Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Imperfect pickups who could make a difference — if you look a little deeper

· Yahoo Sports

Winning fantasy baseball managers are always looking to turn over the bottom portion of their rosters, and it’s convenient when those pickups lead us to easily digestible angles. It’s lovely when we can find a hitter in friendly Colorado, or a pitcher in roomy Seattle. If we find a hitter tied to a deep lineup, or a reliever already closing games, the ticket is easy to write.

But sometimes the targets are not so obvious, and it’s also possible we might need to consider pickups who have an obvious flaw or detracting factor. I’ll look at a few of those players today, and try to see if it’s worth swimming against the stream.

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The nomad Athletics are set for another season in Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, a stadium that significantly increases offense. So I fully understand anyone who tiptoes around this pitching staff, or ignores it completely.

But I’ve always been interested in Springs, who looked like a breakout star with Tampa Bay back in 2023. Springs was unhittable in his first three turns that year (0.56 ERA, 0.50 WHIP) but suffered an ulnar injury. He eventually needed Tommy John surgery, and he’s been off the fantasy radar since. He wasn’t useful in fantasy last year (4.11/1.21).

But I can’t ignore what Springs has done through three starts this year: two wins, 1.47 ERA, 0.76 WHIP. He’s done it while navigating a gauntlet of difficult matchups — working against the Blue Jays, Astros and Yankees. Thursday’s turn was in New York, with Springs taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. If you can stop that lineup, you certainly have my attention.

In some leagues, you might look to add Springs but view him as a matchup-dependent starter. That would make next week at home against the Rangers a borderline call (the game is in Sacramento), with the following week against the White Sox more appealing. Bottom line, Springs was once viewed as a high-upside pitcher and he’s almost three years removed from his elbow surgery. The timing could be right for a breakout. He’s rostered in just 18% of Yahoo leagues.

Hicks doesn’t play every day for the Marlins — a run of lefty opponents kept him mostly on the bench this week — but he’s locked in for the righty matchups. The schedule finally comes around over the next two weeks, with Miami drawing just two lefties in the next 12 games. Hicks will see time at catcher, time at first base and perhaps even at designated hitter.

Hicks also might be overlooked because he was never a rated prospect and he didn’t reach the majors until his age-26 season last year. But his minor-league profile has always been interesting: .274/.405/.374, with the occasional stolen base. An OBP that lofty gets our attention, and fantasy managers appreciate a catcher-eligible player who isn't always burdened by actual catching.

The production so far speaks for itself: .314/.390/.600, with three homers. He’s only struck out three times, and contact kings are generally good fantasy targets. Hicks recently crept over the 50% line for Yahoo leagues (taking him off the board for some of our standard pickup pieces), but this is a good reminder for the medium and shallower mixed pools.

While Hicks was never a buzzy prospect, Caissie was validated by the scouts. Although he never cracked the top 40 in any of the three primary scouting sheets, he was consistently ranked in the 45-70 range over the last three seasons. The Marlins prioritized Caissie when they assembled the Edward Cabrera trade with the Cubs over the winter.

Like Hicks, Caissie is a left-handed hitter who Miami is shielding from opposing southpaws. It’s a short-term move that probably doesn’t make sense long-term, given Caissie’s pedigree and upside. Miami should give the 23-year-old a chance to develop and learn, to make mistakes and hopefully improve. Today’s win isn’t as important as a higher ceiling for tomorrow.

But even if Caissie is limited to platoon life, at least it’s the strong side of a platoon. As we mentioned above, Miami’s schedule is filled with right-handed opponents the next two weeks. Caissie’s .324/.385/.618 slash line speaks for itself, and he has the potential to be a 20-homer, 10-steal player over the full season, even if the platooning never stops. If you’re open-minded to the case, Caissie is ready to go in about three-quarters of Yahoo leagues.

It’s maybe a week or two early for one of my favorite early-season cheat codes in the bullpen, but we’ll jump the line slightly just to squeeze Sabrowski in here. He’s become a trusted member of the Cleveland bullpen, and he’s widely available in Yahoo leagues (currently tagged at 17%).

The modern shape of baseball continues to take innings away from starting pitchers, instead relying on deep bullpens to navigate the final 40-50% of a ballgame most nights. This results in more wins filtered into relief spots, and it allows non-closing relievers to hold more value than before.

Sabrowski doesn’t have a win yet this year, but he’s consistently pitching in the seventh and eighth innings when the Guardians have a lead. This has turned into a bunch of holds (five so far) and might lead to the occasional save when Cade Smith isn't available.

Sabrowski’s 29.1 innings last year were a success (1.84 ERA), mostly because of an elite strikeout rate, offsetting control problems. This year, he’s bumped the strikeout rate into elite territory while cutting the walk rate nearly in half. If he can maintain that pace, we’re looking at a wipeout reliever — valuable no matter what the role is.

The cheat code is simple with relievers: follow the K/BB ratio, and don't get tripped up by name recognition.  

Later this month, I want you to sort all relief pitchers by walks and strikeouts, and consider adding a few who have elite K/BB ratios. It doesn’t matter if these are pitchers you know, and it doesn’t even matter if these relievers are getting save chances. It helps if these options are tied to competitive teams, as Sabrowski is. You can consistently land useful pitching help at the lowest acquisition cost. 

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