Of course, on the day I say that adding Oliver Drake would be beneficial, he goes out there and takes the loss. It actually started a slight three-game skid for the Rays and he hasn’t pitched since Wednesday. I’m not going to dwell too much on it as I think he has a shot to rebound. But it’s the weekend so let’s enjoy a little breakfast and dive into the Waivers to attack this short season head-on. Remember, I’m trying not to repeat players from previous articles so do give Wednesday's Article a read as well.
Zach Plesac (CLE – SP) Plesac is still available in about 35-40% of leagues depending on the website and I’m confused as to why. He looked awesome in his first start of the year against the White Sox. He pitched eight innings and struck out 11. In the first week back for baseball, he truly had a dominant performance, which we can’t say we’ve seen too much of. He gets another matchup in Cincinnati on Monday and then draws the White Sox again next Saturday for two starts in one week. Seems like a no-brainer if he’s available, right?
Joey Bart (SF – C) What started as a fun late-round, Mock Draft Army faux pas has turned into a movement. The Joey Bart hype is real. I was caught off guard when he didn’t make the active roster to start the year. But after all, the move made sense. By withholding him from the big league roster for a portion of the abbreviated season, the Giants retain his rights for an extra year. With Buster Posey sitting out 2020, the writing was on the wall for Bart. He was the second overall pick just two years ago and he was impressive in Spring Training. The Giants played the “he needs more time to develop” card, but that’s malarkey. This is the perfect time to give him experience at the big league level. He can now be called up without accruing a year of service time. Give the people what they want. The people want Joey Bart .
James Karinchak (CLE – RP) The Indians think a lot of Karinchak. He’s viewed as the closer of the future for this team, and the future could be coming quite fast. He’s really only been a two-pitch kind of player the last couple seasons as he relied heavily on his fastball and slider. And his fastball wasn’t all that devastating. Last season his fastball averaged 92.7mph and now it’s down to 90.9 after an elbow injury last season has seemingly lingered into 2020. Karinchak got the save on Thursday and has five strikeouts in four innings of work. Hand does have two saves on the year but has also allowed four earned runs in 2.1 innings of work so far. This isn’t the year to stay committed to struggling relievers so I’m adding Karinchak in a few leagues. For the same reason, you should also give Daniel Hudson of the Nationals a look if he’s available. Hudson’s averaging nearly a strikeout per inning with Washington and he got the save on Thursday.
Brady Singer (KC – SP) He’s not the sexiest name available on waivers. Sure, Jon Lester looked good in five innings on Monday. Adam Wainwright looked solid against the Pirates but it’s unclear if the Cardinals will play this weekend. Singer’s been serviceable through two starts on the season. The Royals’ 2018 first-round pick has tossed five innings in each of his two starts. That’s not going terribly deep into games, but he’s reaching the point to be eligible for a win. Overall, he’s allowed four runs in ten innings with ten strikeouts. He’ll have a tough outing early next week against the Cubs, but he might be worth stashing if he ends up with two starts this week.
Teoscar Hernández (TOR – OF) Hernandez is a tough read because, currently, the Blue Jays won’t be playing baseball this weekend. Toronto was scheduled to host the Phillies this weekend, but the series has been cancelled. So, if you pick him up you have to finish the week without him. Considering the next waiver article doesn’t come out until Wednesday, I think I’d like to play it safe and include him here to get ahead of the game. He’s bounced around hitting sixth, seventh, and even leadoff for a few games, but he has four home runs and a pair of steals on the year. The time off may mean he’s cooling off, but I’ll take a shot if looking for some depth in five-outfielder leagues.
Nate Pearson (TOR – SP) Pearson was mentioned a week ago and he’s one of the best pitching options available on waivers. He’s a top prospect, but at the same time he won’t be pitching for a few days since the Blue Jays’ series against the Phillies was postponed. Still keep him in mind as he’s available in about 40% of ESPN leagues.
