Fantasy baseball managers finally have a Monday morning to relax without the stress of setting lineups. Enjoy the respite, but don’t check out entirely. There are still moves to make. Let’s use the intermission to dive deep into the waiver wire for hitters owned in less than 10 percent of leagues. While playing time varies drastically among these five players, they all will hope the break doesn’t halt their momentum.

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Nick Williams (OF – PHI): 6 Percent Owned
In retrospect, it’s odd that Nick Williams warrants a post-hype label despite batting .288/.343/.473 as a rookie. His stock faded en route to Philadelphia, so a strong slash line wasn’t enough to respawn any buzz.

Drafters were correct to beware last year’s 5.8 walk and 28.3 strikeout percentages. His BABIP has dwindled from .375 to .290, leading to a mundane .245/.322/.430 line. Yet he has cleared a major preseason obstacle by establishing a regular role over Aaron Altherr, and the consistent reps have allowed him to grow on the job.

After drawing five walks in each of the opening three months, Williams has already drawn seven free passes in 54 July plate appearances. He has limited his strikeouts to nine, giving him the best monthly rates (13.0 BB %, 16.7 K %) of his career. The 24-year-old, routinely batting fifth for the Phillies, is also making harder contact (36.8 %). A .282 xBA suggests regression ran too far in the opposite direction, so expect a significant second-half breakout that will make him relevant in nearly all mixed leagues.

Steve Pearce (1B/OF – BOS): 5 Percent Owned
Steve Pearce has a higher wOBA (.357) since the start of 2014 than George Springer, Yoenis Cespedes, Robinson Cano, and Ryan Braun. He has quickly proven the perfect midseason acquisition by going 11-for-28 with three walks, four doubles, and a homer for the Red Sox, who have won all seven of his starts.

The 35-year-old would have quickly outgrown this column if not for limited playing time. Typecast as a platoon player because of his career 130 wRC+ off southpaws, he’s also a slightly above-average hitter (102 wRC+) against righties. Having previously played second and third base, the Red Sox could find creative ways to keep him in a lineup while he’s swinging a sizzling bat with Dustin Pedroia and Rafael Devers sidelined. Yet he’ll more than likely serve the short end of a first-base timeshare with Mitch Moreland while making the occasional appearances versus a righty.

It’s a familiar role for Pearce, who nevertheless smashed 62 homers from 2014-2017 despite averaging 339.5 plate appearances per season. Although a better DFS contributor, he’s a decent deep-league option for managers willing to research matchups and lineups for optimal results. At least see where this hot streak takes him to start the second half.

Austin Hedges (C – SD): 5 Percent Owned
While rarely highlighted around these parts, catchers are people too. Those still living in the nightmare of starting two will certainly want to hear about one with 13 hits in 10 July games.

On June 24, Austin Hedges went 0-for-4 in his first game since leaving April 30’s outing with right elbow tendinitis. He then reached base safely in 12 consecutive starts (but struck out as a pinch-hitter) before leaving Sunday empty-handed. The 25-year-old is 15-for-50 with three doubles and two long balls since returning, and his July hard-hit percentage skyrocketed to 50.0 as of Sunday.

Now let’s pump the breaks with some bad stuff. He’s still a career .205/.253/.355 hitter who has only confounded his poor plate approach with a 34.1 strikeout percentage. He has also enjoyed a .500 BABIP in July, so we need a larger sample size before labeling recent results as a breakout or empty noise.

Now back to the cautious optimism. Catchers often take longer to mature offensively because of their added game-calling responsibilities. Hedges, who has locked down San Diego’s starting job with his glove, could still jump closer to his lofty power ceiling in his second full major league campaign. Consider him a high-risk, high-reward second catcher who could conceivably infiltrate the standard-league discussion by staying hot.

Chad Pinder (2B/SS/OF – OAK): 1 Percent Owned
Chad Pinder has pelted 26 homers in 581 career plate appearances. His 120 wRC+ ties Mark Canha for third behind Jed Lowrie and Khris Davis on a stacked Oakland lineup. The 26-year-old is also Statcast approved, boasting a .384 xwOBA and 20 barrels in 134 batted-ball events. His metrics closely resemble those of Paul Goldschmidt:

He’s also a part-time player with a career .309 wOBA against righties. Probably should have mentioned that up front. He received extra playing time last week in light of Lowrie injuring his leg in a collision with Stephen Piscotty, but the All-Star second baseman is not expected to miss more time. That leaves Pinder riding Oakland’s revolving door of outfielders. While a lack of playing time limits his appeal, his skills far surpass the usual waiver-wire options in deep formats. An injury could make him a major second-half power source.

Jorge Bonifacio (OF – KC): 1 Percent Owned
No such playing-time issues exist for Jorge Bonifacio, who has started all but one game for the barren Royals since returning from a PED suspension on June 29. It only took one successful week for the 25-year-old outfielder to ascend to the No. 2 spot, where he has collected five extra-base hits in seven starts.

Bonifacio, who hit a middling .255/.320/.432 in 422 debuting plate appearances last year, has gone 15-for-52 with five doubles. After failing to homer all season (including 13 Triple-A games), he went yard and added a triple on Saturday. Although an odd start for someone who circled the bases 17 times last season, he has consistently hit the ball hard and in the air. He’s still someone who can pop 20-25 homers in a full campaign, and he’ll get every opportunity to shine down the stretch. Sounds like an easy deep-league buy.

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