Happy Monday, everyone! It was a great weekend in baseball unless you're a Los Angeles Angels fan because then it was bittersweet. Yeah, your Angels won three in a row but you also got a scare you had no interest in putting yourself through on Easter Sunday when Mike Trout was hit by a pitch on his left hand. The good news -- X-rays were negative and Trout is day to day. He is not expected to be in the lineup on Monday. What's most frustrating about the hit-by-pitch was that after the game Trout told reporters it was because he couldn't see the ball due to the stadium shadows and would've otherwise taken the pitch into his body.
It was another frustrating weekend for New York Yankees fans (Baltimore Orioles -- come on ) and just so I'm not accused of any kind of bias toward the Bronx Bombers I'll also include the Cincinnati Reds, Texas Rangers and Cleveland Guardians -- the latter of whom have dropped three straight after a 4-1 start. On the flip side, two of baseball's winningest teams in 2021 are on fire again to start 2022 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants winners of six and five in a row.
We'll dive into all of the weekend's Fantasy Baseball action including my top waiver wire pitcher and hitter target, more targets to consider, top prospect MacKenzie Gore's debut, what to make of Zach Wheeler's blow up and more. Be sure to check back on CBSSports.com/Fantasy/Baseball this morning to check out Scott White's full waiver wire column and more. And in case you missed it from Friday, Scott delivered his Week 3 sleeper hitters, sleeper pitchers, two-start pitcher rankings and Chris Towers dove into the potential upside of a healthy Luis Severino.
And of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify.
Top waiver wire hitter target
Owen Miller, 2B, Guardians (64% rostered)
Miller is my favorite waiver wire hitter target from the Week 2 cycle and it's really simple for me -- he keeps hitting and he keeps walking. Miller's patience at the plate has been what has impressed me so much about his surprising start to the season. This weekend he cracked another couple of doubles and picked up three more walks. Your league-mates may still be nonbelievers and that's fine, but take advantage of Miller's seven games (three at Yankee stadium) on the Week 3 slate if you need middle infield help.
Other waiver wire hitters to consider
For a full in-depth breakdown of the top waiver wire pitchers to target, you can find Scott's complete breakdown here. Here are a few more hitters to get on your radar:
Andrew McCutchen, OF, Brewers (37%)
McCutchen is starting to warm up a bit and he picked up his second stolen base this weekend to go along with his .282 batting average in the early going. He has just one game against a left-handed pitcher in Week 3.
If you need catcher help: Sean Murphy, C, Athletics (44%)
Murphy has racked up multiple hits in three of his last five games, and two of those have been home runs. If you're in need of catcher help, that's all you needed to hear.
Jurickson Profar, 1B/OF, Padres (42% rostered)
It's easy to be skeptical of Profar -- I get it -- but he keeps on hitting the ball. He went yard on Saturday and now has three homers on the year. He's hitting the ball a lot harder now that he's pulling everything.
For shallower leagues: Jeremy Pena, SS, Astros (74% rostered)
Pena went 3-for-3 on Saturday and the exciting middle infielder is making great contact in the early season. It was his third three-hit game of the year.
For deeper leagues: Seth Beer, 1B, Diamondbacks (26% rostered)
The opening day walk-off home run hero is batting .400 in the early going after going 3 for 3 on Saturday. That's the good news. The bad news is that he was back to the bench on Sunday and has not been playing every day.
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Top waiver wire pitcher target
Bailey Ober, SP, Twins (46% rostered)
Ober might not be the most popular pitcher target on the waiver wire, but I see him as the best combination of win for me now win for me later. I trust Ober's talent and the upside it brings him over some of the other popular pitchers on waivers. And that talent and upside were both on display Sunday against a tough Red Sox lineup. Ober went six strong innings and allowed just two unearned runs on four hits and one walk. He only struck on three in this one but made up for it with 11 swinging strikes on 70 pitches. His fastball is a weapon.
Other waiver-wire pitchers to consider
For a full in-depth breakdown of the top waiver wire pitchers to target, you can find Scott's complete breakdown here. Here are a few more hitters to get on your radar:
Nestor Cortes, SP, Yankees (58% rostered)
Cortes' last outing was bonkers -- five shutout innings with 12 strikeouts! He has a 39% called plus swinging strike rate overall.
