Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Time to stash Eury Perez, is Cam Smith figuring it out?

Chase Meidroth – 2B/3B/SS, CWS: 21% rostered
(EVERY DAY JOB, MODEST STEALS UPSIDE)

In 18 games in May, Meidroth is hitting .324/.385/.423 with 11 runs scored and seven steals. He had never stolen more than 13 bases in a season at the minor league level, so that number is a bit shocking to me, but he can run a bit and is a smart baseball player on a bad team that has no problem taking chances on the bases. Meidroth is also hitting leadoff and playing every day, so he could accumulate runs and steals while hitting for a solid batting average. That works in a lot of leagues. You could also roster Meidroth’s teammate, Miguel Vargas – 3B/OF, CWS (17% rostered), who appeared in my article two weeks ago on hitters to add based on their plate discipline and contact rates. Vargas is chasing at a super low rate, making 85% contact overall and rarely swinging and missing. He’s pulling the ball slightly less this season and has focused less on lifting the ball, which is a good change. He doesn’t smoke the ball, but a 90 mph average exit velocity is pretty good, and he’s playing every day in Chicago. The production he’s put up over the last month matches the process, with him hitting .253/.321/.520 in 20 games in May with five home runs, 10 runs scored, and 13 RBI. The team context is not good, but the playing time and production have been solid.

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Marcelo Mayer – SS, BOS: 21% rostered
(RECENT CALL-UP, BATTING AVERAGE UPSIDE)

If you spend any time on social media, then you know that everybody is clamoring to find out how the Red Sox are going to call up Mayer and Roman Anthony to “save” their big league club. Unfortunately, with Alex Bregman suffering a “significant” quad strain, the path for Mayer became clear, and he was called up on Saturday for his MLB debut. While that debut didn’t go well, we should keep in mind that he spent the entire first half of the day in the locker room at Worcester, not playing in the team’s doubleheader and waiting to see if he would be called up. Then he found out he was going to the big leagues, packed up all of his stuff, got into his car, lost his car keys, and drove to Boston in time to play the second game of their doubleheader. He had no time to scout the pitcher or really adjust to being a big leaguer at all, so I would not overreact to his poor start on Saturday. On the season, Mayer is hitting .271/.347/.471 in 43 games at Triple-A with nine home runs and 43 RBI. Just like what we discussed above with Nick Kurtz, there will be struggles for Mayer, and his power is not going to immediately carry over. That being said, he is an MLB-ready hitter, and he’s going to be a strong fantasy add in deeper formats. Another stash option would be Jac Caglionne – 1B, KC (13% rostered), who the team promoted to Triple-A recently. He’s gone 6-for-21 at the level with three home runs and seven RBI. The Royals have also been playing him in the outfield to expedite his path to the big leagues, and with the team waiving Hunter Renfroe, we may see Caglionne get a shot in the coming weeks. Keep in mind that he has played only 43 games above High-A and had a nearly 13% swinging strike rate in Double-A, so this may be a similar situation to Nick Kurtz as well, where we see good power but some stretches where the swing-and-miss takes over as he adjusts to MLB pitching.

Jake Meyers – OF, HOU: 10% rostered
(SPEED UPSIDE, STARTING JOB)

Two weeks ago, I published an article on hitters who were being more aggressive and swinging at the first pitch more often this year than last year. Myers popped up for me on that leaderboard, and I explained in detail why I’m a fan of his new approach, so you should read that article to check out the analysis; however, I think he’s a solid add for steals and something close to a .270 batting average. Fantasy managers in deep leagues could also gamble on recent Rangers call-up Alejandro Osuna – OF, TEX (1% rostered), who is joining the big league team after Joc Pederson fractured his hand. Osuna impressed in spring training but was sent to Double-A to start the season. After hitting .283 with two home runs and seven steals in 31 games, he was promoted to Triple-A, where he has slashed .259/.474/.444 in eight games with two steals and an 8/9 K/BB ratio. Any time you have a young player who is walking more than he’s striking out, that’s always eye-catching, and Osuna has shown good plate discipline in the minors. He had 18 home runs and 17 steals in 102 games last year, so there is some modest power and speed here, and the lineup around him will be good. The big question is how much you buy his current contact gains because he had an 11.4% swinging strike rate in Double-A last year, and if that hitter shows up, he might be eaten alive in the big leagues. Expect him to take the Joc Pederson role as a strong-side platoon bat, but he can play good defense, so there’s a chance Osuna works himself into a bigger role if he produces.