Hanser Alberto (BAL – 2B, 3B) Everybody and their mom were on board with Alberto in DFS the other night. Apparently, he rakes against lefties and Twitter was ablaze with people claiming “I told you so.” DFS Twitter at its finest, really. But it’s true. He does hit southpaws very well. He already has four multi-hit games on the short season and has home runs in back-to-back games. He provides some depth at both middle-and-corner infield slots so currently he’s a pretty useful option in fantasy.
Jackie Bradley Jr. (BOS – OF) JBJ has cooled off from his 8-for-14 start to the year as he’s 0-for-9 in his last three games. However, he’s always been a streaky player. When he’s on fire, he’s awesome. When he sucks, then you drop him. This is the perfect season for that kind of player given the need to be cavalier on waivers. He doesn’t have any home runs yet, but when he hits them, they tend to come in bunches. The nice thing about him is that he’s tending to get a good amount of playing time.
Daulton Varsho (ARI – C) Varsho’s a pretty intriguing add in the deepest of leagues at the catcher position. He doesn’t have a ton of ownership at the moment because he made his 2020 debut in a pinch-hitting scenario on Thursday where he drew a walk. But last year in Double-A he hit 18 dingers and swiped 21 bags. Chase Field may not be the hitter haven it once was (thanks humidor), but it can still cater to hitters and Varsho is a well-regarded prospect by Arizona. It’s unclear how many plate appearances he’ll get at the moment, but he was recently called up and should get a shot.
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TJ Friedl went 2-for-3 with two solo home runs and a walk in a 4-3 win over the Braves on Wednesday.
This was the ‘TJ Friedl’ show as he opened the game by homering off a hanging curveball from Grant Holmes in a game the Reds would never trail. He took Holmes deep again in his next at-bat and this was his first multi-home run game since August 14th of last season. While his tools will never jump off the page, he’s still hitting lead-off nearly every day for the Reds.
Emilio Pagán allowed one hit and struck out two batters in one inning of work to earn the save against the Braves on Wednesday.
Pagán did well here to put yesterday’s blown save behind him. He worked around a two-out single from Michael Harris to set the Braves down with ease and is running a 31.7% strikeout rate, which would be his highest since way back in 2019. The team clearly still trusts him to be their guy in the ninth inning.
Drake Baldwin went 2-for-3 with a solo home run on Wednesday against the Reds.
Baldwin’s solo home run in the fifth inning started the Braves comeback that would eventually be for naught, but he has managed to keep hitting despite falling into a back-up role since Sean Murphy returned from injury. He’s only playing one of every three games – very standard for a back-up catcher – yet has maintained some relevance in two-catcher formats with his .796 OPS on the season and three home runs in his last 15 starts.
Grant Holmes allowed seven hits and four runs with one walk and five strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in a loss to the Reds on Wednesday.
TJ Friedl burned Holmes for a lead-off home run on a hanging curveball and not much came easily after that. Friedl got Holmes for another homer in his next at-bat and in all, he’d given up four runs through the first four innings. He did manage to pitch into the sixth inning though and still forced 12 swings-and-misses, but that curveball command was spotty all game and forced him to lean on his slider a bit more than he would’ve liked. He’s set for a two-start week against the Nationals and then Red Sox in Fenway Park.
Orioles acquired RHP Luis F. Castillo from the Mariners for cash considerations.
Castillo heads to Triple-A Norfolk as quality extra starting pitching depth for the Orioles, who are struggling to find solutions for the back of their rotation which currently features struggling veterans Charlie Morton and Kyle Gibson. The 30-year-old righty holds a career 5.06 ERA in five appearances (two starts) in the majors.
Orioles designated LHP Walter Pennington for assignment.
Pennington has been jettisoned from Baltimore’s 40-man roster to make room for the club to acquire Luis F. Castillo from the Mariners. The 27-year-old lefty was claimed off waivers last week from the Rangers.