My colleague, George Bissell, reminded us all on Monday that the MLB season is a marathon and not a sprint and that it’s dangerous to chase early-season small sample sizes. I subscribe to that general notion as well, but doing so also acknowledges that waiting for proof means that you are likely to miss out on a few waiver wire gems over the course of a season. It’s a difficult balancing act, but let context and opportunity be your guide this month.
Below are just a few examples of questions you should ask yourself when considering a player on the waiver wire:
Does the player have a clear path to playing time? Are they on the strong side or weak side of a platoon? Are they in a hitter-friendly stadium and/or a loaded lineup? Will they hit high in the lineup? Is there something they offer (power/speed) that my roster lacks?
Our brand-new Pickups of the Day column is designed to help fantasy managers find a handful of widely-available targets. It could be a prospect stash, an injury replacement, a pitcher with a favorable matchup or week, a player who is due some better luck, or any other number of scenarios. If there’s value to be found on the waiver wire, we will uncover it and bring it your way. For today’s edition, I have a rookie hitter and a veteran pitcher to consider.
Pickups of the Day:
Brice Turang SS, Brewers
Available in 85 percent of Yahoo leagues
Turang has come out of the gate strong since making the Brewers’ Opening Day roster, including a monster performance against the Mets on Monday. The 23-year-old connected for a grand slam for his first MLB home run while going 2-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, and two runs scored. He has back-to-back multi-hit games and has hit safely in three out of his four starts thus far.
Okay, so some context. The Luis Urías injury is key here, as he’s slated to miss 6-8 weeks with a hamstring injury. Urias was a bit of a fallback at second base if Turang was to struggle, as the club had the option of using Brian Anderson at third base. Now the path is wide open for the rookie. There’s still a decent chance that Turang will sit against lefties, as we saw when Owen Miller got the start against Justin Steele on Saturday, but he’s on strong side and finds himself in one of the most hitter-friendly stadiums in the game. It also helps that he’s a skilled defender, which should keep him on the field amid the expected ups and downs.
Turang, 23, batted .286/.360/.412 with 13 homers and 34 steals over 131 games for Triple-A Nashville last season. There are still some questions about his power upside, but he showed on Monday that he’s capable of hitting the ball out of the park. Perhaps most interesting in this new state of MLB is that he offers plus-speed. According to Baseball Savant, he ranks in the 96th percentile in sprint speed in the early days of the season. He already has a couple of steals under his belt after swiping three bases over 16 games this spring.
Turang is shortstop-only in many fantasy formats right now, but he should be second base-eligible very soon and makes for a logical gamble as a middle-infielder on many mixed league rosters.
Mike Clevinger SP, White Sox
Available in 67 percent of Yahoo leagues
It was hard to know what to expect from Clevinger going into his season debut against the Astros on Sunday. After MLB’s investigation into domestic abuse allegations concluded without a suspension, the veteran right-hander posted a rough 6.89 ERA in four spring starts while allowing five home runs in just 15 2/3 innings. He was largely off my radar in fantasy drafts, especially coming off a disappointing 4.33 ERA over 114 1/3 innings with the Padres last year, but perhaps he deserves another look in mixed leagues.
Clevinger allowed just three hits over five scoreless innings against the Astros on Sunday. While he walked three batters, he struck out eight and induced 13 swinging strikes in his 98 pitches. What’s interesting is how he got there. Clevinger’s average fastball velocity (94.7 mph) was a full tick higher than his velocity from last season. He also navigated Houston’s lineup relying almost exclusively on a fastball/slider combo. It’s quite a divergence from the varied arsenal we’re used to seeing.
Is this approach sustainable? Will the velocity stick? Both are worthy questions. But Clevinger isn’t far removed from being an impact starter in fantasy leagues and he projects to get the Pirates in his next start. That’s an automatic yes for me.
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