaging 3.5 runs scored with 173 total strikeouts during that span. In some ways, however, the Yankees need to shuffle things up in order to compensate for their recent slump works in Andujar's favor. He has effectively nailed down the regular left field role, starting each of the last seven games (and 22-of-27) at the position. He has been passable defensively, with minus-1 Defensive Runs Saved and minus-2 Statcast Outs Above Average.
Andujar has batted .317 (13-for-41) with five home runs over his last 11 games, and remarkably has drawn two walks during that time after not getting single free pass during his first 86 trips to the plate in 2021. For all of his free-swinging ways, he does bring a contact-oriented swing to a lineup that needs it. Plus, don't forget that he's only three years removed from a .297, 27-HR rookie year.
3) Bobby Bradley, DH, Cleveland: Another big-time power bat, like Haase above, Bradley hit 23-plus home runs at all professional levels combined every year from 2015-19, totaling 34 in 2019 (his most recent full year). After Cleveland designated Jake Bauers for assignment on June 5 (who was then quickly snapped up by the Seattle Mariners), Bradley was recalled to get only his second true chance to play regularly in the majors. He homered in two of his first three starts and went 8-for-18 (.444) in his first full week, although he did fall into a bit of a first base/DH partnership with Josh Naylor.
Bradley's minor-league track record shows no discernible righty/lefty split, so he should be capable of handling the everyday first base role -- and he's already only five games away from earning eligibility there in ESPN leagues. He's more of a deep-mixed and AL-only add for now but, as he has true 30-HR power, he'd quickly claim relevance in standard leagues if he does in fact lock in that regular role.
Conversely, here's one player you can safely drop in standard ESPN leagues:
Nate Lowe, 1B, Texas Rangers: One of the hotter hitters to begin the season, Lowe has struggled quite a bit in the month-plus since. In his last 15 games, he has batted a sad .167/.268/.250 with only one home run. For the season, his 74 strikeouts rank eighth-most in the majors -- a big problem for those who roster him in standard points leagues. Lowe's metrics do suggest he's capable of having another hot streak as he did in April, as his 12.1% Barrel and 44.8% Statcast hard-hit rates rank in the 75th and 69th percentiles. However, he has too much swing-and-miss in his game to avoid the peaks and valleys like the one we've recently seen. He's a useful, yet non-elite player.