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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Huascar Ynoa picks up where he left off; Daniel Lynch continues his breakout
Meanwhile, Josh Rojas and Connor Joe keep delivering at the dish.
By
Scott White
•
1 min read
I'll admit to harboring some skepticism for Huascar Ynoa during his three-month absence for a broken hand. The 23-year-old wasn't much of a prospect coming into the season and had put up largely uninspiring numbers during his minor-league career.
So in looking ahead to his return Tuesday, I halfway expected that, after so much time away, he'd hardly resemble the guy we saw in April and May who put together a 3.02 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 10.1 K/9 across nine appearances, eight of them starts.
Turns out he looked exactly the same.
To me, it's his most encouraging outing yet. True, it came against a pitiful Marlins lineup, which detracts from it somewhat, but for him to pick up where he left off after having to start back from scratch and regain the feel for everything all over again ... it gives his breakout season more legitimacy.
He's still pretty limited as a two-pitch pitcher, but throwing his slider 50 percent of the time seems to be deception enough. You'll want to pick him up anywhere he's still available.
And we're getting close to the point where the same could be said for a certain teammate of his ...
Possible waiver wire pickups
Same caveat applies here: Touki Toussaint was indeed facing the Marlins. And yet it doesn't change that five of his six starts since returning from the minors have been no worse than respectable, with three of them being quality starts. He's missed a decent number of bats during that stretch, good for more than a strikeout per inning, and hasn't suffered from the control issues that plagued his previous stints in the majors, which is why he has a 1.10 WHIP. He needs to do a better job keeping the ball in the park and in fact surrendered two home runs in this one, but his fly-ball rate is low enough to suggest it's within his ability.
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I can think of two reasons you may not be ready to devote a roster spot to Tanner Houck yet. The first is that the Red Sox seem to send him back to the minors after every start, as happened Tuesday. The second is that he typically doesn't make it even five innings, as also happened Tuesday. But amid all that turmoil, he has in my mind answered the question as to whether or not he's good, boasting a high whiff rate on all four of his pitches while keeping his walks in check. And even though he got sent down again, the fifth spot is basically his. Expect him back the next time the Red Sox need to fill it.
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Another three-hit performance Tuesday makes Josh Rojas 13 for 25 (.520) with a homer, a triple and four doubles since returning from an IL stint for a dislocated finger, but it seems unlikely he's unlocked the form that allowed him to hit .332 with a 1.023 OPS in the minors two years ago. His season stats do provide a reasonable representation of what he's capable of, though, and while they don't quite put him in the must-start category, he's perfectly usable at any of the three positions where he's eligible (second base, shortstop and outfield).
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If we were to interpret manager Scott Servais' bullpen usage in the most straightforward way, Paul Sewald would be the presumptive closer now with Diego Castillo and Drew Steckenrider serving as his setup man. The three worked the ninth, eighth and seventh innings, respectively, in Sewald's return from paternity leave Tuesday. For Castillo, that's six times in a row he has entered prior to the ninth inning, which would suggest he's fully on setup duty, and well, Sewald's 15.0 K/9 would seem to suit ninth-inning duties more than Steckenrider's 8.8. It's unlikely Servais will ever stick to just one guy, but if Sewald is the front-runner, then his upside is significant.
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You see how the rookie has fared in five stats since returning from the minors. What makes it especially interesting is that Daniel Lynch didn't look like he fixed anything there, putting together a 5.84 ERA in 12 appearances. But Tuesday's outing (in which he allowed just one run to the Astros, of all teams) was his second of seven-plus innings since returning, and his 12.5 percent swinging-strike rate during that stretch would suggest his stuff is legitimately clicking. He's a top prospect by any standard, so no need to overthink it.
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It's easy to write off Connor Joe given that he's a 29-year-old who has spent his career bouncing from one minor-league system to another, but since a breakthrough year in the Dodgers organization in 2018, he's been an on-base fiend down there with enough power to make it hold up. And now he's playing his home games at Coors Field, where he's batting .377 with an 1.160 OPS, and batting leadoff for a team that's currently short on outfielders. Like Frank Schwindel, who I highlighted Monday, Joe is a long shot, but if he's ever going to amount to something, now would be the time.
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