Waiver Wire: June 24th

Two players with low ownership rates that might want to consider picking up…

Jason Hammel | Rockies | SP | 24% owned

Hammel has been quite the find for the Rockies, who acquired him last year from the Rays and watched him post a 3.81 xFIP in 176.1 IP. After a rocky (pun intended) start to the 2010 season, Hammel settled down this month and has been downright fantastic. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last three starts, and ever since a May 21st drubbing at the hands of the Royals, Hammel has a 0.78 ERA and has held opponents to a .244/.304/.283 batting line against. His strikeout rate has steadily climbed to 6.99 K/9 over the last few years, and (R) ZiPS sees a 4.39 ERA and 6.32 K/9 the rest of the way.

You probably don’t have time to grab him into time for tonight’s start against the Red Sox, though you’d probably want to sit him anyway. He’s lined up to finish off the first half with assignments in San Diego, at home against the Giants, and then at home against the Padres. Yes please.

Justin Smoak | Rangers | 1B | 15%

Brian advised you to grab Smoak at the end of last month, noting that his BABIP and LD% indicated a surge was coming. Well, Brian absolutely nailed it, as Smoak has hit to the tune of a .400 wOBA this month, driving in 20 runs and scoring 14 more as part of Texas’ June assault on pitching. His BABIP (.254) is still in the process of correcting itself, so there’s hope that this torrid stretch will continue through the break.

Luckily there’s still a good chance that Smoak is available in your league, and he’ll likely settle in with a .280 AVG and a .160 ISO or so the rest of the way.

Ownership rates based on Yahoo! leagues.