For today’s pickups, we have three names that need to be on more rosters than they are at. In fact, there are two bats on this list that are widely available but should absolutely be added, especially if you need help in the specific categories they can provide value in.

Mark Vientos – 1B, 3B – NYM – 45% Yahoo

You can color me shocked on this one. I thought for sure his roster numbers would prevent me from putting him on here but, nope. Even a massive increase of 13% over the last day has not been enough. He has hit five homers in the last ten games while bringing his batting average up to .297. In just 37 games played, he has 10 homers on the year with 23 RBI and 24 runs scored. The following “under the hood” numbers can provide managers with hope that this kind of production is here to stay, and not a mirage.

• xwOBA – .365
• xBA – .269
• xSLG – 521
• avgEV – 90.2
• Bat speed – 72.8
• Barrel rate – 15.5
• Hard-hit rate – 44.3

While his quality of at-bat numbers like whiff and chase rates are a bit lacking, his walk rate is a solid 8.5 and his stikeout rate is an OK 22.7. That is not all good, no. But it is far from the worse you’ll find off the wire.

Unfortunately, his launch angle of 7.0 is way too low for me to really put a stamp of approval on his power numbers. While he hits the ball hard enough that the power is not going to totally disappear, this pace of a 40 homer season he is on is not sustainable. But that is not enough to say avoid him on the wire.

He is still scorching the ball and that matters. He is in the middle of a lineup that is fourth in the league in wRC+ on the year at 115. So that means he should still be able to produce RBI hitting behind guys like Francisco Alvarez and Pete Alonso.

League Size Recommendation: 12-team leagues

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