We’re now officially more than one quarter of the way through the MLB season and it’s getting increasingly difficult to find standout players on the waiver wire.
So, we need to look a bit deeper to find gems. Fear not, because there are still a handful of available players that have the chance to be difference makers in both the short and long term.
The Cardinals and Twins each bring eight-game winning streaks into the new week.
D.J. Short
D.J. Short
Here are three players that are under 40% rostered on Yahoo leagues that you should strongly consider adding.
If you want a larger list, Eric Samulski wrote his extended waiver wire piece on Sunday.
Bubba Chandler, SP Pirates
(30% Rostered on Yahoo)
Chandler’s debut is likely imminent. Mainly because he’s proven everything he needs to at Triple-A with a 2.00 ERA over 67 1/3 innings split between the last two seasons with 95 strikeouts and 26 walks.
Apart from those great results, his stuff is incredible. Chandler’s fastball sits in the upper-90s and routinely touches triple digits with great rising action. It has a 42% whiff rate this season in the minors and we can trust itspotential to be one of the best handful of fastballs by any starting pitcher in the league immediately when he’s called up.
Otherwise, his most reliable secondary pitch is a slider that averages 88 mph with great bite. He’s also comfortable with his changeup – a big deal for pitchers who are making the jump to the majors – and has more than doubled the usage of his curveball at triple-A this season compared to last.
Again, the stuff or matter of readiness is not in question. This just comes down to when the Pirates call Chandler’s number, and it could be very soon if they follow the same plan they used last year with Paul Skenes.
Similar to Chandler, Skenes was tormenting Triple-A batters last April and we all knew he’d be in the big leagues before long.
Pittsburgh waited until after the Super Two deadline in early May, which is the annual cut-off that determines whether a player begins the arbitration process after two or three years of service time, and scheduled Skenes for a home game against a division rival. That was Saturday, May 11th against the Cubs.
Now, again, we’re in early May, the Pirates’ next esteemed pitching prospect is on fire, and they have a seven-game homestand coming up next week against the Reds and Brewers.
With their season spinning out of control after the early firing of manager Derek Shelton and a last-place 14-28 record, the organization will be looking for a spark both on and off the field.
Chandler is that spark and he needs to be stashed away on more rosters with an increasing likelihood he debuts sooner rather than later.
Ryan Weathers, SP Marlins
(13% Rostered on Yahoo)
One of the most popular breakout picks from this spring, Weathers is set to make his season debut this coming Wednesday against the Cubs.
While inconsistent and sometimes unimpressive in the past, he showed off improved stuff this spring and that makes him an intriguing flier.
Weathers generated buzz in March when he was tossing 99 mph fastballs with around 20 inches of induced vertical break after previously sitting in the mid-90s with a relatively unimpressive shape.
Only five qualified left-handed starting pitchers in the league right now – Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet, Jesús Luzardo, Cole Ragans, and MacKenzie Gore – average 95 mph or harder with their fastball. Weathers will join this list when he returns.
He’ll also show a sweeper, slider, changeup, and sinker off that fastball. He threw each at least 14% of the time in his most recent rehab outing and all five pitches exhibited the same extra life they had during spring training before his forearm strain.
Before that injury, his average draft position jumped from around pick 400 in February to nearly inside the top-250 just before he went down. Based on that momentum, there was likely more helium to come, too. The market was telling us that he was inching his way into being viewed as a top-50 type of pitcher.
Now, he’s set to return and the stuff looks exactly as it did when he had all that momentum. Great stuff, great home park, and a guaranteed rotation spot means he should be rostered in more places than he is right now.
Hunter Dobbins, SP Red Sox
(7% Rostered on Yahoo)
The Red Sox have a decision to make next week.
Walker Buehler is set to return from the injured list. Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito have come back healthy and that trio plus Garrett Crochet gives them 80% of a solid rotation.
That leaves just one spot between the upstart Dobbins and Tanner Houck.
Dobbins has been solid as a 25-year-old rookie who’s made four scattered, spot-starts over the course of the season. He’s reached the sixth inning in three of those four starts with a 2.78 ERA, 19.8% strikeout rate and 4.2% walk rate.
His low strikeout number hints that these strong results may not have much staying power, but he’s been excellent at limiting damage due to tremendous command and a deep arsenal that includes two distinct sliders, a curveball, and a splitter.
All four of those secondary pitches have a plus movement profile and gives him multiple weapons to attack hitters from each side of the plate with. Also, they help to cover up his four-seam fastball, which doesn’t miss many bats despite sitting at 95 mph.
Then, we have Houck, who has a major-league worst 8.04 ERA and is coming off a 2 1/3 innings, 11 earned run catastrophe against the Tigers on Monday. Shockingly, it was the second time this season he’s allowed 11 earned runs in fewer than three innings of work.
Houck has gotten into trouble this season because he’s failed to develop a method for facing left-handed batters. He has a solid sinker and sweeper combo, but that’s really it. Neither of those pitches often perform well for right-handed pitchers against left-handed batters and they’ve allowed a .633 and .690 slugging percentage for Houck, respectively.
Dobbins will face this same Tigers team on Wednesday and a start significantly better than Houck’s could give him a leg up in the race for the fifth starter spot that will be decided soon.
Given Dobbins’ pitch-ability and Houck’s more stuff-centric approach, Houck is better suited for the bullpen anyway. Dobbins is a solid speculative add at the moment with an increased likelihood he’ll be able to stick in this rotation.
Just be mindful of how difficult of a place Fenway Park is to pitch and if Dobbins is on your team, use him more so as a streamer away from home or only at home in favorable matchups.
