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 Mets have been using Logan Verrett as a spot starter off and on over the last month as a means to keep the workloads of their other starters in check. He’s getting another shot this week, this time filling in for Jon Niese, who is transitioning to the bullpen. The matchup for Verrett is a juicy one, as he’ll square off against the offensively-feeble Phillies. Verrett has posted a 3.00 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 14/3 K/BB ratio over 18 innings in his three starts for the Mets and is a viable streamer this week.
