Ender Inciarte & Tyler Holt: Deep League Wire

This is the “who????” edition of the deep league waiver wire as I dig deep to uncover hidden gems that could contribute in your mono leagues. If you need speed, you have come to the right place.

Ender Inciarte | OF ARI | CBS 5% Owned

With seemingly half the Diamondbacks roster sitting on the disabled list, Inciarte has quietly accumulated 285 plate appearances this season. I had no idea and you may have not been aware of such a feat either. He has been the team’s every day center fielder for a little while now and that shouldn’t change anytime soon. The 23-year-old wasn’t exactly a top prospect and in fact this is actually the first article with his name included on these pages of ours.

He has played a quality defense, racking up a 22.7 UZR/150 in center field, which should keep him in the lineup, despite his current .284 wOBA. He rarely swings and misses though, which has resulted in a pretty low strikeout rate. But despite a rather favorable batted ball profile, his BABIP sits right at the league average. Given his generally above average BABIP marks in the minors and a batted ball distribution suggesting better, he could very well contribute positive value in batting average the rest of the way when paired with his strikeout rate.

Inciarte has limited power, but lots of speed. He stole 43 bases last year in 51 tries, but hasn’t run as frequently this season. Clearly though he’s shown the speed and willingness to run in the past, so it’s just a matter of making that decision to head to second. He has mostly hit at the top of the lineup, which is an excellent spot no matter who’s behind you. It won’t lead to many runs batted in, but a solid runs scored total.

Tyler Holt | OF CLE | 0% Owned

I hope Holt likes traveling. Check out his itinerary this season:

July 6 – Recalled from Triple-A
July 8 – Optioned to Triple-A
Aug 1 – Recalled from Triple-A
Aug 5 – Optioned to Triple-A
Aug 10 – Recalled from Triple-A
Aug 17 – Optioned to Triple-A
Aug 19 – Recalled from Triple-A

Clearly, Holt must be hoping that his time with Cleveland lasts a bit longer this time around. The Indians have dealt with a ton of injuries in recent weeks, the last of which was to Ryan Raburn, which prompted his latest promotion.

Holy is similar to Inciarte in some respects. His primary fantasy contribution will come from his speed — he stole 31 bases in the minors this year, while getting caught just six times. He strikes out a bit more than Inciarte though, but has always shown excellent BABIP marks in the minors. However, those extra strikeouts come with a large helping of walks. In fact, he actually walked one more time than he struck out during his time at Double-A this year. So he, too, could very well contribute positive value in batting average.

Unfortunately, he probably has even less power than Inciarte, and of course, his role is a lot less defined. The hope is that he could find at-bats in right field or at designated hitter, or at the very least be given some pinch running opportunities to give him an opportunity to steal a bag.