Waiver Wire: Asdrubal Cabrera’s Resurgence
By Brad Kelly

Aug 2, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Tampa Bay Rays shortstop
Asdrubal Cabrera(13) is greeted in the dugout after scoring a run during the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
As the fantasy playoffs get closer every passing day, fantasy owners have to be cognizant of what players are in the midst of hot or cold streaks, as to often than not, these torrid stretches from unsung players to fantasy veterans, lead fantasy teams to glory.
Now we all like to seek out hidden value or maybe a player out of nowhere to help bolster our team, but I am recommending owners to take a chance on a player that we all should know. Asdrubal Cabrera has been in the bigs since 2007, but he is currently in the middle of one of his hottest stretches of his career.
In his prime, Asdrubal Cabrera was a prime SS selection as he provided the highly sought after pop that we all love from the middle spots of our lineups. Since 2011, Cabrera has not hit less than 14 homers a season, even while most of his other numbers have declined.
Cabrera no longer is the speed threat he once was, and he has seen his AVG methodically dip down into the .240’s since his high mark of. 308 in 2009.
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After a 2014 that saw him traded to the Nationals, Cabrera really failed to gain a lot of free agency traction in the winter and ultimately found himself in Tampa. For majority of this season, he has struggled as his OBP is a career low, and in mid-July he found himself on the DL.
His DL stint was due to a bum hammy, but since returning to the lineup on July 27th, he has been absolutely on fire. Now I have often said to not chase hot weeks because of the sheer impossibility of maintaining them, but Asdrubal has looked like a whole new hitter since his return.
Over the last 14 days, Cabrera has posted a .500/2 HR/6 RBI line, making him the hottest bat on the waiver wire. There is no way he will be able to maintain that and we all know this, but I have to chalk up his resurgence to the fact that the DL stint allowed him to get over possible nagging injuries and reset his approach at the plate.
For most switch hitters, you will see that most of their damage comes against righties but, Cabrera’s splits somewhat dispel that. All but one of his homers have come against righties, but his AVG against them is only .244. Versus lefties he has only one bomb, but has been able to hit .264 against them.
From a fantasy perspective, I think this gives Asdrubal Cabrera a little more value as you know that he can be power threat against righties, but you also see that he can still post respective numbers versus lefties, hopefully preventing weeks of zero production.
Cabrera has also hit better at home, .261/4 HR/14 RBI, and with exactly half of their remaining games left at home, there should still be some added value there going forward.
Adding Cabrera is not sexy by any means, but he does provide modest power numbers from a severely weak position. Fantasy owners should add him now, and hopefully ride him while he remains on the role he is one.
I know for me, any incremental addition I can make to my SS or MI spot, is a welcome sight as we all need to win as many games or categories as possible with the playoffs looming.