Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Nathan Eovaldi looks like a bat-misser while bunches of closer candidates emerge
A couple starters and a bunch of relievers deserve a look today.
By
Scott White
•
1 min read
Between one pitcher's possible thoracic outlet syndrome, one pitcher's unexpected move to the restricted list and one pitcher's back-to-back meltdowns, today is shaping up to be one of those days when I could devote the whole Waiver Wire column to emerging saves sources.
I'll go most of the way there, but I also want to highlight two pitching performances from Wednesday that I do think merit a pickup, one more for shallower leagues and one more for deeper.
First, though, I have to point out that 22-year-old Akil Baddoo started for the third time in four games and tripled in three at-bats, making him 5 for 11 with two homers, a triple and a stolen base so far this season. He's been featured in this space enough times already that you should have gotten message by now, but because he remains rostered in just 43 percent of CBS Sports leagues, it's worth putting his name out there again.
Soon enough, I suspect I won't have to.
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Possible waiver wire pickups
Nathan Eovaldi has long been known as a guy who threw empty heat, cracking triple digits with his fastball but with few strikeouts to show for it, but he never had a quality breaking ball until late in 2019. Now, he has two, his curveball and slider combining for eight of his 17 swinging strikes Wednesday, and his 16.7 percent swinging-strike rate through two starts would be elite if he can sustain it.
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Ian Kennedy has now recorded a save on consecutive days, with Matt Bush setting up for him both times. He struck out three in Wednesday's outing, looking more like the guy who saved 30 games for the Royals in 2019. He's no lockdown closer, but with Bush right now representing the only viable alternative, he may have more job security than you think.
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One day after learning Trevor Rosenthal was seeing a thoracic outlet syndrome specialist, we've received confirmation that ... he might have thoracic outlet syndrome. The odds seem pretty good if the prospect of surgery is coming straight from the mouth of manager Bob Melvin. It's not a slam dunk that left-hander Jake Diekman would step in as the closer -- he worked the eighth inning Tuesday with righty Lou Trivino working the ninth. But since it seemed to be the plan before the Athletics even signed Rosenthal, the odds are good.
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The left-handed Amir Garrett technically hasn't blown a game for the Reds yet, but the way he's going, it's only a matter of time. In addition to a grand slam Wednesday, he has allowed seven base runners in just two innings. Meanwhile, right-hander Lucas Sims has been flawless in his two innings of work, and the two were considered neck-and-neck heading into spring training. Maybe Garrett bounces back, but better to bid on the role change before it happens than after.
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I hesitate to say the Indians job is Nick Wittgren's just because he recorded the team's first save Wednesday, but given that James Karinchak worked the seventh inning and Emmanuel Clase the eighth, it seemed like the makings of a pecking order. Then again, Karinchak entered with two runners on, making his situation the higher-leverage one, and Wittgren's previous appearance came in the seventh. Karinchak still needs to be rostered more since he'll be useful even if he's not getting saves, but there's more of a case for Wittgren now.
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After converting the Diamondbacks' first save chance Sunday and blowing their next one Tuesday, Chris Devenski landed on the restricted list for a personal matter Wednesday, which means we're not any closer to narrowing down a closer in Arizona. Given that Joakim Soria (calf) is down for the count, Stefan Crichton seems like a decent bet to get the next shot. He was where they turned for saves down the stretch last year, remember, and though his ratios aren't closer-caliber, he converted all five save chances after entering the role.
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Jakob Junis has earned high marks for his slider in the past but ultimately didn't have enough to go with it. Royals pitching coach Cal Eldred convinced him he had the right arm path for a cutter, and it's led to nothing but success so far. After allowing just two hits in his seven spring innings, striking out 10, he needed only 58 pitches to make it through five innings in his season debut Wednesday. Of those 58 pitches, 16 were cutters, and he got a swing and miss on five of them.
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