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Nolan Schanuel – 1B, LAA: 10% rostered
(BATTING AVERAGE UPSIDE, HOT STREAK)

Nolan Schanuel has always intrigued me because he’s a big dude at 6’2″, 220 pounds who makes an elite amount of contact (87% overall) and a good feel for the strike zone. He’s just 23 years old, and so I tell myself a story where he continues to get comfortable in the big leagues and works himself into a 15-20 home run batting with a strong batting average, kind of like Nathaniel Lowe. So far this season, he has just three home runs, and the exit velocities are not there to suggest power growth. However, the contact skills remain elite, and he’s hitting .333/.442/.431 in 21 games in May with 15 runs scored and five RBI while hitting second every day for an Angels team that has come alive a little bit. Mike Trout is also set to come back in the next week or two, which means Schanuel could continue to be a solid source of batting average and runs into the summer months.

Addison Barger – 3B/OF, TOR: 6% rostered
(PLAYING TIME OPPORTUNITY, POWER UPSIDE)

I was a fan of Addison Barger in the spring when he was all over the spring training leaderboards, and then I read about how the Blue Jays tried to change his swing upon his arrival in the big leagues and how it didn’t work. He has now gone back to a more “free” swing that he says stops him from overthinking in the box and just lets him be loose. We obviously love to hear that, and I think Barger has a profile that the Blue Jays need. So many of their hitters are contact-first bats (Bichette, Clement, Springer, Kirk). I think Barger is a nice fit as more of a pull-heavy hitter who tries to do damage when he swings. That may lead to a .240-.250 type of hitter, but I believe in his batted ball quality and think he could push to be the Blue Jays’ third baseman for the season. I also think it’s time we take what Brett Baty – 3B, NYM (9% rostered) is doing more seriously. In 14 games since being called back up from Triple-A, Baty is hitting .326/.356/.698 with five home runs and 13 RBI. He’s also pulling the ball nearly 50% of the time as he starts to get a little more aggressive in the batter’s box. That’s huge for him because a lot of his early-season struggles were connected to being too passive and getting himself into terrible counts. With Mark Vientos continuing to look lost a third base, there’s a real chance for Baty to emerge as the regular third baseman for the Mets.

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Denzel Clarke – OF, ATH: 1% rostered
(PROSPECT CALL UP, SPEEDUPSIDE)

The Athletics called up Denzel Clarke to the big league roster on Friday morning after their team stated they wanted to prioritize his elite defense in center field. From a fantasy perspective, Denzel Clarke can run. He had 36 steals last year and was off to a strong start in Triple-A, hitting .286/.436/419 with seven steals in 133 plate appearances. As you can tell from that slash line, there was basically no power as he went to a more ground ball-heavy approach this year has helped curb his swing and miss and lower his strikeout rate. There is some pop in his bat, but this new approach would make him an OK source if batting average with some speed, which kind of keeps him to deep leagues only for now. The Nationals also called up Robert Hassell III – OF, WAS (6% rostered) after having to place both Jacob Young and Dylan Crews on the IL. The former top prospect, who is one of the players who came over in the Juan Soto trade years ago, was hitting .288 with four home runs, nine steals, and a .742 OPS in Triple-A this season. He had made clear gains in his exit velocity and shown a little bit more pop than in years past. I don’t expect him to hit for much power at the big league level, but, like Clarke, he could also hit for a solid average with speed. I’d rather have Clarke because the lineup and ballpark are better, and I think he’ll have a longer leash.

Waiver Wire Pitchers

Gavin Williams – SP, CLE: 40% rostered
Gavin Williams is back! The right-hander started mixing in his cutter and a new sinker over his last three starts, and the results have taken off. I recorded a video on him here, so I encourage you to watch that for more detail.

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Hayden Birdsong – SP, SF: 34% rostered
Birdsong moved into the Giants’ rotation with Jordan Hicks moving to the bullpen. The right-hander had a great spring training and showed off improved command that had him on the verge of winning a starting spot in the rotation. However, he was sent down to the minors and then returned to pitch out of the bullpen, where he produced a solid 2.31 ERA in 23.1 innings. He did have a 1.3 WHIP over that stretch, which is not ideal, so command may still be something we need to keep an eye on here, even if he didn’t have any issues with it in his first start. Even if I’m not 100% sold on Birdsong, he has a four-pitch mix and plenty of swing-and-miss in the arsenal, so he’s worth a gamble if he can carry over these command gains. I do still prefer his teammate Landen Roupp – SP, SF (20% rostered), who was struggling with efficiency in his first outings, but has settled down a bit lately. He has more swing and miss upside, in my eyes, and I’m always a sucker for that.

