Deeper Hitter Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Waiver Wire Report for Week 2

April 4, 2023

Deeper fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for hitters focused on deeper leagues with 12 or 14+ teams. Consider adding these free-agent hitters for Week 2.

The flowers are in bloom, the birds are singing, and the world now rejoices as baseball season has come upon us. It already feels like the season is moving at hyper-speed. Fantasy baseball necessitates hyper-vigilance, especially in deeper leagues where the waiver wires are quickly stripped of talent. This weekly article will outline the upcoming schedule, two-start pitchers, and a few waiver targets that are rostered in less than 5% of leagues.

It’s good practice to maximize at-bats and starts. A quick look at upcoming schedules for the second week of the MLB season could end up giving you the edge in this week’s play. This week’s two-start pitchers are, for the most part, the back-end starters of their respective rotations.

This article will discuss some deeper-league fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for week two, April 3rd through April 9th. Often, guys who make hot starts typically extend them until at least June, so even if it is just the first week of the season, the waiver wires are the hottest they’ll ever be. Rostered percentages can change quickly. So be quick to check your leagues for their availability. Key point - this list will focus on rostered players in less than 5% of Yahoo! leagues.

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Fantasy Baseball Schedule Outlook

This week has some great schedules to target for fantasy. There are sadly no teams with eight games on their schedule this week, but there are also no teams with only 5 games either (glass-half-full mindset folks). With only four teams with a full slate of games this week, the Royals, Blue Jays, Nationals, and Braves are good teams to target.

• 7 Games - KC, TOR, ATL, WAS
• 6 Games - BAL, BOS, CLE, CWS, DET, HOU, LAA, MIN, NYY, OAK, SEA, TB, TEX, ARI, LAD, CHC, CIN, COL, LAD, MIA, MIL, NYM, PHI, PIT, SD, SF, STL

Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers

With the season starting on Thursday, most teams only had the opportunity to play three or four games in the first week of the season. Meaning, the back-end starters are in-line for two starts this week. While back-end guys aren't generally seen as the model of success and consistency, guys in deeper rotations like Drew Rasmussen, Michael Kopech, George Kirby, Hunter Brown, and Freddy Peralta are poised to provide fantastic value this week. For more insight, check out Justin Raffone’s article on this week’s two-start pitchers.

• Ryne Nelson (@ SD, vs. LAD)
• Brady Singer (vs. TOR, @ SF)
• Trevor Williams (vs. TB, @ COL)
• Jose Berrios (@ KC, @ LAA)
• Connor Overton (vs. CHC, @ PHI)
• Taijuan Walker (@ NYY, vs. CIN)
• Kutter Crawford (vs. PIT, @ DET)
• Matthew Boyd (@ HOU, vs. BOS)
• James Kaprielian (vs. CLE, @ TB)
• Drew Rasmussen (@ WAS, vs. OAK)
• Michael Kopech (vs. SF, @ PIT)
• Johan Oviedo (@ BOS, vs. CWS)
• Kyle Bradish (@ TEX, vs. NYY)
• George Kirby (vs. LAA, @ CLE)
• Zach Plesac (@ OAK, vs. SEA)
• Johnny Cueto (vs. MIN, @ NYM)
• Carlos Carrasco (@ MIL, vs. MIA)
• Hunter Brown (vs. DET, @ MIN)
• Tyler Mahle (@ MIA, vs. HOU)
• Jake Woodford (vs. ATL, @ MIL)
• Freddy Peralta (vs. NYM, vs. STL)
• Jon Gray (vs. BAL, @ CHC)
• Drew Smyly (@ CIN, vs. TEX)
• Chad Kuhl (vs. TV, @ COL)
• Ryan Feltner (@ LAD, vs. WAS)
• Kris Bubic (vs. TOR, @ SF)
• Anthony DeSclafani (@ CWS, vs. KC)
• Yusei Kikuchi (@ KC, @ LAA)
• Michael Grove (vs. COL, @ ARI)

Deeper Infield Waiver Wire Pickups

Mike Zunino (C), Cleveland Guardians

2% Rostered

It may seem like ages ago, but in 2021 Mike Zunino was an all-star with a 136 OPS+. One season of injury-ridden baseball and Zunino has seemingly vanished from fantasy baseball consideration. Through three games in 2023, Zunino has pushed himself back into the conversation. The Guardians’ primary catcher has gone four-for-nine with two doubles, four runs, and a home run.

The 32-year-old surprised many with this hot start as he slashed a terrible line of .133/.212/.267 in 13 spring training games. Zunino isn't one to hit for average (career .201 hitter), so don’t expect him to extend the .444 batting average for much longer. However, the power and run production should stay. Until fourth-ranked prospect Bo Naylor proves that he’s a league-ready catcher, it’ll be Zunino taking the lion's share of starts at catcher for this high-octane Guardians offense.

