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All week long, we recap the action from around the baseball world each day. During those recaps, we provide winners and losers from the previous day's action, and more importantly, our top waiver-wire picks. These are based on standout performances, injury news, and anything else that might cause a player's value to rise or fall.
Heading into the weekend, we'll recap our top picks, to give you some ideas of who to add before your weekly waiver wire run.
Here are this week's top options, compiled by Heath Cummings, Scott White, and I:
- Max Fried (27%) — With this start, Fried presumably leapfrogs Kyle Wright as the favorite to hold down the fifth starter job once Mike Foltynewicz and Kevin Gausman return from injury, and he of course introduced himself as a viable pickup in mixed leagues.
- Christian Walker (39%) — It's hard to know if Christian Walker is for real. He hit 50 homers in 217 games across his final two Triple-A seasons, but he did it as a 26- and 27-year-old in the PCL. However, with Jake Lamb suffering a quad injury Wednesday, Walker could get the playing time to find out. In Roto leagues, he's worth an add just to find out.
- Spencer Turnbull, SP, DET (8%) — Granted, it was against the Royals, but after a tantalizing spring and season debut, the 26-year-old rookie showed us the full extent of his potential Thursday, striking out 10 in six innings after averaging 10.0 K/9 in the minors last year. Of his 15 swinging strikes, seven came on a cutter, which shows signs of being a plus pitch.
- Niko Goodrum, 2B, DET (57%) — Goodrum is looking more refined after catching the league by surprise by year, having already drawn seven walks while socking six doubles in eight games. He'll soon be triple eligible and isn't a complete zero for stolen bases, which gives him Rotisserie appeal if nothing else.
- Jake Junis, SP, KC (54%) — He issued three walks against the Tigers but is already well established as a control pitcher, so more notable were the eight strikeouts in six innings, giving him 14 in 11 2/3 innings overall. Hard to say yet whether he's actually improved from a year ago, but it's a worthy reminder he was pretty reliable last year apart from a month-long stretch midseason in which he gave up a ton of home runs.
- A.J. Minter, RP, ATL (31%) — Though a save opportunity didn't present itself, the Braves said Minter would have gotten it in his first game off the IL, so it's looking like a split role between him and Arodys Vizcaino. In leagues where saves are scarce, you may have to make do with some of those this year, so check to be sure Minter is rostered.
- Matthew Boyd (57%) — It's just two starts, of course, but he's thrown 183 pitches and has a staggering 22.4 percent swinging strike rate, including 26 against the undermanned Yankees on Wednesday. You can't ignore this kind of performance two starts in a row, and you can probably find a spot for Boyd on your roster. Make it a priority.
- Matt Shoemaker (58%) — Last night was the Shoemaker I've always wanted to see, as he racked up whiffs with his terrific splitter. If he can keep that up, he'll remain Fantasy relevant.
- Carlos Rodon (70%) — One of the most noteworthy trends around baseball this season has seen a continued rise in slider usage league-wide. Maybe Rodon will be the poster boy for that after he threw a whopping 49 of them Wednesday, with 14 swinging strikes.
- Willians Astudillo (67%) — All this guy does when he gets the chance to play is produce. In 108 career plate appearances in the majors, Astudillo has hit .382/.398/.559 with just three strikeouts. No, I don't think he's actually the next Tony Gwynn, but he deserves more playing time, and I'd bet the Twins know it.
- Homer Bailey (4%) — The most unexpected performance of Wednesday was undoubtedly from Bailey, who racked up 16 swinging strikes on 99 pitches, with eight strikeouts in five innings. He used his slider, curveball and splitter more than ever before, and that could help him find success.
- Anthony Swarzak (27%) — Swarzak made his debut off the Injured List on Tuesday night and immediately picked up his first save in relief of Marco Gonzales. He doesn't have the stuff to be a truly elite closer but there are no other relievers in Seattle who do, and we we may not see Hunter Strickland again until June.
- Jordan Zimmermann (40%) — I'm still not sure he's all the way back to his pre-2016 self, but you need to use a roster spot to find out. In two starts he's thrown 13.2 innings, allowing just one run. His only walk was intentional. The strikeouts aren't there, but they really weren't there when he was good either.
- Rowdy Tellez (15%) — Tellez homered again on Tuesday night and now has a .999 OPS in 86 career major league plate appearances. I feel confident he's not going to keep that up, but he did hit five home runs this spring and post a .908 OPS. At the very least, Tellez needs to be owned in any league where you employ a corner infielder.
- Adam Jones (69%) — Maybe he's not done after all. With the injury to Steven Souza, it sure looks like Jones has a full-time job, and with the way he's hitting it sure looks like he deserves one. Jones is a bit of an accumulator, but he hit at least 26 home runs with good run production and a good average almost every year before last year. I think he's back.
- Domingo German (58%) — German took advantage of his first start with seven strikeouts over five shutout innings against the Tigers. His upside is limited by the early hook he often gets, and the five walks were troubling, but he needs to be owned just about everywhere.
- Jay Bruce (50%) — Like Jones, we kind of thought Bruce may be done. It sure doesn't look like it now. He hit his third home run on Monday night and looks like an everyday player for the Mariners. He won't help your batting average, but he looks like a dirt-cheap source of power once again.
- Brandon Lowe (36%) — The beginning of the season was troubling for Lowe when he started 0 for 9 with five strikeouts and sat out two of the team's first four games. But an injury to Joey Wendle and one big game puts him back on the radar. Lowe has big-time power potential and the strikeouts were not a problem last season or in the minors.
- Jake Odorizzi (44%) — With 15 swinging strikes on his four-seam fastball Saturday, it looks like his offseason work may have paid off. He pitched in the upper half of the strike zone almost exclusively with the fastball, and the Indians couldn't touch it, despite below-average velocity.
- Jeff McNeil (66%) — (Only-kind-of) Bold prediction: It ultimately won't matter whether Todd Frazier or Jed Lowrie are healthy. McNeil is going to be in the lineup somewhere.
- Trevor Richards (57%): At one point Friday, Richards fell behind Nolan Arenado, 2-0. He followed that up with three straight changeups in the strike zone, and Arenado swung through all three. How many pitchers can do that? (Pablo Lopez and Sandy Alcantara also showed signs of dominance for the Marlins against the Rockies, and are well worth adding to your roster. This is a legitimately interesting rotation.)
- Dansby Swanson (35%) — Swanson had a great spring, driving the ball all over the field after dealing with a wrist issue for most of last season. He slugged a homer Saturday, and has hit three balls harder than 97 mph in his first two games.
- Yandy Diaz (29%) - Diaz never really got a chance with the Indians, but he's started the first four games for the Rays, and smoked a homer off Gerrit Cole Friday. He has an intriguing mix of high exit velocity and strong contact skills, and even led off Sunday.
- Jeremy Jeffress (35% owned) — With Corey Knebel heading for Tommy John surgery, Jeffress has a good chance to emerge as the Brewers' closer, once he's back from his shoulder injury.
- Yonny Chirinos (30%) - The Rays didn't even use the opener for Chirinos Sunday, and he backed up their faith, with six strikeouts and only two hits in seven one-run innings against a stacked Astros lineup. He's got a hard, heavy sinker, and racked up whiffs with his splitter.
What are the Fantasy baseball trade values for every MLB players in head-to-head and Rotisserie leagues? And which infielder is already a top-10 value? Visit SportsLine now to see the Fantasy baseball trade evaluator and chart, all based off the projections of one of the top Fantasy baseball analysts in the nation.
