Rotoworld’s brand-new Pickups of the Day column is designed to help fantasy managers uncover a handful of widely-available targets over the course of the season. It could be a breakout candidate, 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 find it and bring it your way. Today’s edition features the highly-anticipated arrival of one of baseball’s top pitching prospects in Miami and the meteoric rise of another top prospect in the Bay Area.
Eury Pérez, SP, Marlins
Available in 82 percent of Yahoo leagues
The Marlins’ decision to call up Pérez for his major league debut on Friday against the Reds at loanDepot park in Miami sent shockwaves through the fantasy baseball landscape on Wednesday evening. The towering 6-foot-eight right-hander is universally-regarded as one of the top prospects in baseball and will skip the Triple-A level entirely on his meteoric rise to the big leagues after posting a sparkling 2.32 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 42/9 K/BB ratio across 31 innings (six starts) this season for Double-A Pensacola.
According to JJ Cooper of Baseball America, the 20-year-old phenom will become the youngest starting pitcher to debut in the majors since Julio Urías back in 2016. Only Urías, Félix Hernández and Edwin Jackson debuted at a younger age this century. Just like with any highly-touted pitching prospect, there may be some initial struggles as Pérez adjusts to life in the big leagues. However, given his prospect pedigree, stratospheric strikeout potential, and relatively clear path to a rotation spot in Miami, he’s worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy formats until further notice.
Casey Schmitt, SS, Giants
Available in 94 percent of Yahoo leagues
Schmitt has made some serious noise for the Giants in a pair of games since being called up earlier this week from Triple-A Sacramento where he was slashing a sublime .313/.352/.410 with one homer, 22 RBI and three steals across 145 plate appearances in 32 games this season. The 24-year-old infielder, who has the versatility to play third base and shortstop, homered in his second career at-bat on Tuesday night, taking veteran southpaw Patrick Corbin deep for his first career hit as part of an impressive two-hit performance in his major league debut at Oracle Park in San Francisco. He also singled a couple innings later to record a multi-hit effort. He followed up his remarkable debut with another two-hit effort with a pair of runs scored during Wednesday’s series finale as well. He’ll be given a legitimate opportunity to play regularly for San Francisco, even when veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford returns from the injured list, and certainly offers some appeal for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues.
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