Padres Jose Pirela red hot at the plate since promotion: Fantasy Add?

Jose Pirela is on a roll at the plate since his promotion by the Padres. But, is he worth a waiver wire add moving forward?

The Padres are in a transitional phase and the results so far in 2017 have certainly reflected that. Yet, they do not lack their fair share of interesting fantasy pieces. One move they made recently has paid huge dividends so far, the promotion of Jose Pirela. He has swung the bat well since being promoted, but is he worth a fantasy add?

Jose Pirela was a one-time Yankees infield prospect who joined the organization in 2007 as a 17-year-old. He was once a potential replacement at second base pre-Starlin Castro for the Yanks, but struggled in his limited time with the club and was then traded to the Padres in 2015. He resurfaced in the majors in 2016 with San Diego but could muster a .154 AVG over 15 at bats.

Heading into the 2017 season, Pirela was well off the fantasy radar and seemed to have no path to the majors. With the Padres’ outfield pretty set with young upside options and with Ryan Schimpf at second, Pirela looked to need injuries or down performances to get a chance. Well, he just so happen to get both.

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Manuel Margot went down due to injury and the enigmatic Schimpf was demoted. This opened the door for Pirela to get promoted and start, mainly in left field, and all he has done is hit since.

Over the last fourteen games, he has posted a .341/2 HR/7 RBI/.988 OPS/10 R line. He came out of the gates blazing, and even though he hit a 0 for 13 skid recently, he rebounded well on Monday going 2 for 4 with a homer against the Cubs.

He may have never had a tremendous season in the minors, but he has hit the ball great all season both in the minors and now with the big league club. At AAA, his .331/3 HR/13 RBI/1.022 OPS/8 SB line forced the Padres’ hand all that more.

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Moving forward, even with the eventual return of Margot, Pirela has etched himself out a role with the club while he is swinging it so well. Fantasy owners looking for a pick me up or spark from the MI spot of their lineups should give him a closer look as one of the better current waiver wire options. There may not be extreme upside here, but Pirela is hot at the plate, seeing steady at-bats, and is being slotted atop the lineup. Not too shabby of an option who is owned in less than 10% of leagues.

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