Wave to me if you need help. Sifting the waiver wire is always fun. That is, unless you’re off to a horrible start and your team needs a boatload of work. In that case, waivers are a necessity. However, we should always be looking at ways to improve our team, even if we’re in a good spot.
Here are some players who can help in the immediate future or sometime down the road. Let’s take a look at some options to consider grabbing off waivers.
OF – Akil Baddoo
If he’s not already rostered, put a bid on him, especially in five-outfielder leagues. Baddoo is a former second-round draft pick by the Minnesota Twins who got his career started with a bang. He homered on the very first pitch he saw and hasn’t looked back since. The Tigers aren’t exactly swimming with depth, so he should get regular playing time unless he goes through an extended slump. So far, he’s hitting .313 with two bombs, one stolen base, and a 1.165 OPS.
OF – Tim Locastro
On Saturday, Locastro went 4-for-5 with two runs and stole a base. The swiped bag made him 28-for-28 to start his career, which broke Tim Raines‘s record for most consecutive successful steals to open a career. He’s hit leadoff in each of the last four games. This could be a sign of things to come with Ketel Marte sidelined with an injury. If you need stolen bases, Locastro is a solid source.
OF – Tyler Naquin
Naquin is off to a red-hot start, tied for the Major League lead with five long balls. Along with the power surge, he’s consistently made loud contact, ranking in the top five percent in many Statcast categories, including barrel percent, hard-hit percent, max exit velocity, xBA, xwOBA, and xSLG. He’s been hitting atop the Reds’ lineup lately, but there are still some playing time concerns with the team’s lineup crunch between Naquin, Jesse Winker, and Nick Senzel. Don’t blow your entire budget on him, but he’s definitely one you could throw a couple of dollars on.
SP – Huascar Ynoa
Ynoa has some interesting life to his pitches. He gets a matchup against the Miami Marlins and then the Chicago Cubs later in the week. While the Cubs don’t sound like an enticing matchup, they have the worst team batting average in baseball (.168) and the second-worst whiff rate (32 percent). Ynoa is coming off a five-inning, two-hit, scoreless start against the Nationals in which his breaking ball looked wicked. The Marlins and Cubs could both be in trouble.
SP – Kyle Gibson
I’m going to put myself through the Kyle Gibson spin cycle again. The strikeout stuff has always been there for him, but he fails to put together good starts consistently. So far, that is once again the case. He failed to get through the first inning against Kansas City, allowing five earned runs on four hits while walking three batters. Then, his last time out, he went six shutout innings and struck out eight with only one walk. Which Gibson we will get is anybody’s guess, but I’m going to play the matchup game. He’s probable to make two starts this week. The first comes against the Tampa Bay Rays in a good park for pitching and the other against the Baltimore Orioles. His teammate, Dane Dunning, could be a solid stream as well.
RP – Emmanuel Clase
James Karinchak was always being drafted far too early for a pitcher with an uncertain role. The Cleveland Indians seemed to be content mixing and matching (as do most other teams at this point), but Clase is beginning to take hold of the closer job. He picked up his first save of the year Sunday and has been downright filthy, not even allowing a hit to this point. If he’s available, grab him immediately.
RP – Yimi Garcia
Searching for saves? Yeah, we pretty much all are, and that’s why there are a bunch of relievers in this week’s column. If you were smart, you spent a late-round draft pick on Garcia with the knowledge this could be a possibility. Anthony Bass has looked pretty horrible thus far, allowing seven hits and six earned runs while blowing two save chances.
Garcia might not be the most finished product, but he does have talent. He took another step forward last season, finishing with a 0.60 ERA and not allowing a home run. Homers were an issue for him in 2019 when he gave up 14 bombs. He was able to trim the fly ball rate down to only 13.9 percent, which is something he’ll need to continue to keep the closer job that seems to be his now. Garcia picked up the save for the Marlins on Saturday with a scoreless ninth inning against the Mets.
For more on Garcia, check out this story from prior to last season.
RP – Lou Trivino
The Oakland Athletics went out and spent money on a closer, signing Trevor Rosenthal to a one-year, $11 million contract. That signing isn’t looking good now as Rosenthal underwent thoracic outlet surgery and was placed on the 60-day injured list. Jake Diekman was the favorite to take over the job in the offseason and the favorite to step in as the lead closer in Rosenthal’s place. However, he has been shaky, allowing seven hits and three earned runs in four appearances.
RP – Corey Knebel
Get out ahead of this if you have space on your roster. Kenley Jansen is still the Los Angeles Dodgers’ closer. Manager Dave Roberts avoided answering directly when questioned about his decision to use Knebel over Jansen in the team’s save opportunity on Friday against the Nationals. Knebel slammed the door shut by striking out the side on only 10 pitches.
Possibly putting this idea to bed is the fact that Jansen got the opportunity on Sunday and pitched a flawless ninth inning, striking out two batters. Nonetheless, Knebel is a former All-Star and picked up 55 saves with the Brewers from 2017-18. He has yet to allow a hit in 4.1 innings, and his velocity is up two ticks from last year (96.5 mph). If you have roster space and can grab him for cheap, stash him in case Jansen struggles later on.
Deep Sleeper Add
P – Michael Kopech
This sounds like a weird one because he’s only being used as a middle reliever right now. However, if the White Sox manage him well throughout the season, there’s an outside chance he’s starting games in the second half. Kopech has been used as a multi-innings eater out of the pen and looks incredible. In 6.1 innings, he’s only allowed one hit, no runs, two walks, and struck out 11 batters. If he doesn’t wind up in the rotation at some point, Kopech could still be useful in deep leagues to help stabilize ratios and pick up strikeouts.
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