Fantasy Baseball Wavier Wire: Hopefully you won the race to Vaughn Grissom
You need fantasy baseball pickups, we got pickups. Time for your Glengarry Leads.
There was never a question about Vaughn Grissom's offense; the Braves sent him to Triple-A to work on his defense. Alas, the team's hand was forced, with Orlando Arcia (wrist) landing on the injured list.
Grissom posted an impressive .291/.353/.440 line with the Braves in 41 games last year (five homers, five steals), and he crushed things in his brief Triple-A trial this year (.366/.458/.585, with six walks against four strikeouts). So long as the defense isn't a disaster, Grissom can hold this job down. And he'll be insulated by one of the deepest lineups in baseball.
If you won the race to Grissom in the thinner leagues, Happy Birthday to you. And if you played the draft-and-hold game, you're walking a little taller this weekend.
Angels reliever to trust
The Angels probably won't have a set-and-forget closer this year, but José Quijada is as close as anyone will come. All of Quijada's work has come in high-leverage spots with the Angels leading, allowing him to collect two saves and three holds in his five appearances. And because the results have been so clean — five scoreless innings, two baserunners, four strikeouts — Quijada has the full trust of manger Phil Nevin.
Being left-handed might limit the saves upside here, but Quijada looks ticketed for double-digit handshakes, and that's much more valuable today — with save striation a big thing — than it was a decade ago.
Chas McCormick worth a closer look
We talked up Chas McCormick the other day, so this is mostly review. He has been the Houston leadoff man for five straight games. He's going to hit some homers (already has two), and he's running liberally in the new MLB order (four bags already). José Altuve will eventually force a reshuffle in the Astros lineup, but that's several weeks away. In this fantasy racket, you have to take what you can, when you can, while you can. And you gotta do it now.
Don't overlook Austin Hays
Austin Hays often gets lost in the Baltimore shuffle, considering how many glittering young stars this team has collected. Hays didn't help his own cause with a mildly disappointing run in 2022. But he's off to a snap .340/.380/.638 start through two weeks (with three homers), and heck, he was an above-average hitter the two previous years, with 38 homers over 276 games.
Hays probably has a sturdy floor under him, and he's young (age-27 season) enough that we can still consider some plausible upside, too. He'll occasionally shift to the leadoff spot against left-handed pitching, and we're alway chasing volume.
Be early on Josh Lowe
I'm surprised the fantasy marketplace has been so unenthused by Josh Lowe, who connects so many dots. He was a touted prospect just a year ago, and though his 52 games with Tampa Bay were a disappointment, he's off to a tidy .385/.429/.769 start this year, with a couple of homers and a stolen base.
Yes, Lowe will sit against some lefties, so you're inheriting some roster maintenance here. But with the Rays off to a blistering 13-0 start — with 12 of those wins coming by multiple runs — shouldn't we be looking for any Tampa Bay angles we can get? Lowe's roster tag should spike any day now; be one of the early adopters.
