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.
In today’s column, we’re going to explore Matt Manning’s recent dominance — and strong matchup on Wednesday — along with a potential breakout happening for Nelson Velázquez.
PICKUPS OF THE DAY
Matt Manning, SP, Tigers
Available in 73 percent of Yahoo leagues
While he doesn’t have the highest prospect pedigree of all the intriguing young arms that have made their way through the Tigers’ system in recent years – and his strikeout upside is sorely lacking – Matt Manning has actually done a terrific job when he has actually been able to take the hill.
Injuries have limited him to just 14 starts on the season, but during that time he has registered a 3.62 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and a 49/20 K/BB ratio across 77 innings. When we narrow the focus a bit, he has been even better as of late – with a minuscule 0.38 ERA and 0.68 WHIP over 23 2/3 frames over his last four starts. During that stretch, he has gone at least 5 1/3 innings in each start (and six or more in his last three) – while allowing a total of just one run, a solo homer against the Guardians on August 19.
Most of his struggles this season have come against left-handed hitters – which bodes well for Wednesday’s matchup since the Yankees’ lineup is overloaded with right-handed hitters. He’s not going to rack up a huge strikeout total, but his chances of delivering a quality start are high with solid win equity as well. As a streaming option at this point of the season, you can’t ask for a whole lot more.
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Nelson Velázquez, OF, Royals
Available in 98 percent of Yahoo leagues
We’re going deep here with a player that’s rostered in only two percent of Yahoo leagues at the moment, but for good reason. The 24-year-old outfielder has been getting regular run in the Royals’ outfield and has responded very favorably.
Since joining the Royals, he has hit .254/.303/.634 with eight homers and 15 RBI in only 76 plate appearances — including long balls in each of his last two ballgames. That type of power production just isn’t easy to find on the waiver wire, especially from someone who is so widely available.
It could just be a hot streak, though Velázquez has always displayed prodigious power through the minor leagues. Either way, he’s worth grabbing now to ride the power binge until he shows signs of cooling off. You just may back your way into a solid contributor for the all-important stretch run as September draws to a close.
