Nick Burdi (RP, PIT) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 3% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Keone Kela is still out with an illness, Kyle Crick's shoulder just landed him on the IL, and just like that, the Pirates are immediately forced to dig deeper into their bullpen to fill up the high-leverage innings. That created a window of opportunity for 27-year-old former top-100 prospect Nick Burdi to test his mettle as the Pittsburgh relief anchor.

Prior to 2020, Burdi had just 10 IP in the majors and allowed an ugly 12 earned runs with a 1.90 WHIP. This was largely the result of O-Swing rates of 14.3% and 31.8%, O-Contact rates of 66.7% and 32.1%, and Z-Contact rates of 63.6% and 81.5%. In the short sample of 2020, Burdi has made significant strides in this department, generating a 71.4% O-Swing rate, 20% O-Contact rate, and an overall Swinging Strike rate of 45.5% on his way to four strikeouts, zero ER, a 0.50 WHIP, and his first MLB save across two innings. It has been a pretty long and uncertain journey to the big leagues for Nick Burdi (as it still is for his brother Zack Burdi), but now that he is utilizing his slider as a potent tool of deception to go with his flaming fastball that can easily reach triple-digits, the elder Burdi is in a great position to make a significant impact for fantasy managers as the go-to guy for the Pittsburgh Pirates when they are in need of a save.