RADIO
And just like that, we’ve got one lone month remaining in the fantasy baseball season. It feels like just yesterday that we were sorting through the chaos of the homer spike with what was sure to be an April outlier -- only it continued anyway! 2017 has been a rough year for pitching, between the long balls, the blisters (which may or may not be related) and the 10-day disabled list “encouraging” more teams to give their pitchers a break.
But we persist through blood, sweat and tears on the waiver wire because that is what we must do to win. Here are my starting pitcher waiver wire targets for Week 22.
For our purposes, we’re going to use Yahoo ownership levels and try to cut things off around 30%.
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Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Targets
Blake Snell - (TB, SP): 30% owned
There must be a bit of “post-hype sleeper” tainting Snell’s ownership levels here. Don’t you all love young pitching? Are too many of you simply evaluating the southpaw based off of his season-long numbers? Sure, the 2-6 record, 4.29 ERA (4.97 SIERA) and 1.41 WHIP are below-average, and the 87 total strikeouts in 98 2/3 innings doesn’t redeem anything. But you know he wouldn’t be here without reason, as he’s posted a 2.39 ERA over his last four starts with a 2-0 record and a healthy 23-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’ll square off against the White Sox in Chicago for his next scheduled start on Sept. 1.
Tyler Glasnow - (PIT, SP): 24% owned
You already know he’s been dominant at Triple-A so we’ll just say this: Pirates’ GM Neal Huntington said that the team could shift to a six-man rotation in order to get Glasnow (and Steven Brault) some big-league innings down the stretch. There are a few layers of gambling going on with rostering Glasnow, but the upside is game-changing and September is the time for a little lightning stashed on the bench.
Edwin Jackson - (WAS, SP/RP): 23% owned
Jackson’s latest outing on Tuesday night vs. Miami saw him toss six more innings of two-run ball -- the same outcome as his last start on Aug. 23 against Houston -- with one of those runs being a completely-understandable homer allowed to Giancarlo Stanton. Am I worried that he’s now walked seven against just six strikeouts over his last two starts? Yes, but he now has a 2.94 ERA as a National and Houston and Miami are rather reputable offenses, plus Jackson isn’t a must-start. This all paints him as a decent play his next time out in Milwaukee before a solid home matchup vs. Philadelphia.
Mark Leiter Jr. - (PHI, SP/RP): 17% owned
Leiter’s scheduled start on Tuesday was rained out, so now he’ll take on the Braves in a doubleheader on Wednesday. This gives some of you an extra chance to scoop him up, because even though he bombed against the Padres in a premier matchup, he redeemed himself with seven shutout frames vs. Miami on Aug. 23. He allowed only one hit that day, and has now looked stellar in three of his last four appearances on the mound. The 26-year-old won’t be a bastion of consistency for anyone and the potential for a hiccup will lurk in the shadows, but he’s got the talent to replicate last week’s stat line.
Miguel Gonzalez - (CWS, SP): 13% owned
Some of y’all are catching on, likely helped by that nine-strikeout gem he threw against Detroit on Aug. 25, but he still needs some attention. He’s now gone 3-2 with a 2.94 ERA in eight starts (49 innings) since the All-Star break with seven of those outings falling under the “quality” column. While fantasy owners shouldn’t get hinged to the lofty K totals from his last start, this is an arm who turned in only one non-quality start out of 12 unhindered-by-injury outings between July-September last season. He’s got the talent to do so, even if many associate his name with mediocrity. He’ll go for another QS against the Twins on Thursday in a slated road matchup.
Jake Junis - (KC, SP): 12% owned
Some might still be bitter over his poor showing against the Indians back on Aug. 18, but there’s no denying that Junis has looked spectacular in four of his five August starts now. Tuesday night saw him dominate the Rays over 5 2/3 frames, striking out eight while allowing just one run on three hits and zero walks. In fact, he’s only walked three batters across those five outings (27 1/3 innings) while still bringing some serious whiffs to the table. He’s also given up just two homers in that span, which is extremely encouraging in this power-happy climate. He’ll take on the Tigers next in Detroit on Sept. 4.
Chris Stratton - (SF, SP/RP): 10% owned
Stratton has now struck out 10 in two of his last three starts, which is reason enough for all fantasy owners to perk up and smell what’s cooking. The downside of his second 10-K effort is that it came with five walks versus the one free pass that he issued against the Nationals in his first one. He’s walked four-plus in three of his five starts this season, but he’s shown upside that many would consider worth leaning on with a start against the Cardinals set for Sept. 1 at home in spacious AT&T Park.
Jack Flaherty - (STL, SP): 10% owned
Now Flaherty’s stock has spiked rather quickly as one of the newer kids on the block, with a recent report signaling a potential rotation spot opening up for the 21-year-old with Mike Leake struggling. The 34th overall pick in the 2014 Draft has posted a pristine 2.13 ERA and 1.02 WHIP between 143 2/3 combined Double- and Triple-A innings thus far with 144 strikeouts against just 34 walks. His upside isn’t near that of Glasnow’s, but he’s another young arm worth a stash.
Andrew Heaney - (LAA, SP): 10% owned
Fresh off of his first victory of 2017 -- a 10-strikeout showing against the A’s -- Heaney may just have shaken the rust off heading into September. He’s still sporting a .231 BABIP and 100 percent strand rate, which help fuel the 7.81 FIP, though his 5.63 ERA has a lovely 3.33 xFIP and 3.38 SIERA behind it. That 14.9 percent swinging-strike rate is beautiful, no matter how small the sample size.
Robert Stephenson - (CIN, SP/RP): 2% owned
Stephenson is lining up to face the Mets at home on Thursday with a strong chance at capturing his third consecutive victory. While he dominated Pittsburgh’s batters with 11 strikeouts in his last trip to the rubber, we can’t ignore that he also walked four and still owns a sky-high 5.98 BB/9 behind the 9.4 K/9. He has plenty to offer and admittedly his season-long stats are skewed by two horrendous outings against St. Louis and Miami, in which he walked six and seven batters, respectively. You’re dancing with some control demons here, but this current Mets lineup is one to target -- especially for a guy with big strikeout potential.
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