Welcome back, FA Nation! Get ready for this week’s edition of Category Impact! If you’re new to the site or just forget how this article works since last week, let me offer a quick refresher.

Category Impact will offer up anywhere from four to six players that can help you out in a certain category, whether it is stolen bases, home runs, or strikeouts. Some weeks, there will be an added focus on a specific categories, while others will be just players that you will want to pick up, but there will be in-depth analysis detailing exactly what category, or categories, a certain player will be of added benefit.

This week’s featured category is…. HOME RUNS!!!

Stephen Piscotty , OF OAK – The first of two Athletics that will appear in this article is Mr. Piscotty, formerly of the St. Louis Cardinals. From July 7 to July 15, Piscotty was a monster on an absolute tear. During that span, he went 13-for-38 with five home runs, 10 RBI and seven runs scored. He even stole a base, but that’s not what we are excited about. Look at those power numbers, baby!

Piscotty is making hard contact more than he ever has in his career, while dropping his soft contact rate to a career low 13.9 percent. While fly balls are down a bit from years past, his line drives are up, and his current ground ball rate would be the second lowest of his professional career. He’s currently on pace for 20 home runs on the season, but a total by the end of the year could approach 25 with a hot start to the second half. He’s homering once every 25.9 at-bats, the best mark of his career. His home park is unfavorable, and unlike the next guy in this week’s edition, Piscotty’s power splits are stark. Of his 12 home runs, just one has come at home. However, of his 24 doubles, 15 have come at home. However, while he’s hot, he’s more than deserving of a roster spot.

Chad Pinder , SS/2B OAK – Pinder was nearly smoldering entering the All-Star break. In the two weeks leading up to the Midsummer Classic, Pinder was hitting .346 (9-for-26) with three home runs, five RBI, five runs scored and a 7:4 K/BB ratio. He was also slugging .692 during that span. In quiet fashion, Pinder has 10 long balls and is on pace for nearly 20 on the season. With eligibility at both middle infield positions in most leagues, Pinder is a valuable commodity at this point of the fantasy gauntlet. He’s homering once every 19.6 at-bats, so at his current pace, in 150 second half at-bats, he would park another seven long balls, giving him a career-high 17 home runs. Sure, his home park isn’t favorable, but his home run rate isn’t far off. See below:

Location

AB

HR

AB/HR

HOME

93

4

23.25

AWAY

103

6

17.17


With regular at-bats, Pinder has an opportunity to get to 20 long balls this season and with Oakland attempting to contend, there’s no reason to not give Pinder a spot on the lineup card day in and day out.

Jake Bauers OF 1B/ TB – Bauers is owned in roughly one-quarter of ESPN fantasy baseball leagues, but if he is available in your league, scoop him up. Heading into the break he recorded multi-hit efforts in three of four games, hitting two home runs, driving in seven runs and scoring six times himself during that four game set against the Minnesota Twins. He feasted on their pitching and raised his batting average to .252 on the year. The nice thing with Bauers, especially being just 22 years old, is that he hasn’t showed a weakness against lefties or righties this season. In other words, he’s not a victim of a split disadvantage, meaning he’s going to play as often as he can, regardless of whether or not the opposition sends a southpaw or a righty to toe the rubber. The majority of his power has come against righties, but four of his nine hits against lefties have gone for extra bases.

Joey Wendle 2B TB – Over the last two weeks heading into the All-Star break, Wendle only had two home runs, but he managed to nearly hit .400 with a .477 slugging percentage. While he never exhibited big time power numbers past Single-A, he could be a low-to-mid teen power guy at the big league level. He’s only on pace for about seven home runs this season, but I expect him to come out of the break on a bit of a power binge, while hitting for a decent average as well. The 28-year-old is making soft contact just 13 percent of the time, per Fangraphs, meaning he is making solid (medium or hard) contact 87 percent of the time! That’s exceptional, and when you pair that with a 30 percent fly ball rate and 20 percent line drive rate, there’s an opportunity for a spike in the power. Ideally, he hits the ball on the ground a bit less (49.3 percent), but if it means he can maintain a batting average above .275, we’ll just have to live with it.

Wendle is available everywhere and the Rays seem inclined to give him every day at-bats moving forward. He’s an interesting addition moving forward.

Honorable Mention: Daniel Palka  OF CHW – Come on people! I mentioned him a few weeks ago and he’s living up to expectations. He has 12 home runs in 218 at-bats this season, and while he’s on pace for 20, he could easily send 25 into the cheap seats by seasons end. His ownership is still too low, so don’t wait any longer.

Follow me on Twitter (@colbyrconway) after you pick up at least one person from this edition to boost your team’s power totals!