When I saw what Steve Pearce had done over the past two weeks, questions arose. The main question being, “Who the hell is Steve Pearce?” He’s the most added player on ESPN (+43%) and now has ten homers and 30 runs batted in with just 189 plate appearances. He’s even thrown in four steals! He does everything! This feels very hot schmotatoish if you ask me, but who cares when there are about a half dozen corner infielders sitting on your wire right now. Might as well ride the hot hand and if it doesn’t continue we can fall into the waiting arms of Casey McGehee or C.J. Cron. Aside from strikeouts, Pearce’s splits are nearly identical against left and right-handed pitching, but his best stuff comes at home against left-handers where he’s rocking a 205 wRC+. I’m not sure the .365 BABIP will hold up and his 17% HR/FB% is almost twice his career average, but I’d wager we didn’t pay more than a waiver wire claim for him so let’s ride the wave. Here are the other big adds and drops for this week in 2014 fantasy baseball…
Kole Calhoun – 77% owned (+33%)
The only thing standing in the way of the now healthy outfielder is his own manager. The skipper thinks 5-for-10 with a homer and four runs scored is just dandy, but he needs to see more to put you in that lineup, Kole. A Razzball preseason favorite, Calhoun has been locked in recently and it shows in the sharp spike of his ownership. Aside from the occasional benching against lefties, there isn’t much to complain about in Calhoun’s fantasy value. He hits for power, has some speed, and won’t kill your average. He also finds himself nestled in a decent lineup for counting stats with the Angels. He’s not a player I’d sell the farm for but he’s a no-brainer add at the moment. The 26-year-old has posted a 166 wRC+ against right handers this season and Steamer is projecting him for another nine home runs. TREASURE.
Andrew Heaney – 9% owned (-25%)
Heaney was in this post just a few weeks ago as one of the hottest adds in the land. How quickly things change when you get nicked up for some runs and only have a minor league track record to go on. The majority of us play in mixed leagues of 12-teams or shallower, so the case for hanging on to Heaney isn’t strong. However, I do believe he’ll be back in the rotation after the All Star Break and should see better times ahead in the second half. A handful of bad starts isn’t enough to sour me on him considering he’s the same guy as two weeks ago when we all had our panties in a bunch. While Heaney got killed by the long ball (2.18 HR/9) a HR/FB rate of 21% should normalize. His current 5.6 K/9 should improve and a BB/9 under 2 is a positive sign for the young southpaw from this point forward. Don’t forget he still pitches against some weaker opponents in the NL East and calls Crayola Canyon his home park. Rookies are dangerous territory as it is, but given how quickly the crowd is bailing on Heaney there’s a chance he has landed back on your wire with his three worst starts already behind him. TREASURE.
