Mother’s Day is special. As far back as I can remember, it involved baseball and my mother Abigail. She and I became Dodger fans — and baseball fans — when I was nine years old, with many nights watching or listening to Vin Scully or Jaime Jarrin calling games. I often credit Scully with teaching my mom better English as we followed the action.
If you got to share the game with your mother like I did, well, what’s better than catching a game with her? If she’s not into baseball, maybe one day catching highlights won’t be so bad. There’s no real way to transition from this special day on May 12, so I won’t even attempt it. Happy Mother’s Day. Feliz Dia de Las Madres. Here are some deep sleepers.
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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 8
Orlando Arcia (SS – ATL): 18%
It’s somewhat hard to believe Orlando Arcia is 29 — turning 30 on August 4 — because it feels like a long time ago he was one of the top prospects in baseball. That was just under a decade ago, which is eons in baseball years.
Arcia is coming off a season where he hit .264 with 17 home runs for an Atlanta offense that was one of the most prolific in recent memory. The Braves are 12th in runs scored as of this writing, and in looking at the middling production for studs Ronald Acuna, Matt Olson and Austin Riley, the feeling that better days are coming in Atlanta is very apparent. Arcia is a cheap way to get a piece of this offense at a point where about three-quarters of the season is still to be played.
Kyle Manzardo (1B – CLE): 17%
After 29 games at Colorado Springs in Triple-A, where he hit .303 with nine home runs and 20 RBI, the Guardians called up Kyle Manzardo. In his first three starts, he hit in the bottom third of the Cleveland lineup and got his first big-league hit in a pinch-hitting appearance on May 8.
A series in Chicago to take on the bottom-dwelling White Sox could be a springboard to Manzardo gaining some foothold on a big-league job. Keep an eye if he sits against left-handers, but otherwise, look for signs of a breakout. Prospects have done u-turns back to the minor leagues this early part of the season, but fantasy managers need to keep taking chances on the young players in case they break out.
Josh Rojas (2B, 3B – SEA): 12%
The infielder scuffled for two teams last season, coming on the heels of hitting nine home runs with 23 stolen bases in 2022 for Arizona. With Seattle off to a sluggish start that has them sitting 25th in runs scored, Josh Rojas was inserted in the leadoff spot in the lineup on April 24. Since then he’s hit .400 with an OPS of 1.142. He’s also slugged a pair of homers and swiped a couple of bags, scoring six runs while driving in four more.
As long as he is hitting in front of Julio Rodriguez, a volcano ready to erupt, Rojas is worth taking a flier on for his power-speed combination and spot in the Seattle lineup.
Jose Butto (SP – NYM): 19%
Jose Butto was impressive when he struck out six Dodgers in 4.1 innings on April 20 in what turned out to be a 6-4 Mets victory. That was his shortest outing of the season, as he’s registered three quality starts of six innings apiece and two other starts where he went at least five innings.
With 34 strikeouts in 33 innings — 17 walks are slightly concerning — a WHIP of 1.15 and a batting average against of .186, the peripheral numbers for Butto are solid to very good. He gets no break in his next start, though, against the Phillies and the sizzling Bryce Harper at Citi Field early next week.
Mitchell Parker (SP – WAS): 19%
Unlike the next pitcher on this rundown, Mitchell Parker has had some success upon his promotion to the big leagues on April 15. He has gone at least five innings in four of his five starts and has allowed two or fewer earned runs in all but one outing.
Parker’s control is good, with just five walks against 22 strikeouts on his ledger, and that 1.07 WHIP has to look tantalizing to fantasy managers whose pitching staffs have been tattered by injuries. A matchup in Chicago against the White Sox next week has to look pretty attractive for those streaming pitchers, with the thought of keeping them beyond that spot start.
Jack Leiter (SP – TEX): 8%
Remember in Bull Durham when Crash Davis tells Nuke LaLoosh that major-league hitters would knock him around after getting called up? Well, that’s what’s happened to Jack Leiter in his first two turns in the big leagues, lasting just 7.2 innings and being batted around for a 12.91 ERA and 2.35 WHIP. Yes, that last stat started with a “2.”
His average fastball velocity is a solid 95.8 miles per hour (MPH), so there’s no issue there. The bloodline — son of big leaguer Al Leiter — is fantastic. He might just need some patience, and some home cooking wouldn’t hurt. His first two starts were on the road, and the Rangers need starting pitchers, as they’re dealing with injuries. Next week he’ll have a shot for a home game against Cleveland. Fantasy managers needing a healthy arm could stash him on the bench to see if he fulfills the talent that made him the second overall pick in the MLB Draft three years ago.
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