Cleveland Indians Mike Napoli: Week 7 Waiver Wire Add
By Bill Pivetz
Indians first baseman Mike Napoli is hitting very well this season. With limited power options on the waiver wire, he should be your first target.
The Cleveland Indians are one game above .500 and sit five games back of first-place Chicago White Sox. The team is in a bit of a rebuilding process with the mix of youngsters and veterans on the team. One of those veterans is leading the team in home runs and RBI. That player is Mike Napoli.
Napoli is in his 11th year, bouncing from Los Angeles to Texas to Boston back to Texas for half of a season and now in Cleveland. After all of his travels, this could be his best season. In just 31 games this season, he has seven home runs, 22 RBI and a .242 average with a 46:10 K:BB ratio.
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He is striking out at a career-high 35.1 percent while walking just 7.6 percent for the season. However, in May, his strikeout and walk rates made big improvements. He had a 6.0 walk and 39.3 strikeout rate in April and 10.6 walk and 27.7 strikeout rates in May. If he can continue that trend, his batting average will surely rise.
If he were to play 135 games, a rough average, he would finish with 30 home runs and 95 RBI. Who wouldn’t want those numbers from a first baseman added off the waiver wire? There aren’t many other options out there.
Mike Napoli had just three multi-hit games and 11 RBI in April. In May, he has four such games with 11 total RBI. As long as he can remain healthy, there should be no reason to hesitate in adding him to your roster.
The Indians don’t have much in the way of depth at first base. After Napoli, Carlos Santana is the man behind him. Santana, though, is the current designated hitter. Napoli is the backup DH, according to the Indians depth chart. So, Napoli’s position is pretty secure.
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Mike Napoli is owned in 18.7 percent of ESPN leagues, up from 6.9 percent just a week ago. He should be added in another 30 percent of leagues at least. If for some reason you miss out on Napoli, Travis Shaw and C.J. Cron both have 11 RBI over the last 15 days and are widely available.
The Indians may not have a playoff roster, but there are players worth owning to lead you to a fantasy championship, Napoli being one of them.