FANTASY BASEBALL WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS
Sean Keys (1B/3B Blue Jays): Rostered in two percent of Yahoo leagues
The timing of Keys’ promotion to Toronto over the weekend was pretty surprising, as there was no clear opening for him to fill. However, the 23-year-old was forcing the Jays’ hands in hitting .284/.409/.619 between Double- and Triple-A. In 18 games since moving up to Buffalo, he’d hit seven homers and slugged .719 while dropping his strikeout rate from 24.4 percent in Double-A to 19.5 percent in the International League.
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Of course, that’s still not solving the question of how Keys fits in. He has game experience at only two positions as a pro and those spots are held by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kazuma Okamoto in Toronto. An audition at second base has been talked about — manager John Schneider ever alluded to how the team stuck Spencer Horwitz there in 2024 — but if the Jays were serious about that, one imagines he would have played a couple of games there before his callup. Designated hitter George Springer rested to give Keys his first start Saturday. Okamoto is sitting to make room for him Tuesday. Realistically, either Springer or Okamoto is going to have to start logging outfield time for Keys to get at-bats.
If the playing time is there, Keys should produce. He’s exceptional at pulling flyballs, and he’s more than happy to take walks when he doesn’t get his pitch. He’s not very fast, which is why there hasn’t been much talk of putting him in the outfield, but he was 7-for-8 stealing bases in the minors this year anyway. Since he’s not going to start against lefties and he probably won’t hit for a particularly high average right away, Keys doesn’t have a ton of fantasy upside in the short term. Still, he could do a fair Kerry Carpenter impression given the chance.
Cooper Ingle (C/OF Guardians): Rostered in two percent of Yahoo leagues
The acquisition of Patrick Bailey from the Giants in May made it clear that the Guardians weren’t going to commit to the 24-year-old Ingle behind the plate anytime soon, no matter how well he continued to swing the bat for Triple-A Columbus. On May 30, they gave in and had him make his first professional start in left field. Three weeks and one three-homer game later, he was promoted to the majors for the first time, and he’s since gone 1-for-7 with three walks in three games.
Ingle, who played quite a bit of outfield while also catching at Clemson, has always been a bat-first prospect. He stumbled after a late-season promotion to Triple-A last year, but he was hitting .284/.416/.551 with 12 homers in 51 games for Columbus this season. That homer total already topped his marks of 11 from 93 games in 2024 and 10 in 120 games last year. Ingle rarely swings and misses, though because he’s so patient at the plate, he still strikes out a fair amount. He’ll probably need to be a little more aggressive against major league pitchers, who aren’t going to let him walk at the 15-20 percent clips he’s typically featured in the minors.
Ingle is another left-handed hitter who probably won’t start much against lefties initially, he’s not any sort of stolen base threat and he’s hitting in the bottom half of a lineup that’s struggling to score runs. That’s not a recipe for much fantasy upside, But he should be helpful in leagues that start two catchers. His line-drive ability should produce a solid batting average and make him a pretty good RBI guy if he gets to hit behind Travis Bazzana and José Ramírez at some point. It’s just too bad this might be the only time he qualifies at catcher for fantasy purposes.
Spencer Miles (SP/RP Blue Jays): Rostered in three percent of Yahoo leagues
Miles’ major league success as a Rule 5 pick who had pitched a total of 23 1/3 innings as a pro is really one of the more incredible stories of the year. The Giants’ fourth-round pick in 2022, Miles missed 2023 following back surgery and then needed Tommy John in June 2024. He didn’t pitch again until the 2025 Arizona Fall League, when he struck out 12 in 8 2/3 innings. Making the call to send him there and give every other team a look at him before not protecting him from the Rule 5 draft was an unforced error from Posey and company (a Buster Blunder, if you will). Miles made the Jays and has since posted a 3.00 ERA and a 50/16 K/BB in 51 innings over two starts and 21 relief appearances.
As a fantasy pickup, Miles is probably only a short-term option. He should enjoy some lengthier outings over the next couple of weeks after the Blue Jays demoted Patrick Corbin to the bullpen and before they get Max Scherzer back. Ideally, he’ll pitch behind an opener, giving him a much better chance at a win. He probably won’t go five to qualify otherwise. Miles has four times this year come in as a bulk guy in the second or third innings and come away with victories twice.
For the long haul, there’s good reason to think Miles will turn into a quality starting pitcher, assuming that he’s turned the corner in the health department. All of his pitches have strong groundball rates, and he can put away batters with his curveball. The Jays will be cautious with him this year — again, he pitched 16 innings from 2023-25 — so he probably won’t remain worth using in mixed leagues after the break. He might be helpful until then, though.
Waiver Wire Quick Hits
– Logan Henderson should be rostered in most competitive leagues as he approaches a return from the injured list, but he needs to be grabbed wherever he’s available. With the Brewers consciously limiting his innings early and a back problem having curtailed him for a month, his workload concerns are essentially gone and he should be a full go for the final three months. Of course, there’s no guarantee he’ll stay healthy, but he could be a top-40 SP the rest of the way if he does.
– With Gregory Soto faltering, the closer’s gig in Pittsburgh would seem to be up for grabs. Still, it’s hard to say who might claim it from the group that includes Yohan Ramírez, Dennis Santana and Mason Montgomery. Carmen Mlodzinski should also factor in with the occasional multi-inning save. Based on how they’re being used of late, Ramírez is probably the smartest pickup of the moment. However, Santana does have the experience and some nice expected stats of late. What he doesn’t have is a single hold during the month of June; his last 10 appearances have all come in games in which the Pirates were trailing (six times) or ahead by at least five runs (four times).
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