Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Buying in on Brendan

It’s time again to look at a few worthwhile pickups in mixed leagues as we head into the second week of the MLB season.

Willi Castro - 3B/OF Twins - Rostered in 9% of Yahoo leagues

Castro wasn’t all that interesting in fantasy leagues while the rest of the Twins lineup was healthy, but it’s not like that was something that figured to last long. Because of the unfortunate Royce Lewis quad injury, Castro is Minnesota’s primary third baseman now, and he’ll continue to see some time in the outfield when he’s not at the hot corner. He should be a fine source of stolen bases while Lewis is absent for at least the next month.

After getting let go by the Tigers, Castro hit a respectable .257/.339/.411 with nine homers for the Twins last season, but where he really excelled was in steals, going 33-for-38 in just 409 plate appearances. He’s yet to swipe a bag this season, but one imagines they’ll start coming now that he’s playing regularly.

The switch-hitting Castro also probably won’t be a zero elsewhere. He lacks discipline at the plate, but when he makes contact, good things tend to happen. That’s not to say he’ll excel in any category besides steals, but speed-deficient teams can grab him for the next several weeks and then move on once Lewis returns.

Brendan Donovan - 2B/OF Cardinals - Rostered in 31% of Yahoo leagues

If you’re less concerned with steals and happen to be looking for a batting average boost, Donovan could be your guy. The 27-year-old has come in at .284 since debuting in 2022 and might be getting a little better.

Often a platoon player previously, Donovan is closer to a full-timer for the Cardinals now, though he’ll probably be dropped from the leadoff spot against lefties. Even that’s not really necessary; he offers zero power against southpaws, but he still has a .392 OBP against them in his career. Against righties, he’s come in at .288/.382/.423. He hit just five homers as a rookie, but with his groundball rate down, he came in at 11 in 95 games before last year’s elbow injury. He’s been even more of a flyball hitter through seven games this year and already has one homer and six RBI.

Speed isn’t a big part of Donovan’s game, but he might be good for 5-10 steals to go along with the possibility of 15-18 homers. That the St. Louis offense as a whole just doesn’t seem very good right now could hold Donovan back some, but he still offers enough help in enough categories to be of use in mixed leagues, and unlike with Castro, there shouldn’t be any need to toss him back into the free agent pool in a month.

David Robertson - RP Rangers - Rostered in 37% of Yahoo leagues

Even though he got the job done in the postseason last year, it was clear the Rangers weren’t totally sold on José Leclerc as their closer entering the spring, and Leclerc has gone on to open the season with a 20.25 ERA, one strikeout and five walks in 2 2/3 innings over his first three appearances. Robertson, meanwhile, has cruised through his four appearances, having gone without allowing a run in 4 2/3 innings.

The crazy this is that Robertson’s stuff seems better than ever as he approaches his 39th birthday next week. He hasn’t used a fastball regularly for a decade, but now he’s throwing the occasional 96-mph sinker, something he’s never had his arsenal before. The cutter he mostly uses came in at a career-high 93.3 mph last year and is averaging 93.4 mph right now.

Leclerc has a history of going through bad spells and bouncing back, so it might not hurt the Rangers to stick with him for now and see what happens. Still, Robertson projected as the team’s best reliever going in and certainly has been more reliable over the course of his career. The guess here is that he’ll wind up leading the Rangers in saves this year.