Top fantasy baseball middle infield waiver pickups for Week 17

The second half is officially underway, which means it’s long past time to hold on to any illusions that you’re going to win your league with all of your brilliant draft picks intact. It’s time to throw out what you thought you knew around draft time and make adjustments. Time to decide whether you’re in it to win it this year, and what you might need to make that happen. Time to check narrative and sentiment at the door.

This is especially true at the middle infield spots, where top picks have been felled by injury (Jazz Chisholm) or underperformance (Trea Turner). That’s why we’re here to help, with four targets likely available in your league showing signs that they’re in for a strong finish.

Fantasy baseball middle infield waiver wire: Week 17

Zack Gelof, 2B, Oakland Athletics

Roster percentage: 2.3%

The other prospect called up alongside Tyler Soderstrom this weekend, Gelof is no slouch either. The former University of Virginia star has done basically nothing but hit since being drafted in the second round back in 2021, crushing Triple-A this year to the tune of a .304/.401/.529 slash line. Even more intriguingly, the right-handed Gelof has hit righties very well this year, reversing his career-long platoon splits — and raising the possibility that he could stick as an everyday player. Oakland certainly has every incentive to find out as they go nowhere this season, and the 23-year-old has already swiped two bags in his first weekend in the bigs. He could be a sneaky power/speed combination down the stretch.

Zach Neto, SS, Los Angeles Angels

Roster percentage: 2.7%

Neto got off to a slow start to his MLB career, but last year’s first-round pick looked like he was starting to figure things out when he suffered a very ill-timed oblique injury in June. Now he’s back atop L.A.’s lineup, and here’s the way he’s trending:

He homered in his second game back this weekend, raising his OPS over his last 13 starts to .286/.362/.619. He too could be a sneaky source of both homers and steals, not to mention the counting stats that come with batting leadoff in front of Shohei Ohtani (and eventually Mike Trout). Neto was very highly regarded by scouts coming into the year, and if you jumped off the bandwagon after his cold start, it’s time to hop back on.

Liover Peguero, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster percentage: 0%

Endy Rodriguez gets most of the headlines, but Peguero will also be heading to Pittsburgh on Monday. The infielder technically made his big-league debut last June, but this should be his first crack at regular playing time, with the Pirates out of contention and Rodolfo Castro out of the picture at shortstop. At 6’2, 200 pounds, the 22-year-old is the definition of tooled up, and while his plate approach certainly lags behind his athleticism — he hit .260/.333/.462 in 76 games across Double-A and Triple-A this year — it’s a tantalizing package, and he should be an instant boost to fantasy owners looking for steals. Peguero swiped 19 bags in the Minors already this season, and he should continue to have the green light in Pittsburgh. If he can ever figure out which pitches to swing at, look out.

Vaughn Grissom, 2B/SS, Atlanta Braves

Roster percentage: 15.9%

Admittedly, this one is a bit of a reach — but if you have an NA or bench spot that you can afford to occupy for a week or two, snatching Grissom up now could pay off in a big way. The infielder, a breakout star with Atlanta in 2022, has been blocked by Orlando Arcia and Ozzie Albies so far this season, but he’s played well in Triple-A, slashing .316/.397/.461 with 11 steals.

The Braves are sure to be looking to upgrade their big-league rotation at the trade deadline, and Grissom is one of the most obvious pieces with which they can do so. If he gets flipped somewhere later this month, he suddenly has major rest-of-year fantasy value, as whoever traded for him will almost certainly make him their everyday shortstop. Grissom hit five homers and five steals with a .792 OPS over 41 games in the Majors last year, so the potential is obvious.