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.
In today’s column, we’re going to look at another pair of underrated performers who simply aren’t getting the love that they deserve from the fantasy community at large.
PICKUPS OF THE DAY
Ryan Jeffers, C, Twins
Available in 94 percent of Yahoo leagues
Finding solid, stable production from the catcher position in fantasy leagues can seem like a Herculean task at times – especially in two-catcher formats. Rarely do quality all-around options emerge on the waiver wire during the season. That’s why it’s especially interesting that the Twins’ hot-hitting backstop is still rostered in only six percent of all Yahoo leagues.
Ryan Jeffers has seemingly wrestled the starting job away from Christian Vazquez over the past month, and is also seeing time in the designated hitter spot when he’s not behind the dish. On the season, the 26-year-old backstop is hitting a stellar .291/.386/.508 with nine homers, 25 RBI and three stolen bases. If you narrow that focus a bit though, it gets even better. Over his last 23 games dating back to June 20, Jeffers is slashing an absurd .377/.435/.675 with six homers, 15 RBI and all three of his stolen bases.
He’s not the type of player that’s going to win you your league necessarily, but he could wind up providing a major increase in production over the final two months of the season. If you’re not sitting on one of the truly elite options at the position and are suffering through mediocre production every week, rush out to the wire and grab Jeffers today.
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Johan Oviedo, SP, Pirates
Available in 66 percent of Yahoo leagues
Pitchers on the Pirates don’t typically get a lot of love or attention from a fantasy perspective – partly because their struggling offense struggles to generate enough runs for them to earn victories on a consistent basis. It’s time that we took Johan Oviedo a bit more seriously though.
The 25-year-old hurler is putting together a very solid season for the Bucs – much better than his 6-11 record would indicate. Through his first 23 starts, Oviedo has registered a 4.18 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and a 117/54 K/BB ratio across 131 1/3 innings. That’s decent production, good enough for a middle or bottom of the rotation starter in most mixed leagues, but nothing that jumps off the page as someone we should be in a rush to add.
That season-long line includes his early-season struggles and a couple of major clunkers along the way. Since the All-Star break though, he has been a different pitcher. In five starts since the Mid-Summer Classic, Oviedo has compiled a 2.32 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and a 30/14 K/BB ratio over 31 innings of work. Clearly, that’s much better than waiver wire fodder.
Those five starts came against a decent range of competition – two at home against the Giants and Tigers, and three on the road at the Angels, Padres and Brewers. Given the risk of blow-ups this season, you may want to sit him down against the top offenses in the league, but otherwise he looks like a terrific streaming option and someone that could provide a nice boost over the final two months of the season.
He’s lined up to take on the Reds at home on Friday, then will get the Mets in New York, the Cardinals at home, the Cubs at home and the Cardinals in St. Louis before finally taking on the Braves in Atlanta in early September. Seems like a pretty nice stretch in which he should deliver quality production before sitting him against the Braves.
