FANTASY BASEBALL WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS
Eury Pérez (SP Marlins): Rostered in 30% of Yahoo leagues
97.6 mph. That’s what Pérez averaged with his fastball in his 19 big-league starts as a fantastically promising rookie with the Marlins in 2023. It’s also exactly what he averaged on the 30 fastballs he threw Thursday in his first Triple-A rehab start after three previous outings in A ball. Pérez, who had Tommy John surgery last April, struck out seven while allowing two runs in 3 1/3 innings. He got 13 whiffs on 28 swings in 61 pitches.
The challenge for Pérez being a big-time mixed-league starter this season is that his workload will surely be monitored, and he’ll be pitching for a bad Marlins team that’s going to have a tough time protecting leads on those occasions when he does qualify for a victory. Still, he’s simply too talented to leave unrostered in mixed leagues. Pérez had a 3.15 ERA and a 29% strikeout rate while not even being old enough to drink in 2023. His slider and curve are both plus pitches, and he hasn’t been hesitant with either on his rehab assignment.
So, Pérez will probably struggle to get wins after returning. He might walk a few more guys than usual, too, since that often seems to happen in the early stages of a return from Tommy John. The ERA and strikeout rate should still be there. With his stuff intact, he projects a top-20 SP next year. It’s too much to ask for that now, but he’ll be playable most weeks.
Nick Loftin (2B/3B Royals): Rostered in 0% of Yahoo leagues
Surprisingly enough, it’s not coming at Michael Massey’s expense. Still, with Hunter Renfroe getting dropped from the Royals roster on Friday, Loftin is finally going to get a shot in Kansas City after hitting .295/.451/.468 with four homers and 12 steals in 13 attempts for Triple-A Omaha.
It’s overdue. Loftin certainly didn’t help his cause by hitting .189/.282/.236 in 171 plate appearances for the Royals last season, but he seems like a better player now. His Triple-A hard-hit rate was 40 percent, up from 28 percent for Omaha (and 26 percent in the majors) last season, and his strikeout rate was all of the way down to 12 percent. The steals were also a really nice surprise, given that he hadn’t done a whole lot of running since 2022. He was 5-for-7 stealing bases between Triple-A and the majors last season.
Given that he’s zero-percent rostered at the moment, it’s probably fine to wait a few days and make sure the Royals are giving him a chance to play regularly before picking him up. I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t, but then they did have him up for three days last month with another player on the paternity list and didn’t give him a single at-bat. Loftin’s gap power should play especially well in Kauffman Stadium, which is a bad home run park but a very good place for offense overall. He’s mostly played third base this year, but both he and current Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia are capable at other spots. In a best-case scenario, he’ll take over the leadoff spot, hit .270 with a strong walk rate and become a fine contributor in runs scored and steals the rest of the way.
Parker Meadows (OF Tigers): Rostered in 10% of Yahoo leagues
Slated to be the Tigers’ center fielder and leadoff man against right-handers, Meadows has instead been down since late February with a nerve problem near his right shoulder. Finally healthy again now, he’s gone 1-for-5 in two games for Low-A Lakeland at the start of what could be a rather lengthy rehab assignment. He did miss pretty much the entire spring, after all, and the Tigers don’t have quite as much need for him now as they seemed to before Javier Báez moved to center and turned into one of the season’s biggest surprises.
Meadows’ return, though, most definitely will be welcomed. After an extremely rough start last year that resulted in him spending much of the season in Triple-A, he came back in August and hit .296/.340/.500 with six homers and five steals in 47 games. His offense isn’t quite as advanced as his defense, which is Gold Glove quality, but he can do a bit of everything at the plate. In 165 career games in Triple-A, he’s hit 27 homers and stolen 38 bases. In the majors, he has 12 homers and 17 steals in 119 games.
With all of the time away and the Tigers obviously thriving without him, Meadows might not make an immediate impact in shallow leagues. He’ll probably do some sitting against lefties, and he might not ascend to the top of the order right away. I had him right around No. 160 in my top 300 before he got hurt in large part because he figured to lead off against righties and also play, though hit lower in the order, versus most lefties. Ideally, that is how things will work in the second half. Initially, his value might be limited to leagues with more than 12 teams.
Waiver Wire Quick Hits
– The A’s are calling up prospect Denzel Clarke, who plays a strong center field and can steal bases. His offense is lacking, though, and he probably won’t be a factor outside of AL-only leagues.
– Even though he blew his first save chance Monday with Porter Hodge out, Daniel Palencia remained the Cubs’ preferred choice to close and got his first save Wednesday. He probably can’t afford to blow another save chance right away, but he makes for a smart pickup for now; he’s only nine-percent rostered at the moment.
– The Twins’ Matt Wallner, who hit two homers in his first Triple-A rehab game Thursday, is available in 90 percent of Yahoo leagues as he nears a return from a hamstring strain. That he’ll sit against most lefties does cut into his value, but he has 30 homers in 189 big-league games without being a real liability in batting average (.252) in the process.
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