ST LOUIS, MISSOURI – AUGUST 18: Masyn Winn #0 of the St. Louis Cardinals at bat against the New York Mets at Busch Stadium on August 18, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/.)
Rotoworld’s 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 top prospect finally getting an opportunity for the Cardinals and a viable streaming option taking the ball for the Braves on Monday evening.
Masyn Winn, SS, Cardinals
Available in 77 percent of Yahoo leagues
With the Cardinals no longer in the playoff picture, and Winn unlikely to exceed rookie eligibility for next season, the club finally called up their top prospect ahead of Friday’s contest against the Mets for his highly-anticipated big league debut. The dynamic 21-year-old top prospect figures to take over as St. Louis’ primary shortstop after posting a stellar .834 OPS with 18 homers and 17 steals across 498 plate appearances over 105 games this season for Triple-A Memphis. He’s gone 3-for-11 at the dish so far through three contests in the majors, and will square off against the Pirates and Phillies this week in a pair of road series. Simply put, Winn possesses enough power/speed combo potential to make an immediate impact for fantasy managers over the final six weeks of the regular season and is worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy formats. There are very few prospects of his combination of talent and opportunity that will ascend to the majors in the next few weeks of the regular season.
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Allan Winans, SP, Braves
Available in 86 percent of Yahoo leagues
It’s extremely difficult to identify quality streaming options, and nearly impossible at this stage of the regular season for a variety of factors, but Winans certainly fits the bill when he takes on the Giants on Monday night for the Braves. The unheralded 28-year-old right-hander has excelled in a pair of spot starts so far this season, posting a microscopic 1.59 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 14/3 K/BB ratio across 11 1/3 innings of work. It’s an extremely small sample size, but Winans has also excelled this season for Triple-A Gwinnett, compiling a stellar 2.79 ERA and 1.03 WHIP across 113 innings (20 appearances, 15 starts). He spun a nine-strikeout, seven-inning gem his last time out against the Mets back on August 12 and is at least worthy of consideration for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues against a San Francisco lineup that ranks dead-last in baseball with a 623 OPS across 34 games since the All-Star break.
