Hyun Soo Kim & Trayce Thompson: Deep League Wire

If you’re hurting for outfield help in your deep mixed or mono league, this week’s deep league waiver wire is to the rescue!

Hyun Soo Kim | OF BAL | CBS 5% Owned

Remember when the Orioles decided that Hyun Soo Kim’s poor performance over 49 spring training plate appearances completely trumped 4,768 KBO league plate appearances? How about when the team also decided that 72 sizzling plate appearances was enough to convince them that Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard was worthy of a starting job instead? Kim has barely played so far, accumulating just 17 plate appearances. But hey, he’s batting .600, while sporting a 2/2 BB/K ratio! Vote him into the All-Star game! Obviously, the sample is as tiny as can be, but he has actually shown the skills the Orioles thought they were getting when they signed him.

On the other hand, after last night’s failure to reach bases, Rickard’s wOBA is down to a pathetic .293 and his OBP is just .296. Yet, the team continues to pencil him into the lineup and leadoff slot. He had shown excellent patience throughout his minor league career, though that deteriorated a bit at Triple-A, but his walk rate has cratered during his first month in the Show. He is making great contact and is actually swinging less frequently than the league average. But that high contact rate is likely why his walk rate is low — he puts the ball in play before he could accept the free pass! By UZR, he has also been terrible defensively. So, he has shown limited power, little plate patience, and can’t field. His days as a starter seem numbered.

And that’s where Kim comes in. The team needs an excuse to get him back in the lineup and Rickard is showing us why the Rays left him unprotected. It shouldn’t be much longer before the Rickard experiment ends and Kim finally gets the starting job he should have had from the get-go. With his potential for respectable power and strong plate discipline, he could replace Rickard at the top of the lineup and actually earn some shallow mixed league value.

Trayce Thompson | OF LAD | 5% Owned

I have to admit, I was pretty surprised that Thompson’s ownership was so low. With Andre Ethier out and Carl Crawford also missing the last couple of weeks, Thompson has found playing time at all outfield spots. While Crawford was activated from the DL last week, he’s not going to play every day and certainly won’t play against lefties. It means that Thompson is going to get more work than your typical reserve outfielder and might be more than just a platoon bat.

The 25-year-old possesses both power and speed and would be a trendy sleeper if he had a full-time job. He has hit as many as 27 homers in the minors and swiped as many as 25 bases. However, strikeouts have been an issue, and the plate patience he has shown at times throughout his professional career has left him this season. The good news is his SwStk% is actually better than the league average, as is his O-Swing%. It seemingly makes his inflated strikeout rate look like a fluke and due for significant improvement.

In fact, using Jeff Zimmerman’s hitter expected strikeout rate equation, Thompson should be sporting an 18.7% strikeout rate, a vast improvement over his actual 28.8% mark. That should damper concerns that his batting average could kill you, which is what both ZiPS and Steamer are projecting for the rest of the season.

With an injury-prone group of outfielders ahead of him, power, speed and performance upside, Thompson is the type of player that wins you deep leagues.