Connor Wong (C), Boston Red Sox

0% Rostered

Connor Wong was a throw-in from the trade that sent Mookie Betts to L.A., but he’s now a pivotal piece to Boston’s future. Wong has only appeared in 35 major league games, with an unimpressive career line of .194/.267/.328. However, the 26-year-old has the speed and power that is scarce at the catcher position. Connor Wong’s 28.8 ft/sec sprint speed was the fastest among major league catchers in 2022. Wong also tore up the minors, posting a 122 wRC+ in Triple-A in 2022 before being called up.

He’ll have to compete with Reese McGuire for playing time, but McGuire has yet to prove that his 142 OPS+ 2022-second half wasn’t just a fluke (the .411 BAbip has me thinking it was). Additionally, Wong is a more talented defender than McGuire, with a pop time 5 seconds faster. With Wong, you’ll have to bank on the superior talent earning the playing time he deserves.

Kevin Newman (2B), Cincinnati Reds

1% Rostered

Kevin Newman is the auto-generated name I would’ve picked for a user-created player on MLB The Show when I was a kid, but he may make a name for himself in fantasy baseball this season.

Some will remember Newman’s stellar rookie season in 2019 when he slashed .308/.353/.446 with 16 stolen bases and 12 home runs. He followed up that rookie season with two abysmal seasons where he held an OPS+ under 55.

The 2015 first-round pick was traded to the Reds this offseason, but it came after an average season where Newman slashed .274/.316/.372 in 78 games. Nobody gets excited for average, but an average hitter with playing time who could put up above-average production should create some excitement for fantasy managers.

Connor Joe (1B/OF), Pittsburgh Pirates

0% Rostered

Ring the bells, sound the alarms, Connor Joe is having another fantastic start to the year. Joe is three-for-seven with an RBI, a stolen base, and a walk. Of course, that isn't really a large enough sample size, but history is our greatest tool here. The 30-year-old started the 2022 season with a .865 OPS along with four home runs, ten walks, and eight RBI in the month of April. He followed that up with a .139 batting average after the break, but we shouldn't forget what he is capable of. April 2022 is solid, concrete, empirical proof that Connor Joe can be a good baseball player.

CONNOR CLUTCH 🤌🔥 pic.twitter.com/LmaQLFSbtv

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 11, 2022

Joe has impressive plate discipline: he walks a ton (top 90th percentile in 2022), doesn't chase (87th percentile in 2022), and doesn't whiff a whole lot (72nd percentile in 2022). That plate discipline will keep him on the field in Pittsburgh, and it gives him relatively great value as someone who could score a lot of runs as an externality of being a guy who hits before Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds.

Deeper Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups

Jose Azocar (OF), San Diego Padres

1% Rostered

*Deep sigh* If only Jose Azocar had everyday playing time. Azocar is the fifth outfielder on the stacked San Diego Padres, but he’ll still be able to provide value in fantasy. The fifth outfielder title may cause an aversion to Azocar, but he still gets starts.

As the 9-hole hitter, when he gets starts, he gets runs - Azocar already has three runs in just eight at-bats. The 26-year-old is incredibly talented, with a 29.4 ft/sec sprint speed, 8 OAA in 2022, arm strength in the 84th percentile, and a wOBA of .372 in his last Triple-A season. It’s hard to find a better bench option in deep leagues.

Tommy Pham (OF), New York Mets

4% Rostered

Tommy Pham and fantasy is a combination that many have tried to avoid recently, but he should be on your fantasy baseball radar this week. The 35-year-old has started the season scorching hot, with four hits and three RBI in nine at-bats. Pham is currently sitting against right-handers, so his value does take a big hit. While that may be much of the reason that he is performing so well this season, he isn’t terrible against righties (career OBP of .341 against RHP).

Pham being a platoon shouldn't dissuade you from picking him up but know he has the potential to become even more valuable if he plays himself into a full-time spot (a poor stretch by Daniel Vogelbach could do it). For the time being, use Pham as a platoon in matchups against Wade Miley on April 4 and Trevor Rogers on April 8.

Will Benson (OF), Cincinnati Reds

1% Rostered

Will Benson debuted for the first time for the Cleveland Guardians last season but struggled as he went 10-for-55 with 19 strikeouts. Benson is not faring well this season either, with six strikeouts in eight at-bats for the Cincinnati Reds. Despite those struggles, you should still have faith in the talent of the former top-10 prospect in the Guardians' system. The 2016 first-round pick was scouted with a raw power of 70/80 and a game power of 50/80. While it hasn't shown at the major league level, Benson has hit over 17 home runs in every minor-league season since 2018.

Much like Benson's approach at the plate, picking up Benson is an all-or-nothing home run swing that could have the crowd chanting your name or put you flat on your butt as you collect your eighth strikeout of the season.

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