Pickups of the Day: Brax To The Future

Rotoworld's brand-new Pickups of the Day column is designed to help fantasy managers uncover a handful of widely-available targets over the course of the season. It could be a breakout candidate, a prospect stash, an injury replacement, a pitcher with a favorable matchup or week, a player who is due some better luck, or any other number of scenarios. If there's value to be found on the waiver wire, we will find it and bring it your way. Today's edition features a left-hander cementing his spot in Miami’s starting rotation, an under-the-radar southpaw turning things around in Oakland, and a rookie speedster with a path to regular at-bats in Boston.

Braxton Garrett, SP, Marlins
Available in 42 percent of Yahoo leagues

This is officially the final call for plucking Garrett off the waiver wire in competitive fantasy leagues. The 25-year-old southpaw authored the most dominant performance of his career on Thursday evening against the Pirates, tallying a career-high 13 strikeouts over seven innings of two-run ball. He generated 14 swinging strikes and finished with an elite 36 percent CSW, throwing 63 of 88 pitches for strikes in a dominant effort. He's allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts since May 14 and has notched at least eight strikeouts in six of those outings. There was some speculation that Garrett could wind up moving to a relief role once either Trevor Rogers (shoulder, biceps) or Johnny Cueto (ankle) were ready to return from the injured list, but that's clearly not going to happen now. He should be rostered in all fantasy formats until further notice and will take on the Red Sox in his next start on Wednesday at Fenway Park.

JP Sears, SP, Athletics
Available in 84 percent of Yahoo leagues

There haven't been a ton of positive developments this season for the rebuilding Athletics, but left-hander JP Sears has displayed some noticeable improvement in recent weeks, allowing two earned runs or fewer in eight of his last 10 starts dating back to May 3. The 27-year-old southpaw turned in another solid performance on Thursday afternoon against the Guardians, recording eight strikeouts and allowing just two runs over seven innings in a tough-luck loss. He's in line to face his former organization on Wednesday evening when the Yankees make the trek out to Oakland. Given his recent success, Sears is worthy of a speculative roster spot on deeper mixed leagues as a viable streaming option.

David Hamilton, 2B/SS, Red Sox
Available in 96 percent of Yahoo leagues

Pablo Reyes has been dealing with lingering abdominal soreness the last few days, and might wind up requiring a trip to the injured list ahead of Friday's series opener against the White Sox, following an early exit from Thursday's series finale against Minnesota. His extended absence would lead to an immediate opportunity at shortstop for rookie speedster David Hamilton, who has gone 1-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base through two games with the Red Sox since being called up earlier this week from the minors. The 25-year-old speedster, who has batted .255/.339/.486 with 11 homers and 27 stolen bases across 237 plate appearances over 52 games for Triple-A Worcester, offers enough stolen base upside to warrant consideration for a roster spot in deeper fantasy leagues.