Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Fernando Romero impresses in debut

It's a great week for pitching prospects. Mike Soroka sparkled before Fernando Romero and Sean Newcomb flashed their potential Wednesday.

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Another day, another impressive pitching debut for Fantasy owners to get excited about. Mike Soroka dazzled in his first MLB outing Tuesday, and while Fernando Romero wasn't quite as good for the Twins on Wednesday, he still showed plenty of signs that he can be an impact arm too.

Romero, who entered the season as Baseball America's No. 68 prospect, blanked the Blue Jays over five-plus innings. He ended up leaving after 5 2/3 innings, having allowed four hits and three walks with no runs, while striking out five. As the three walks show, he had some trouble finding the strike zone, an issue that crept up in the minors as well. However, he also picked up 12 swinging strikes on his 97 pitches, including at least two with each of his four offerings.

It wasn't an overwhelming start, but Romero averaged 95.9 mph with his fastball and sustained the velocity through the end -- his final fastball was 96.9 mph -- and showed enough to justify an add even in 12-team leagues. We're always chasing upside with starting pitchers, and Romero has that. That's enough for now.

OK, this is your last chance. The results have been up-and-down, but Sean Newcomb is showing serious star potential to open this season. He blanked the Rockies over six innings in an earlier start, and then went out and silenced the Mets over seven two-hit innings Wednesday. He struck out eight and walked just one, lowering his walk rate  to 10.3 percent for the season. That's not good, but it represents an improvement. When you're striking out 8.9 percent of opposing batters and generating groundballs at an above-average rate, you can get away with a few extra free passes, and Newcomb is certainly talented enough to get away with it. There will be bumps along the way, but he's flashing enough ace potential that Newcomb needs to be owned in all leagues.

I'm not saying we need to put to rest the idea that  spring training matters, but… it sure didn't help Jason Kipnis, who opened the season hitting .159/.237/.205 in his first 22 games after a monstrous spring. Of course, he was never that bad, and Kipnis is starting to make up for lost time. He put together his third straight multi-hit game Wednesday, including a double and his first homer of the season. Over the past seven games (six starts), Kipnis is 10 for 28 with six extra-base hits. It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride, but Kipnis is starting to settle in as the guy we hoped he could be, and that's still a useful Fantasy option when healthy.

The Cardinals have an old closer who they acquired this offseason, it's just not the one we were hoping it would be. Bud Norris is officially the team's closer as Greg Holland continues to work on knocking the rust off. Norris made the transition to full-time reliever last season and got off to an incredible start for the Angels, posting a 2.23 ERA with 11.6 K/9 before the All-Star break before falling apart. He's been similarly dominant in the early going, and it's not clear how long they plan to give Holland to work out his issues. For now, Norris is widely available, pitching well and getting saves. Add him.

When you look at the minor-league numbers, Johan Camargo mostly looked exactly like what he was: A non-prospect middle infielder. He routinely posted OPS marks in the mid-to-high .600s throughout his minor-league career until making it to Triple-A. Something clicked in 2017, however, as he hit .295/.340/.473 with 14 extra-base hits in 33 games for Triple-A Gwinnett, and then hit .299/.331/.452 with 27 more XBH in 82 games for the Braves. And he's picked right up where he left off in 2018, hitting five homers in 17 games between the minors and majors. Ryan Flaherty has hit well enough at third base to put a road block to everyday at-bats, but Dansby Swanson's elbow injury Wednesday could open up a chance. Camargo homered in relief of Swanson, and could be someone worth looking at in deeper leagues.