Rotoworld Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire’s latest column looks at Mets’ top pitcher Christian Scott returning to the big leagues, Angels’ unheralded pitcher Davis Daniel excelling in a long-awaited opportunity and Twins slugger Jose Miranda finally starting to bring everything together at the highest level.
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Christian Scott, SP, Mets
Available in 79 percent of Yahoo leagues
This seems like a bit of cheating, as Scott put together a brilliant five-start stretch for the Mets in May, where he compiled a solid 3.90 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 25/6 K/BB ratio in 27 2/ 3 innings of work, after clearly establishing himself as one of the top pitchers in baseball at Triple-A Syracuse to open the year. The talented 25-year-old right-hander was sent back to the minors a few weeks ago to manage his workload and will make his long-awaited return to the big leagues on Wednesday against the division rival Nationals, who are ranked 24th overall. OPS this season in 84 games. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza has not committed to Scott making any additional starts beyond Wednesday’s outing, however, it is important to note that fifth starter Tylor Megill was optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse after of fighting in his eight-match audition at the highest level. We’re willing to roll the dice here that Scott ends up getting an extended runway at the highest level in the future, especially with New York’s recent surge that has put them back in the NL Wild Card playoff race.
Davis Daniel, SP, Anjos
Available in 94 percent of Yahoo leagues
Daniel had an impressive performance last Thursday in his first career start, recording eight strikeouts in eight scoreless games against the Tigers in his season debut. The unheralded 27-year-old right-hander, who made three relief appearances last year in a quick cup of coffee with the Angels, is getting a long-awaited opportunity for Los Angeles’ injury-depleted starting rotation after compiling a respectable ERA from 5.33, 1.50 WHIP and 82/25 K/BB ratio in 76 innings (14 starts) this year for Triple-A Salt Lake in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His numbers don’t exactly jump off the page from a run prevention standpoint, but as his track record in the minor leagues and his debut in the subsequent season reveal, he’s going to miss a lot of bats in the future. He generated an impressive 13 swinging strikes – including nine combined across his trio of changeup, slider and curveball – last Thursday against a struggling Detroit team, and was able to throw strikes consistently, as evidenced by a Near-elite 35 percent CSW. If these trends continue, he is poised to emerge as a viable option for fantasy managers, especially in deeper formats. He’s a strong streaming option even in shallow mixed leagues when he faces the rebuilding Athletics on Wednesday, who have 25th overall team OPS this season through 86 games.
José Miranda, 3B, twins
Available in 75 percent of Yahoo leagues
It seems appropriate to put a post-hype breakout label on Miranda, as he was an afterthought for fantasy purposes entering the 2024 campaign after struggling last year to a .566 OPS in 40 games with Minnesota. The 26-year-old infielder carried a contact-oriented, fantasy-risk offensive profile to the majors, and he’s definitely disappointed in recent years in several extended chances with the Twins. However, it appears he has finally turned the metaphorical corner this year, with significant increases in both average exit velocity (89.7 mph) and barrel percentage (7.9 percent) without sacrificing any contact in the process. Simply put, he’s making hard contact more frequently in recent months, which has resulted in a .297/.340/.486 triple-slash line with eight homers and 37 RBI in 241 plate appearances. He even got a pair of stolen bases, just for good measure. He is starting to once again look like the top prospect who ravaged the upper minors and has looked like a potential impact fantasy contributor during his 2022 rookie season. His .960 OPS over the last 30 days ranks 21st in baseball during this period and he is at the point where he should be rostered in all fantasy formats as a four-category fantasy contributor with power plus stat counts.
