Eric Young Jr. and Nick Hundley: Late Season Waiver Wire Help

Whether it’s beefing up for your head to head playoffs or just looking to boost yourself in a particular category as your roto season winds down, there are still guys out there on your waiver wire that can be of service to you if you dig deep enough.  We usually differentiate here between regular waiver wire pieces and deep league waiver wire pieces based on ownership percentages, but at this stage of the game, the depth of your league shouldn’t matter much.  If a guy can help, he can help.  Here’s two to consider…

Eric Young, Jr. |2B, OF|  Ownership:  ESPN – 4.6%  Yahoo – 4.0%

The sum up is this:  if you’re just looking for stolen bases (and maybe a few runs scored), then Young is your guy.  He doesn’t swing the bat for any kind of power and he doesn’t hit for a decent average.  But what he does do well is run.  Technically, he has raised his average over 20 points here in August, which is a nice bonus, but it’s the MLB-leading nine stolen bases this month upon which you should be focusing.  He’s featured in the lineup more often than not, and his 12.0% walk rate and .333 OBP keep him on the bases.  Over the last two weeks, he’s drawn seven walks, stolen six bases and scored seven runs.  Even when he’s not starting, he is regularly used as a pinch runner or late game defensive replacement, so the opportunities are always there.  He’s become a favorite of manager Jim Tracy and should continue to see time both out in left field and at second base.  Stolen bases can be a very movable category, even this late in the year, so Young can be a huge help.

Nick Hundley |C|  Ownership:  ESPN – 8.0%  Yahoo – 11.0%

Last week, in the Catchers on Fire piece, Hundley received an honorable mention for his performance in the month of August.  Well, a week has gone by and, believe it or not, he’s done even more.  Over the seven days, Hundley has hit .526 with one home run, four RBI and eight runs scored, pushing him to .536-2-5 with nine runs scored since coming off the DL on August 12 and making him the hottest hitting catcher in baseball right now.  While on the shelf, he apparently spent a lot of time working on his swing and it certainly seems to be paying off.  If he can finish the month strong and have a legitimate September — it doesn’t have to be just like August, but something resembling his March/April would be nice — then you would probably be better served making the switch if you don’t own one of the top five backstops out there.