Fantasy baseball free agent pickup: Rookies and relievers lead the way

It’s a good week to speculate on recent top prospect promotions, as well as up-and-coming arms who have seemingly secured roles at the back end of their respective bullpens.

We will start with the possibility — everyone Love the possibilities! — where two of Keely McDaniel’s top 60s from him preseason list Recalled last week, both are best known for their injuries. Both are available in more than 80% of ESPN leagues and, considering their long-term ceiling, are worth a stash in the hopes that they quickly adapt to MLB competition.

Travis Bazzana2B, Cleveland Guardian (18.0% listed): Bazzana, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 amateur draft, was called up by the Guardians on Tuesday, but note that he was a legitimate candidate to claim the team’s Opening Day second base role after looking the part during spring training (.381/.435/.857 home bat rate, eight league runs).

Although his first week in the majors was relatively quiet — his most notable highlight, perhaps, was an intentional walk with two outs in the ninth inning of his debut Tuesday — he displayed the same elite plate approach and above-average speed for which he was known in the minors. Bazzana’s skill set is ideal for fantasy baseball point-league play, full of Walks, doubles and contact, and he plays one of the harder positions to fill in our game.

Bryce EldridgeDH, San Francisco Giants (6.8% listed): The Giants, now last in baseball in runs per game (3.12), HR rate (1.5% of their trips to the plate) and walk rate (5.6%), plan to return the slugging Eldridge to the first of a three-game home series against them on Monday. San Diego Padres. To be clear up front, it is no A planned move to leave the struggle Raphael Devers (.562 OPS, 30.7 K%) on the sideline, but rather the two should work in a 1B/DH partnership, let alone Casey Schmitt More suited to a mid-infield/defensive replacement role.

Scouts have questioned how high Eldridge’s power and on-base percentage ceiling can really be, but when they come to Sacramento’s hitter-friendly home environment, his .274/.360/.495 slash and 23 homers in 104 career games at that competitive level are enticing. He’s worth a stash, but if he shows the same struggles adjusting to big-league pitching as he did in his 10-game stint last year (.107/.297/.179 hit, 35.1 K%), be prepared to move on quickly.

Pitching is a weapon for the poor

Moving to the bullpens, the following two young newcomers are worth picking up in the AL West, as they have emerged as their team’s go-to finishers.

Jack Perkinsrp, Athletics (8.6% listed): It’s hard to believe he hasn’t even broken camp with the team, as he’s currently a top-50 relief pitcher in fantasy points (54). Perkins seemed like a rotation consideration at the start of spring training, but his four-pitch repertoire has played well in relief so far, especially his three secondary pitches (sweeper, changeup, cutter) that have produced at least a 33% whiff rate. He has notched three of the Athletics’ last four saves, coming off a clear outburst to start the season. Also, he worked in a more traditional one-inning role last week.

Jacob LutzRP/SP, Texas Rangers (8.3% listed): Another “I’d think him a starter” pitcher earlier in the season, Latz’s four-pitch repertoire has played well in short relief, and he’s notched each of the Rangers’ last three saves. Most notable was his two-inning save in Wednesday’s 3-0 win New York Yankees That Rangers need to win effectively. He faced each of the Yankees’ top five hitters, allowing just one ground-ball single Ben Rice. Manager Skip Schumacher has said he will retain the option to call Latz at any critical moment in the game, but he is clearly the team’s current top relief option, meaning he will likely get the ninth inning with regularity.

I’m still saying…

The players recommended in this article over the past two weeks have remained ESPN Standard league-relevant, yet are still available in a large number of leagues.

Ivan Herrera, c, St. Louis Cardinals41.0% listed
Louis Verland, rp, Toronto Blue Jays51.7% enlisted

Two-start pickup

Johnson JunkSP, Miami Marlins

A 30-year-old currently in his sixth professional organization, Junk is probably considered by many to be an itinerant rotation fill-in — a rarely relevant piece in fantasy leagues. His dedication to improving his game over the past year is paying dividends, however, as this season he’s thrown his four-seam fastball faster (career-high 94.2 mph average) and with more break, and using the sneaky-good changeup he threw more (19%) than he did last season.

Junk’s name belies the quality of his raw material, and his matchup against this week Philadelphia Phillies (29 runs last week) and Washington Nationals (sixth in runs per game on the season) looking a little intimidating, they’ll come to his pitchers-haven home venue, LonDepot Park. He’s perfect for pickup for both of those assignments, and he’s listed in just 6.5% of ESPN leagues.

Deeper-league pickup

Deep (12-team mixed): Jason DominguezOff, Yankees (6.6% listed): He belongs in a bit of the top category, remembered by his team recently as a hit-oriented youngster, but what separates Dominguez from Eldridge and Bajana is a more uncertain path to playing time. Giancarlo Stanton (calf, 10-days IL) will almost certainly regain his DH role when healthy, but why can’t Dominguez, who had two doubles and a home run Sunday, remain as a potential left fielder?

The Yankees might have 22 million reasons to keep playing Trent Grisham regularly, but his 34-HR 2025 sandwiched three seasons in which he hit sub-200 and sub-400 slugging percentage, arguably making him more of a defensive than offensive consideration. Dominguez is worth sneaking around to see how this outfield shakes out.

Deeper (15-team mixed): Griffin CanningSP, parents (4.5% listed): Made his 2026 debut on Sunday after missing the first month of the season while recovering from an Achilles injury, and looked pretty good in it, fanning seven of 19. Chicago White Sox He faced five tough innings throughout. Canning’s repertoire doesn’t scream “fantasy baseball star,” but he gets enough whiffs with both his slider and changeup that he’s at least capable of contributing on a matchup basis. Considering his new team, the Padres, call home one of the game’s most pitcher-friendly environments, there should be plenty of solid matchup opportunities.

Deepest (AL- and NL-only leagues): Bryce Matthews2B/OF, Houston Astros (1.6% listed): He’s hit just .200 with a .264 OBP over parts of the last two seasons, making it seem like years ago that Matthews (still just 24 years old and with just 39 MLB games) was considered the Astros’ top prospect on July 11, 2052. His free-swing approach — a horrendous 40.3% career strikeout rate — needs to be reined in to truly improve, but he offers good pop (16.1% barrel rate) and is seeing enough time across all three positions (2B, LF, CF) to be a pickup in the AL-only and perhaguem1-leaguem.