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.
The Rangers expect to get Jurickson Profar (shoulder) back at the beginning of next month, but they decided they could no longer put up with the sickly production they’ve received from second base to this point. That meant the promotion of top prospect Rougned Odor. Just 20 years old, Odor is making the jump to the big leagues from Double-A Frisco, where he was batting .279/.314/.450 with six home runs and six stolen bases over his first 32 games. He has some stolen base chops and some pop, having hit .305/.365/.474 with 11 homers and 32 steals between High- and Double-A in 2013. Odor didn’t come up to sit, so he should play regularly over the next month until Profar is ready.
