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.
Padres second baseman Jedd Gyorko was a mess for the first few months of the season and ranked among the most-dropped players in Yahoo fantasy leagues by the time he was placed on the disabled list in early June with a bad case of plantar fasciitis. But it's time to give the 25-year-old another look. Gyorko went 4-for-4 with two doubles and two singles Wednesday in the Padres' defeat of the Rockies and is now batting .333/.387/.526 in 62 plate appearances since returning from the DL on July 28. He's capable of keeping this going through the end of the season.