We’re now amidst the “dog days of summer” with just a couple weeks left in the fantasy baseball regular season before the playoffs start. With just a month-and-a-half left in the 2022 Major League Baseball season we should probably be looking at players on the fantasy baseball waiver wire that can offer plenty of upside. These players can help our fantasy baseball lineups make a push late in the season to rise up standings and make a run in the playoffs. MJ Melendez of the Kansas City Royals fits the bill as someone who could creep up the fantasy baseball rankings and MLB projections as we enter the remaining weeks of the regular season. Is the former MLB top prospect a featured catcher on his own team? Not necessarily, but he carries eligibility at the position and that’s all we need. Let's take a closer look at Melendez in the latest fantasy baseball player spotlight series. 

 

MJ Melendez carries catcher and outfield eligibility in fantasy baseball so you can play him as you see fit. Most would agree, picking him up and starting him at catcher is the ideal play and I won’t argue with that sentiment. Over the last month Melendez has been swinging a pretty hot stick to the tune of a .266/.343/.511 slash line since July 12th. He boasts a wRC+ in that span of 138 with 12 extra base hits (five home runs), 16 RBI, and 14 runs scored.

The Royals aren’t necessarily in a position to make the playoffs, but there’s nothing wrong with a team that can play spoiler especially when surrounded by young talent like Melendez, Vinnie Pasquantino, Bobby Witt Jr., and Michael Taylor. This team is in position to ruin some playoff chances and you have to feel good when a player can say this when the team is 20 games under .500:

Melendez won’t always get starts behind the dish. Honestly, that might be better for his long-term outlook for fantasy. In August he only has five starts behind the home plate which is nowhere near the number of starts he was getting earlier this summer. But remember, Salvador Perez, who was previewed a few weeks ago, will likely get most of the starts at catcher if he’s healthy.

If Melendez is getting appearances in the outfield or DH then take advantage. It’s less of a toll on his knees and this means he’s at less of a risk of injury. Melendez recently saw a spike in his rostership in ESPN league by about 19% and I expect that number to climb since he has four home runs since August 4th.

Nothing overly powerful, but Melendez is above average where it counts: average exit velocity, max exit velocity, hard-hit percentage, barrel rate, and walk rate. Plate discipline and power are there as well. The other factor that makes Melendez such an appealing fantasy asset is that he’s been hitting atop the Royals order the last couple weeks. He was a late scratch for Sunday’s contest, but later pinch hit in the game, which was good to see because the late scratch signaled a random injury. Luckily that doesn’t appear to be the case. In every start since August 1st he’s hit leadoff and that simply means more plate appearances, more opportunities to driver runners in, more opportunities to be driven in, etc.

As it stands with just a few weeks to go, the catcher position has been as fickle as ever. And we have a player with catcher eligibility offering power and an optimal spot in his lineup. The fantasy baseball gods have gifted us with a loophole and he’s a player worth adding to exploit the rules.

 

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