Andrew Heaney, SP, Dodgers (54% rostered)
Pitching for the Dodgers should be enough to get on the radar right away but Heney's last outing was eye-opening: six shutout innings, one hit allowed, 11 strikeouts.
Brad Keller, SP, Royals (35% rostered)
Keller has nearly doubled his changeup usage from last season and thus far he's generating a lot of ground balls and very little hard contact. That's a profile that can be a Fantasy asset if he can keep it up.
For shallower leagues: MacKenzie Gore, SP, Padres (74% rostered)
If you're in shallower leagues, don't let Gore sit another day on the waiver wire. He flashed the big-time upside we knew he had in his debut, and he has the Padres backing him up. Gore struck out three over 5 1/3 and allowed just two earned runs, five hits and no walks against the Braves. The most impressive number -- he induced 12 swinging strikes on 92 pitches.
For deeper leagues: Michael Wacha, SP, Red Sox (10% rostered)
No one is going to get excited about Wacha at this stage -- hence his rostership -- but he dropped another five shutout innings on Sunday with just one hit and two walks allowed. He has now allowed just one earned run over 9.1 IP this season and has a nice offense backing him up.
Weekend news and lineup notes
Every night the Fantasy Baseball Today team dives into all of the happenings around the MLB from top performers to injuries, trades and more. The podcast is a must listen for any diehard, if I do say so myself. Tune into the podcast to hear the FBT crew expand on the news and notes below.
- Braves OF Ronald Acuña will begin a rehab assignment Tuesday. His debut is coming. Only a matter of days now.
- Twins OF Byron Buxton left Friday's game after he appeared to hurt his knee sliding into second base. He immediately slammed his hand down on the ground and it seemed bad. He walked off on his own power. Tests revealed he didn't suffer any structural damage but he could miss up to a week.
- Astros RP Ryan Pressly was placed on the IL with right knee inflammation Friday. The Astros said they expect it to be short term but Pressly had surgery on this knee back in 2019. Dusty Baker mentioned Hector Neris, Rafael Montero and Ryne Stanek as options for the 9th inning but it was Neris who closed out a 4-0 win on Saturday.
- Mets SP Jacob deGrom will undergo another MRI on April 25 to check the healing progress of his right shoulder. He's dealing with a stress reaction in his right scapula.
- Tigers 2B/SS Javier Baez was placed on the IL with that thumb injury, retroactive to April 13.
- Astros OF Yordan Alvarez was placed on the COVID IL Friday but did not test positive. He worked out with teammates prior to Saturday's game.
- Not only was Orioles SP John Means placed on the IL Friday with a strained left elbow but was transferred to the 60-day IL on Sunday.
- Blue Jays SP Hyun-Jin Ryu was placed on the IL with left forearm inflammation. This opens up a spot for Nate Pearson.
- Mariners OF Mitch Haniger was placed on the COVID IL Saturday after testing positive. He'll likely be forced to spend a minimum of five days away from the team, which means he'll miss at least half of this upcoming week.
- Cardinals SP Jack Flaherty threw from 120 feet Saturday. It's not yet clear when he'll resume mound work but so far his shoulder has responded well.
- Twins SP Sonny Gray was placed on the IL after exiting Saturday's start with hamstring tightness. The Twins only expect him to miss one start.
- Rays pitching prospect Shane Baz was transferred to the 60-day IL. He underwent arthroscopic elbow surgery in late March.
- OF Mark Canha and Brandon Nimmo tested positive for COVID were placed on the IL Friday. Both are asymptomatic and could rejoin the team as soon as they test negative.
- Marlins OF Garrett Cooper was removed from Saturday's game with an elbow contusion and wasn't in the lineup Sunday.
- Reds OF Nick Senzel was placed on the IL Saturday with no injury designation, which suggests it was the COVID IL.
- Tigers pitchers are dropping: Casey Mize was placed on the IL Friday with a right elbow sprain and then Matt Manning was removed from Saturday's start with right shoulder discomfort.
- Angels OF Taylor Ward was activated from the IL Saturday and went 2-3 with a sock and shoe, hitting his first home run with his first steal. Both Ward and Jo Adell started Saturday and Sunday with lefties on the mound. Speaking of Adell, he hit a home run off a righty on Friday.
- White Sox OF AJ Pollock's hamstring is around 80-85% and he's expected to make rehab appearances soon.
- Twins 1B/OF Alex Kirilloff was given a cortisone shot after tests revealed no new damage in his right wrist.
