Wednesday’s Wide World of Waivers: Jonny Be Good

Welcome back to Wednesday’s Wide World of Waivers. Chris was swinging for the fences last week, but unfortunately he was having trouble getting it out of the infield. Butler had an OK week but didn’t do anything special. Dukes wasn’t horrible, but he wasn’t very good either. Hammel and Crowe were horrible, however, and I’m sure Chris would appreciate it if you never mentioned them again. For the week I’m giving the selections one walk, one fielder’s choice, and two strikeouts. This week I’ve got four new picks, and I’ve got my sights set on going four-for-four.

As always the cutoffs are 50% Yahoo ownership in mixed leagues and 20% Yahoo ownership in for NL/AL only leagues.

Standard Mixed Leagues

Mark Ellis, 2B, Oak

	Yahoo	ESPN	CBS
Owned %	12	7	18

	Runs	HR	RBI	SB	AVG
Week 19 Stats	2	1	11	0	.571

Ellis watched most of this season from the bench after suffering a calf strain in late April. This didn’t bother many fantasy owners because Ellis wasn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboards. His return in late June didn’t make many headlines either, especially when he followed it up with a mediocre July. That brings us to August, and Ellis has found his game. He has a .431 BA, 19 RBI and a 1.064 OPS in August. Pick him up and ride the hot streak.

Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Col

	Yahoo	ESPN	CBS
Owned %	6	3	19

	Runs	HR	RBI	SB	AVG
Week 19 Stats	5	4	8	0	.292

Gonzalez was called up in June and didn’t get off to a hot start, but patience is a virtue with this 24-year-old hitter. He got his feet wet in June and July and is now swimming in August. A .400 BA, four HRs and a 1.198 OPS in the month so far have made fantasy owners very happy. Gonzalez has shown some remarkable improvement in the last two months and has the chance to contribute in all five standard fantasy categories.

NL-Only Leagues

Jonny Gomes, OF, Cin

	Yahoo	ESPN	CBS
Owned %	2	1	8

	Runs	HR	RBI	SB	AVG
Week 19 Stats	4	4	9	0	.400

Three HRs in one game – that sounds impossible! Gomes certainly looks like he has found his HR swing, having belted 10 since the All-Star Game. He isn’t going to steal bases, and the average isn’t going to win him any awards, but Gomes is a solid power option for those owners needing to add some HRs to their mix.

AL-Only Leagues

Brandon Lyon, RP, Det

	Yahoo	ESPN	CBS
Owned %	8	13	6

	IP	W	K	ERA	WHIP
Week 19 Stats	2	1	2	0.00	0.00

Anyone who thought Lyon would be relevant after losing the closer’s job raise your hand. Anyone? Anyone at all? Ok, so there wasn’t a lot of faith in Lyon before the season and he was pretty much kicked to the curb after losing the closing gig, but he has been surprisingly effective as a middle reliever. Lyon hasn’t given up a run since the Fourth of July. He has been nothing short of dominating since then, picking up three wins, one save, and 16 Ks while only surrendering six hits and four BBs in 12.2 IP. Lyon is great play if you are looking for a middle reliever to plug into your roster.

Please let us know what you think by posting in the discussion thread. Feedback is always appreciated. Chris will be back for next week’s Wednesday’s Wide World of Waivers with four new waiver pickups. In the meantime, keep watching that waiver wire!

Tom Huffman is one of a growing number of fantasy experts who write for the Cafe. You can catch up with Tom in the Cafe's forums where he posts under the name of Pogotheostrich.

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