Jedd Gyorko is Still Criminally Underowned

Howard Bender wrote on May eighth that Jedd Gyorko could help you on the waiver wire, and apparently all of you have not listened. Well, maybe those of you who read it have, but he is only owned in 51% of Yahoo! leagues so apparently not enough people are reading RotoGraphs.

With dual eligibility at second and third (which also means MI and CI possibilities too, which is huge), Gyorko has had a great month of May with a 157 wRC+ and all six of his home runs. The youngster is heating up as most expected him to before the season, and if he is available in your league and you have not picked him up I have to assume you are not interested in winning your league. His .258 ISO for the month has pushed his season mark to .165 despite not hitting any home runs in April. His April was also not tremendously awful, it was just not up to expectations. An 87 wRC+ in a 24-year-old’s first month in the Major Leagues is nothing to scoff at.

What is especially positive is Gyorko’s ability to produce at home thus far. He has 105 plate appearances at home and has hit four of his six home runs in one of the most difficult home ballparks for hitters in the league. To top it off, he has a .341/.419/.560 line which amasses a 188 wRC+. While his away wRC+ is just 48, we have to expect that to improve over time. His home stats will regress as well, but the fact that he has hit this well in an extremely difficult home ballpark is a very big positive.

I believe the ZiPS projections are a bit light on Gyorko at this point. He hit 30 home runs last year between double-A and triple-A and has hit six this month. ZiPS has him hitting just 11 for the remainder of the season. I would be surprised if he did not hit at least 15 more long balls. That would push him over 20 homers, and I expect that to happen with this powerful young bat. As a middle infielder, 20 home run power is awfully impressive. We of course wish he would run a bit more, but showing plus power in his second month in the league is a great sign for anyone invested into Gyorko in long term leagues.

It is simple, if you are in a league that has Gyorko on the wire pick him up immediately. If you think an owner would be willing to move him, trade for him. Power from the middle infield spots is not an easy thing to come by, so make sure you make every attempt within reason to get Gyorko on your roster.