Knuckleballer Waldron leads recommended fantasy pickups

If your fantasy baseball roster is beset by injuries and underwhelming performances, please know that you are not alone. Even the best teams are dealing with a few issues. The road to a championship is never a perfectly smooth ride.

For those in need of upgrades and enhancements, we have a six-pack of recommended fantasy pickups to address almost any problem ...

Matt Waldron, SP, San Diego Padres (50% rostered)
It feels like not enough of you are excited about the fact that the knuckleball is alive and well in San Diego. Waldron has been dealing in his recent starts thanks to the knuckler, the greatest of pitches. Over his last six starts, Waldron has delivered a 3-1 record with a 1.78 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings. He has been an absolute delight in both fantasy and reality -- and it has not gone unnoticed by other professional throwers:

Waldron draws the Mets on Friday, which is hardly a degree-of-difficulty spot. He’s been too good (and too fun) to remain unattached in so many leagues.

José Soriano, SP/RP, Los Angeles Angels (17%)
By now it should be clear that whenever I’m writing the waiver wire feature, you are probably gonna get a blurb on Soriano. This will simply serve as your weekly reminder that he throws a zillion miles per hour -- the man’s splitter averages 94 -- and he also has one of the highest ground-ball rates in the league. We generally like this profile.

After Wednesday’s start, an eight-inning win at Arizona, he’s up to 60 strikeouts over 72 1/3 innings on the season and he’s delivered an ERA of 3.48. At the end of the month, he’s in line for a two-start week in which he’ll face Oakland and Detroit. Soriano certainly belongs in your streaming plans.

Drew Thorpe, SP, Chicago White Sox (26%)
If you’d prefer to just avoid the White Sox experience altogether, we completely understand. It’s, um … well, it’s not for everyone. But please know that Thorpe is a legit talent who impressed in his MLB debut on Tuesday, striking out four batters over five innings while allowing just three hits and one earned run. He missed plenty of bats and generally looked ready to perform on the big league stage.

Thorpe was basically untouchable at Double-A to begin the season, going 7-1 with a 1.35 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP, punching out 56 hitters in 60.0 innings. He was similarly dominant in the Minors last year, delivering 182 K’s over 139 1/3 innings while maintaining a 0.98 WHIP. He’ll take his next turn on Sunday at Arizona, then face the Tigers next week.

David Hamilton, 2B/SS, Boston Red Sox (44%)
Perhaps we haven’t mentioned often enough the fact that in 2022 and 2023, Hamilton stole 127 bases over 222 games in the high Minors. One hundred and twenty-seven. That is extreme pilferage, folks. This gentleman is plenty fast. Hamilton is playing pretty much every day for Boston and he’s been a multihit machine over the past week. He has respectable power by middle-infield standards, and he’s swiped 14 bags for the Red Sox so far. In all likelihood, Hamilton’s roster percentage will spike in the days ahead, so this will serve as last call.

Spencer Horwitz, 1B, Toronto Blue Jays (4%)
All Horwitz has done since getting recalled from Triple-A is go 7-for-18, taking firm control of the leadoff spot for the Jays. He’s a verifiable on-base monster. Horwitz was slashing .335/.456/.514 at Buffalo before his promotion, which is almost the exact same production he delivered the year before (.337/.450/.495). He has low double-digit power and speed, so we’re not going to make any promises in those categories. But he should be a serious asset in runs and average.

If you play in a league that uses OBP, he’s a priority add. He should earn second-base eligibility in his next start, so he’ll soon offer positional flexibility.

Noelvi Marte, 3B, Cincinnati Reds (20%)
We’re still two full weeks away from Marte clearing his 80-game PED suspension, so you might not find it easy to stash him if you play in a short-bench league. But his variety of power/speed potential isn’t routinely available, so the inconvenience could be worth it.

Marte has not appeared at all rusty since returning to the lineup at Triple-A Louisville:

Last year, at age 21, Marte slashed .316/.366/.456 for the Reds with three homers and six steals over 35 games, plus he hit another 11 bombs and stole 18 bags in the Minors. Playing time shouldn’t be an issue when he returns to Cincinnati at the end of the month.