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It's nice when a plan works out, isn't it?

Michael Chavis and Carter Kieboom were recently called up, and while there was no guarantee of a long-term everyday role in Boston or Washington, we have noted multiple times that if they hit, they'll find spot. And so far, they're hitting.

Chavis has crushed the ball in his eight games, hitting three homers and walking six times, and he hasn't struck out at an alarming rate. More promisingly, he doesn't appear to be a total disaster at second base defensively. Given how poorly the rest of Boston's options have done there, if he still has a .900 OPS when Brock Holt, Dustin Pedroia or Eduardo Nunez come back, there's no guarantee he'll go back to the minors. Plus: Rafael Devers isn't quite doing enough it make you think he's fully safe at third, either.

Kieboom has only played three games since getting called up, but he already has two homers and three hits. Yes, and five strikeouts, but that's uncharacteristic, so we'll give him a mulligan there. Kieboom would seem to have a much more obvious roadblock to playing time once Trea Turner is healthy, however if Brian Dozier continues to struggle, the Nats have shown in the past they aren't afraid to let a prospect earn his way into a role.

Maybe Griffin Canning will get the next chance to lock down a role. Canning, Baseball America's No. 63 prospect, will make his MLB debut Tuesday against the Blue Jays, and he shouldn't be ignored. A second-round pick in 2017, Canning is off to a tremendous start to 2019, with 17 strikeouts in 16 innings, with only one run allowed. There have been concerns about whether he can hold up to a starter's workload, but he's healthy now, and worth adding in deeper mixed leagues to see if he can hit the ground running.

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Is Madison Bumgarner a must-own pitcher?

We'll get to waiver-wire adds and winners and losers, but I wanted to focus in on one formerly must-start pitcher who certainly isn't that anymore. We were hoping to see Bumgarner recover from what have been a couple of off seasons, and his debut (nine strikeouts, 15 swinging strikes, in seven innings vs. SD) gave some reason to be optimistic.

Unfortunately, that has all melted away. Bumgarner has a 4.70 ERA in five starts since, and he gave up an additional five runs in his second start that don't count as earned, even though Bumgarner gave up a walk, two singles, and a homer — the runs count  as unearned only because Bumgarner himself made a throwing error. Bumgarner has been a roughly average strikeout pitcher three years in a row, now, and has seen his groundball rate fall to 38.1%, the lowest of his career. You're probably not dropping him, but I'm giving up hope of Bumgarner being much more than an SP3 or 4 in Fantasy.

Five players to add on the waiver wire

  • Jesse Winker (69%) — Winker opened the season 1 for his first 24, and his ownership rate predictably collapsed as a result. At this point, however it is ridiculous that he is still available in more than 30% of CBS Fantasy leagues. Since breaking out of that slump, Winker is hitting .321/.397/.714 over his past 17 games. He's a must-start guy, no matter what the season-long numbers might say.
  • Max Kepler (60%) — After homering three games in a row, Kepler is up to seven on the season, with a .274/.340/.571 slash line. We've been waiting on a breakout from Kepler, and with an average exit velocity up more than 2 mph, there may be a long-awaited power breakout going on here.
  • Danny Santana (16%) — I don't know if what Santana is doing is legitimate, but I'd bet not. He has 1,165 plate appearances coming into the season with a .667 OPS, so there are a lot of reasons not to buy in. However, he's had above-average exit velocity in 2019, with a 13.5 degree average launch angle, the highest of his career. Maybe he can't keep it up, but right now, he's backing it up. And he's stealing bases. Why not see if it's real, at least?
  • Matt Strahm (53%) — Strahm came into the season with some sleeper appeal, but many ditched him after he had just four strikeouts to five walks in 7.2 innings in his first two starts. He struck out eight Friday, and has been terrific since those first two starts, so you'll want to buy in now. He really can be a solid option.
  • Jerad Eickhoff (35%) — Once upon a time, before a slew of injuries derailed him, Eickhoff was a really solid pitcher, turning in a 3.65 ERA in 33 starts in 2016. He's turned himself into a fastball-cutter-curveball pitcher and now has a 13.4% swinging strike rate, with 20 strikeouts in 17 innings. He looks like a new pitcher, and a better one at that.

Winners and Losers

Winners

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  • Mike Minor — Interestingly, Minor has continued to make his slider less of a feature, but he's been as good as ever in spite of it. He put together another seven-inning start Saturday, his fourth in six starts, and struck out a season-high 13. I'm not buying that he can keep this up, but he could always fall back on that slider if hitters start to catch up. It's not a bad thing to have in your back pocket.
  • Steven Matz — Like Winker, Matz has been better than his full-season numbers show, with one start overshadowing everything. Give him a mulligan for his six-earned, no-out start vs. Philadelphia, and Matz has a 1.86 ERA with a 25.9% strikeout rate. There might be something here.
  • Yu Darvish — Baby steps. Yes, he walked four batters Saturday, but he also struck out eight and allowed just one run on two hits vs. the Diamondbacks. After walking 11 with six strikeouts in his first two starts, he has 27 strikeouts and 11 walks in his past four, over 22 innings. It's not vintage Yu Darvish, but it's a start.

Losers

  • Chris Sale — Another start, another Chris Sale Rorscharch test. He generally does just enough to give us hope, but Sale had another five batted balls over 100 mph Sunday, his fourth game with that many -- his only start with that many in 2018 was his final start of the postseason. He's still clearly not right.
  • Jacob deGrom — He was unhittable in his first two starts, racking up 24 strikeouts to just two walks in just 13 innings. In 13 innings since? Nineteen strikeouts, sure, but also eight walks, five home runs allowed and 14 earned runs. They say the elbow is fine, but I'm sweating a bit at this point. Hopefully the next time out gives us some good signs.
  • Noah Syndergaard — "Right now it just feels like I don't have trust in my slider and my curveball. Every time I get a new baseball out there, it feels like I am holding an ice cube. Every baseball I get feels as slick as can be. I have zero grip on the ball." So, that sounds good. Maybe it's just a change in the ball (home runs are up yet again, for what it's worth), and Syndergaard just needs to find his feel. Better days are ahead of Syndergaard, and he's been the victim of bad luck, but this has been tough to watch so far.