A 23-year-old flamethrower about to make his major league debut and a three-time Cy Young Award winner nearing the end. Maybe it’s worth picking up both.
FANTASY BASEBALL WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS
Cade Horton (SP Cubs) – Rostered in 17% of Yahoo leagues
Needed because of Shota Imanaga’s hamstring injury, Horton is being called up to make his first major league start Saturday against the Mets. The Cubs’ first-round pick in 2022, he’ll debut after going 2-1 with a 33/13 K/BB in 29 innings over six starts for Triple-A Iowa.
Especially with his velocity up some this season, Horton has one of the best one-two punches in the minors in his mid-90s fastball and slider. He’s currently averaging 95.8 mph with his heater, up from 94.1 mph in his five starts with Iowa last year before he suffered a season-ending lat strain. Horton also possesses a curve and changeup, but he’s used his top two pitches a combined 88 percent of the time in his Triple-A outings. He might be able to get away with a similar mix his first time around the league in the majors, but he will eventually need his changeup to emerge as a factor.
Aside from that, Horton’s flaws come down to control and his flyball tendencies. The former issue should go away with experience, but the latter problem is getting worse as he continues to eschew his changeup. In Triple-A this year, Horton is sporting just a 31% groundball rate. Most of the flyballs against him haven’t been hit very hard, but major leaguer hitters are sure to fare better there.
Horton probably isn’t up for good just yet. If his performance warrants, the Cubs will certainly consider going forward with him after Imanaga returns, but even if he sticks initially, he might not show enough consistency to avoid a return trip to the International League later. I do think it’s a good idea to grab him now in mixed leagues; it’d be risky to play him against the Mets but a likely second start against the White Sox is plenty tasty. He’s not a finished product, but if he immediately gets his walk rate down in the majors — which is something that happens now as pitchers benefit from getting away from the prying eyes of the ABS system — he could be a difference maker.
Clayton Kershaw (SP Dodgers) – Rostered in 29% of Yahoo leagues
Are we really writing off Clayton Kershaw? How else is the future Hall of Famer still out there available in 70% of leagues a week and a half ahead of his 2025 debut?
Making his way back from foot and knee surgeries, Kershaw has already completed four minor league rehab starts. The last was supposed to be his third in Triple-A, but because of weather issues, he ended up throwing six hitless innings against hopeless 18-year-olds in the Arizona Complex League instead. In all, he’s allowed four runs in 17 innings thus far. His velocity is down about two mph from last year, but no one seems surprised by that. Most likely, he’ll have a little more zip in the majors.
Tempered expectations for Kershaw are surely warranted at this point. He’s 37, his seven starts after returning from shoulder surgery last year weren’t great and there were signs of cracks in the armor as far back as 2023. Still, betting against the greatest pitcher of his generation when he’s still toiling for baseball’s best team seems like a bad idea. Even if Kershaw is hitting harder than usual, he’s going to be in line for more wins than most while probably remaining an asset in WHIP. 70% unrostered is nuts.
Joc Pederson (DH Rangers) – Rostered in 5% of Yahoo leagues
Finally pulling out of the worst stretch of his career, Pederson went 2-for-3 on Tuesday and hit his hardest ball of the season, a 109.8-mph automatic double. On Wednesday, he did it again, finishing 2-for-2 with a new hardest-hit ball of the season, a 111.7-mph automatic double. In all, Pederson has hit nine balls 100 mph in his last seven games. He did so a total of eight times in his first 25 games.
Of course, Pederson still has quite a hole to dig himself out of. He was hitting .052 and slugging .069 at one point. He’s yet to homer, and he’s somehow totaled only two RBI in 105 plate appearances. Even now, he’s hitting just .132/.240/.209. Still, he hasn’t been striking out more than usual at any point. It’s been a lack of hard contact, especially in the air, that’s been his issue, and it seems to have resolved itself. His last 50 plate appearances have produced a .364 xwOBA.
As a platoon DH with little steal ability, Pederson’s fantasy ceiling in regular 5×5 leagues is capped. Still, he was a fine contributor with his .275 average and 23 homers in Arizona last season, and he’s in another good situation on a Rangers team that has remained patient with him in the cleanup spot throughout his long slump. He’s well worth plugging in next week with the Rockies coming to town, and it should be worth sticking with him as his resurgence continues.
Waiver Wire Quick Hits
– For good reason, the Cubs’ Porter Hodge is the reliever everyone is stashing this week after Ryan Pressly’s meltdown. However, the Rangers’ Robert Garcia is also worth a try. Luke Jackson has inspired little confidence in Texas, and there wasn’t really any reason to expect that he would in the first place. That Garcia is a lefty works against him, but righties have hit just .248/.301/.336 against him in his career and he hasn’t given up a homer to anyone in 36 2/3 innings dating back to last Aug. 4.
– Ryan Weathers (forearm) is close to making his season debut after throwing five scoreless innings for Triple-A Jacksonville on Thursday. The velocity boost he experienced this spring has stuck around during his rehab stint, and though he’s in a bad situation in Miami, he might eke out some mixed-league value anyway. He’s just nine-percent rostered at the moment.
