Waiver Wire: Replacing Posey Edition

By now you’ve seen the play and heard the news; Buster Posey will miss significant time after tearing ligaments and breaking his leg in a collision at the plate last night. Despite a subpar start to the season (just a .341 wOBA), Posey was still one of fantasy’s top backstops and will be tough to replace. Here’s a few guys lying on the waiver wire that can help fill the void…

Ryan Doumit | Pirates | Ownership: 15% Yahoo!, 1.7% ESPN

It’s been a while since Doumit broke out with a .367 wOBA in 495 PA back in 2008, which he then followed up with consecutive seasons of sub-.330 wOBA’s. He’s righted the ship a bit this year, coming into today with a .272/.337/.446 (.342 wOBA) line and solid peripherals (8.8 BB%, 17.4 K%, .174 ISO). The rebound is coming at a good time too, because the Bucs have to make a decision about Doumit’s 2012 and 2013 options after the season. As an added fantasy bonus, he’s also OF eligible.

Jonathan Lucroy | Brewers | Ownership: 28% Yahoo!,32.2% ESPN

Lucroy missed the start of the season after breaking a finger late in Spring Training, but he’s been pretty fantastic since returning in mid-April. A 5.5% walk rate is nothing special, but an overall batting line of .321/.369/.509 (.385) with five homers sure is when it comes to catchers. Lucroy will come back to Earth a bit once his .369 BABIP regresses (and it will since he’s hitting more and more balls in the air), and a 17.2% HR/FB rate isn’t sustainable as well. ZiPS calls for a .266/.327/.396 line the rest of the way, which isn’t terrible for the position and should lead to a decent amount of RBI given the lineup he’s in.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia | Red Sox | Ownership: 8% Yahoo!,0.8% ESPN

Salty’s .240/.296/.340 (.314 wOBA) batting line is easy to overlook, but he’s been tearing the cover off the ball for more than three weeks now (.283/.333/.585 since April 30th). He’s not walking at all (6.9 BB%), but as a switch-hitter with some pop in that lineup and in that ballpark? It shouldn’t be a surprise that Saltalamacchia has put that April slump behind him to turn into a productive hitter for the Red Sox or in fantasy. It’s worth mentioning that ZiPS hates him though, pegging him for .233/.306/.395 with seven homers the rest of the way. I’ll take the over thanks to Fenway.