Rotoworld’s brand-new Pickups of the Day column is designed to help fantasy managers uncover a handful of widely-available targets over the course of the season. It could be a breakout candidate, 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 find it and bring it your way. Today’s edition features a backstop on the rise in Houston and a hard-throwing right-hander turning his season around in Cincinnati.
Yainer Diaz, C, Astros
Available in 77 percent of Yahoo leagues
It’s an arbitrary endpoint, but Diaz is rapidly establishing himself as one of the better offensive catchers in baseball since the All-Star break, slashing a robust .326/.360/.587 with three homers and 10 RBI across 14 games since the Midsummer Classic. The 24-year-old rookie backstop has put together a solid full-season debut so far, batting .276 with 13 homers and 31 RBI in just 238 plate appearances. With Houston getting next-to-nothing at the dish from defensive stalwart Martín Maldonado, it seems logical to think the club will turn to Diaz more frequently behind the plate over the final two months of the regular season. He’s slowly starting to eat into Maldonado’s workload recently, starting half of the Astros’ previous six contests. Given the dearth of talent at the catching position from a fantasy standpoint, Diaz offers enough all-around offensive talent to merit consideration for a roster spot, especially in deeper mixed leagues, as his role continues to grow in Houston.
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Graham Ashcraft, SP, Reds
Available in 70 percent of Yahoo leagues
It can be difficult to identify streaming targets at this stage of the season, but Ashcraft appears to be in line for an extremely favorable matchup on Friday against the Royals. To be fair, Kansas City is on a bit of a hot streak lately, but that doesn’t change the fact they’ve been one of the worst offenses in baseball this season, ranking next-to-last in runs scored and fourth-worst in OPS. Ashcraft got off to an extremely poor start this season, but has turned things around lately, allowing two earned runs or fewer in six consecutive starts dating back to June 30. At the bare minimum, he represents an interesting streaming candidate for fantasy managers in shallow mixed leagues on Friday night.