Zac Gallen (SP, MIA) - Week 18 Waiver Wire Pickup

Nicklaus Gaut profiles Miami Marlins starting pitcher Zac Gallen as a waiver wire pickup or add target for Week 18 of the 2019 fantasy baseball season as the rookie hurler is coming off of his best start of the year and looks to have continued success.

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ANALYSIS: Even with a tough start against the Twins on the horizon, Miami Marlins rookie Zac Gallen should see his ownership jump coming off of a dominant start against the White Sox last week. Gallen shutout the Southsiders for seven innings on Wednesday, allowing only two hits and walking one, while striking out nine of the 26 batters he faced. In six starts since being called up, Gallen has only one win but carries a 2.76 ERA, with a 28.0% K-rate and 1.23 WHIP.

With the less than mighty Marlins at his back, wins will always be tough to come by for the right-hander; but Gallen has shown over his 29 innings that he has the talent to compete at the major league level, and may in fact have the talent to be elite. Once he gets through the Twins on Monday, Gallen should line up for two starts in Week 19, going on the road to match up with the Mets, before coming home to face the Braves.

Not yet 24-years-old, Gallen is an elite misser of bats with enormous strikeout potential. Even playing on a Quad-A Marlins team, he should continue to put up strong ratios and could be an extremely valuable addition down the stretch for teams in need of strikeouts.