Greetings fantasy baseball enthusiasts and grinders, and welcome to another fine edition of our fantastic Pickups of the Day column.
A friendly reminder, this space is designed to help fantasy managers find a handful of widely-available targets. It could be 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 uncover it and bring it your way.
This is the hardest time of the year to find impact additions off the waiver wire, as nearly all fantasy managers are still active and trying to improve their squads, whereas later in the season some fall off due to attrition and it can be easier to find talent.
Today, we’re looking at a couple of players who were once promising up-and-coming prospects, but fell off of the fantasy radar completely in recent seasons – only to make a major comeback it seems to start the 2023 campaign.
PICKUPS OF THE DAY
Franchy Cordero, OF, Yankees
Available in 90 percent of Yahoo leagues
The 28-year-old outfielder entered the 2023 season as a career .221/.290/.386 hitter with 21 homers, 73 RBI and 13 stolen bases over 726 plate appearances across six big league seasons. The intriguing blend of power and speed was always present, it was simply a matter of making consistent contact and landing an everyday role.
Fortunately for Cordero, he has done both so far to start the 2023 season. He has seized the Yankees’ starting job in left field – at least in the strong side of a platoon against right-handed pitching – and has made the absolute most of his opportunity. Cordero homered again on Wednesday – a game-tying solo shot off of Trevor Stephan in the seventh inning – as the Yankees defeated the Guardians.
He has now swatted long balls in four of his last five ballgames and is slashing a solid .280/.333/.800 with four homers and 11 RBI in his first 27 plate appearances. At a minimum, he’s worthy of a look while he’s riding this extreme hot streak, and there’s a real possibility that he’s finally living up to his promise and delivers solid mixed league value for the remainder of the season.
Tanner Houck, SP, Red Sox
Available in 84 percent of Yahoo leagues
After being widely hyped up as the next big thing in the Red Sox rotation for the past several seasons, it seems like Tanner Houck has been the forgotten man heading into the 2023 season. Given how he has looked through his first two starts, it would be a mistake to continue ignoring him.
Though he has only worked five innings in each of his first two outings, he has emerged victorious in each one while registering a 4.50 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and a 9/3 K/BB ratio across 10 innings of work. He’s getting plenty of swings and misses and registered strong CSW’s of 40 and 31 percent in his first two outings respectively – victories over the Orioles and Tigers.
The 26-year-old hurler has a nice schedule coming up – taking on the Angels at home on Friday night, then the Twins at home next Wednesday and the Orioles in Baltimore the following Monday. Given the types of arms that are usually available on the waiver wire this time of year, Houck looks like a must-add given his talent, upside and ability to be an impact arm for the duration of the season.
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