It was a crazy first week of baseball, capped off by a Sunday that saw the likes of Justin Verlander, David Price, R.A. Dickey, Stephen Strasburg, Cole Hamels, and Matt Cain get beat around. We also saw a few new and old faces emerge as potential fantasy waiver wire gold, despite the very small sample size. Time to speculate on who keeps it up and who doesn’t as we look at this week’s top waiver wire additions.
John Buck (29%): It’s easy to roll your eyes at a catcher with a hot start who will undoubtedly return to a backup role once Travis d’Arnaud comes up (likely in June). Still, you can’t discount Buck’s two homers, NL-leading nine RBI, and four runs scored. He showed his ability to hit 20 homers a couple of seasons ago and is going to be a big part of a weak Mets offense for the next couple months. He won’t put up a good looking batting average but he is capable of producing solid power and run production from a shallow catcher position.
Jose Fernandez (49%): I mentioned the 20-year-old Marlins rookie last week as a speculative start but after a great performance Sunday against the Mets it’s definitely time to snatch him up. He allowed just one run, three hits, and a walk over five innings of work while striking out eight. It’s easy to dismiss Fernandez as too young or unseasoned but after a 14-1 season in which he put up a 1.75 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 10.6 K/9 in the minors you can tell the kid has talent for days.
Kyuji Fujikawa (60%): It certainly didn’t take long for Carlos Marmol to prove that he is still a terrible closing option and Fujikawa is the Cubs closer from here on in. Although he has allowed three runs in his first 2.1 innings, Fujikawa was the Mariano Rivera of Japanese baseball where he put up an inhuman 1.36 career ERA, 0.86 career WHIP, and 12.4 K/9 in 370 innings
Justin Masterson (37%): It was only a year ago that Masterson put up a 3.21 ERA and 1.28 WHIP for the Indians and he’s off to a great start this season. He is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and 13 Ks in 13 IP. He is unlikely to sustain a 9 K/9 (likely closer to seven) and he leads the league with seven walks but if he can keep his WHIP to a reasonable sub-1.30 he can be a solid fantasy producer comparable to someone like Hiroki Kuroda or C.J. Wilson.
Daniel Murphy (33%): Murphy wouldn’t be up here if he wasn’t a second baseman but with two homers, six RBI, five runs, and a triple through his first six games he has become a solid option at a pretty shallow position. He batted .291 last season with 65 RBI, 62 R, and 10 SB and could be a great get if he can boost those numbers into the mid-70s.
Mark Reynolds (53%): Reynolds has a ton of pop and he showed it off last week hitting four homers, driving in seven, and scoring six runs in his first 20 at-bats. He won’t hit for average (.221 over his last two seasons) but he has hit over 40 homers before and hit 37 in 2011. He’s also part of a pretty good looking Indians offense which should mean a nice boost in runs scored as well.
Michael Saunders (16%): For a guy who essentially went 20-20 last year, no one talks about Michael Saunders. He’s off to a nice start this season with a homer, four RBI, four runs, and two steals. He should be able to improve on his 19 homers, 57 RBI, 71 R, and 21 SB last season now that the Mariners have a much improved lineup and could go 25-25 or 20-30 this season even if he does bat just .250 again.
Jhoulys Chacin (16%): Chacin was banged up last season and played poorly in his only 14 starts but the previous two years he had a 3.48 ERA and and 1.30 WHIP, ready to break out at any moment. In his first 13 innings this year, he has allowed just two runs, nine hits, and three walks while striking out eight. Colorado isn’t the best place to pitch but I think Chacin is the best starter there.
Kelvin Herrera (36%): Herrera earned his first save of the year after Greg Holland struggled for the second straight game on Sunday. Holland has now given up four runs in his last two games, ballooning his ERA to 18.00. Herrera, meanwhile, has pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing just one hit. He’s coming off a season in which he put up a 2.35 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 84 IP and could very well be the Royals’ closer sooner than later.
Jim Henderson (29%): Like Herrera, Henderson is in a wait-and-see situation. John Axford has allowed four homers and six runs, blowing a save and losing a game. I can’t imagine Axford stays in the closer role for another hour and Henderson should be taking over the ninth inning job very, very soon.
