Los Angeles Angels Yunel Escobar: Waiver Wire Add
By Brad Kelly
Yunel Escobar has been on the few bright spots for the Los Angeles Angels this season. Should fantasy owners now look to him as a potential waiver wire add?
The Los Angles Angels have struggled this season with injuries and overall mediocrity. But, one of the few bright spots for the team this season has been the solid production that Yunel Escobar has offered at the hot corner.
Escobar came over to the ball club during the offseason and is coming off the heels of a great, .314/9 HR/56 RBI, campaign with the Nationals. Most fantasy owners ignored Escobar though as he does not offer much power or speed, making his AVG and modest RBI production his calling cards.
So far this season with the Halos he has a, .307/3 HR/10 RBI/.793 OPS/18 R, stat line. His counting stats have been limited with the Angels lineup struggling mightily, but Escobar has surely done his part.
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Since AVG is the main perk that he brings to the table, it can be tricky to add him simply for that due to AVG being so hard to predict. But, as he has shown through a rise in his LD% the last two seasons, he has become a more polished threat at the plate.
Batting leadoff for the Angels does come with the benefit of having Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun batting behind him, so he should be able to offer consistent run totals, and that does not even take into account if Albert Pujols or C.J. Cron can get going. Owners should expect another 50-55 RBI type of output again this season, as the bottom half of the Angels lineup is brutal though.
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He has been a consistent weekly producer, and over the last seven games he is currently batting .333, with 9 hits, so he just continues to get his hits. He is not the sexiest addition off the wire, but in a league full of terrible averages, players like Escobar can provide stability and soften the blow. He shapes up to be a nice CI or UTIL add that owners can trust.