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.
Twins closer Glen Perkins crumbled down the stretch in 2015, showed diminished velocity all spring, and blew his first save opportunity of the 2016 season on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City. Now he’s on the disabled list -- without a recovery timetable -- because of a left posterior shoulder strain. Filling in first on save chances -- if the Twins ever get another one -- will probably be 31-year-old right-hander Kevin Jepsen, who registered a 2.33 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 59/27 K/BB ratio in 69 2/3 innings last season between Minnesota and Tampa Bay. He had a 2.63 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 75 strikeouts in 65 innings with the Angels in 2014. If the Jepsen experiment doesn’t work, the Twins might turn to former top prospect Trevor May. They should probably focus on grabbing a lead first.