Eury Perez – SP, MIA: 32% rostered
Eury Perez was up to 61 pitches in his last rehab start at Triple-A on Thursday. He only threw 37 of those pitches for strikes, but he struck out seven and showed off a new sinker that should help him as a second fastball variation and a pitch to attack righties with inside. I would expect Perez to likely make one or two more rehab starts, and his chances of wins are not going to be great in Miami, but there are few pitchers with his upside on the waiver wire. Richard Fitts – SP, BOS (3% rostered) also made his first rehab start after being on the IL with a pectoral injury. With Tanner Houck on the IL, I expect Fitts to come back and take Hunter Dobbins’ place in the rotation. He may only need to make one more rehab start, so if you have the space to stash a pitcher, now could be the time.

Tommy Kahnle – RP, DET: 32% rostered
I guess people don’t want to add Kahnle because he doesn’t throw hard, and the Tigers mix and match their late-inning relievers, but Kahnle has looked good so far, and Detroit has no problem running out a closer who doesn’t have elite strikeout upside or a big fastball. Kahnle has five saves and a 0.61 ERA in 14 appearances so far this year, so I’m scooping if he’s available. However, just note that the Tigers like to use Kahnle in high-leverage situations, which will also mean save opportunities for Will Vest – RP, DET (40% rostered), who is worth an add if you need saves as well. I know Vest blew an opportunity two weeks ago, which made him one of the most dropped players in Yahoo formats, but he has allowed just four runs on 10 hits in 17 innings this season. He’ll still be back in high-leverage innings and will get some save chances.

Bubba Chandler – SP, PIT: 32% rostered
It seems like it’s only a matter of time before Bubba Chandler is up in the Pirates rotation. He has dominated the level this year, and now that the super two deadline has passed, the Pirates can call him up and still retain an extra year of control over him. This is also right around the time they called up Paul Skenes last year, and they saw that it was enough time for him to win and our rookie of the year, and the Pirates another draft pick. I know waiting is hard, but if you have the bench space for a stash, I think Chandler is the one.

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Shelby Miller – RP, ARI: 29% rostered
Justin Martinez is back and throwing 100 mph, but he also gave up two runs on Saturday, so I think it’s premature to assume that Martinez will simply be given the closer’s role. There’s a good chance they use Miller to help lessen some of Martinez’s workload after coming back, by using him in the eighth inning or mixing in Miller for some save opportunities as well. If somebody in your league has dropped Miller, I’d put in a small bid just until we see how this situation plays out.

Ryan Weathers – SP, MIA: 26% rostered
Weathers has come back and had to face the Cubs twice, but looked great against them both times. His spring training velocity has held, and he’s struck out nine while walking just one in 10 innings, which is command that we love to see. He has gone only five innings in each start, and things don’t get much easier for him against San Diego this week, but Weathers should be up around 90 pitches in that start, and he has looked really strong so far through two starts. I like him as an upside play.

Cade Horton – SP, CHC: 21% rostered
It’s been a fine start to Horton’s MLB career with seven runs allowed on 17 hits in his first 14.1 innings with 10 strikeouts and three walks. In his last two starts, I have been heartened to see him lean into his changeup and curveball more and even throw a few sinkers. That’s a true five-pitch mix that he’ll continue to gain confidence in the more he pitches to big league hitters. The upcoming schedule is also enticing as he gets his feet wet at this level, so Horton remains a solid add for now, even if we don’t know how long he’ll remain in the rotation.

Lucas Giolito – SP, BOS: 16% rostered
Giolito had a great start on Saturday against the Orioles as he continues to alternate between strong starts and bad starts. Remember that he missed all of last season following elbow surgery, so that inconsistency shouldn’t be a surprise. What we should be focusing on is the fact that his velocity is up around 94 mph on the four-seam fastball and, after his bad start in the rain, he changed the grip on his slider and has started to gain more confidence in the pitch. That’s making him a three-pitch guy with a curve that he can mix in as well. I still think Giolito is not getting nearly enough respect.

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Daniel Palencia – RP, CHC: 9% rostered
The Cubs placed Porter Hodge on the IL with an oblique injury and then immediately gave their first two save opportunities to Palencia. He blew one of them and converted the other. The right-hander has limited experience and some previous control concerns, but he throws hard and has a 2.16 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and 16/7 K/BB ratio on the season. However, before we spend big money on him in FAAB, we also have to acknowledge that Ryan Pressly has had decent numbers apart from his one blow-up outing, and we’re seeing a resurgence for Drew Pomeranz – RP, CHC (7% rostered), who should also work into the mix against left-handed batters. You can pick up either of those guys, but just keep the bids modest.

Slade Cecconi – SP, CLE (3% rostered)
Cecconi has had two really good starts since he joined the rotation with Ben Lively out for the season with an elbow injury. I covered Cecconi’s increased velocity and new pitch mix in my starting pitcher column for this week, so I’d encourage you to check that out for my thoughts.

STREAMING STARTER PITCHERS

MUST BE 40% ROSTERED ON YAHOO OR UNDER (ranked in loose order)