Houston Astros Luis Valbuena: Waiver Wire Add

By Brad Kelly | Jul 10, 2016

Jul 10, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros third baseman Luis Valbuena (18) hits a single during the second inning against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

Luis Valbuena had a breakout season for the Houston Astros last season, but started the 2016 season slowly. He has been on fire as of late, so should he now be back on the fantasy radar?

Luis Valbuena has bounced from team to team during his career, but seems to have found a home with the Houston Astros. He fits the team so well in part to his all or nothing approach at the plate, which happens to be the Astros’ team philosophy. He broke out last season with 25 HR, but started the 2016 season terribly.

In those leagues that Valbuena was drafted, he was selected purely has a power option. However, in April he was only able to post a .189 AVG, and did not homer during the entire month. With that type of start it is easy to see why Valbuena was dropped in most leagues, thus falling well off the fantasy radar.

He began to turn things around in May though, notching six homers and a .259 AVG. These outputs were more in line with what he was able to do in 2015, but owners were still scared off by the AVG drain. Thanks to Valbuena finding his stroke in May, things only got better in June and now early in July.

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For the month of June, Valbuena was able to post a, .316/3 HR/10 RBI/.940 OPS/7 Doub., stat line. His swing and miss tendencies have been documented, and he did strike out 25 times in the month, but his 10 XBH are a welcome trade off.

A month like June would be encouraging enough to warrant fantasy attention, yet he has been able to top his June outputs already and we have not even made it two weeks into July yet. In only nine games his, .345/3 HR/10 RBI line, only continues to validate that he is heating up.

Luis Valbuena is never going to battle for a batting title, but his current .269 season AVG is not fluky by any stretch. His BABIP is only a modest, .331, and his LD rate is still hovering near 25%. While his HR rate is down from last season, his 16 doubles already are only two less than all last season.

Moving forward, the recent Astros success, and Valbuena’s turnaround seemingly go hand in hand. The lineup becomes a lot deeper and more prolific when Valbuena is swinging it well. He has basically become the everyday third basemen with the team unwilling to take him out while he is on a roll.

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Fantasy owners should add Luis Valbuena as his turnaround at the plate has been methodically getting better and better as the season has gone on. Even with stud prospect, Alex Bregman, waiting in the wings to man third base, the Astros will always find Valbuena at bats. Make the move.

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