Welcome to Pickup of the Day, where every weekday we’ll pick an under-the-radar player whose immediate value is on the rise. The idea here is to identify a starter who can give you some solid innings off the scrap heap, a talented backup who’s been given a chance because of a starter’s injury, an unheralded regular with a favorable matchup, or a potential breakout player who’s starting to put it together. Unlike regular waiver-wire advice, Pickup of the Day is geared more towards interim success, but hopefully we’ll have the intuition to help you snag a waiver-wire gem a few times this season.
With Chase Whitley heading to the disabled list for an extended period of time with a partially torn UCL in his right elbow, there is an opening in the Yankees rotation for the foreseeable future. Enter 36-year-old southpaw Chris Capuano who just happened to be finishing up his minor league rehab assignment at the same time. He’ll slide right into the rotation for the Bombers and will make his first start on Sunday against the Royals in Kansas City. He has always had the ability to miss bats, as evidenced by his 7.48 career strikeout rate, and his xFIP has been 3.97 or below in each of his last four seasons. While he isn’t going to slide right in and dominate, he should hold plenty of mixed league value as a matchup play or bottom of the rotation starter, and he can likely be plucked off of waivers or through FAAB for a tiny acquisition cost.
