Pablo Lopez (SP, MIA) - Week 11 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 9% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: Miami Marlins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez has now turned in quality starts in each of his last three outings, a promising sign after what had been an inconsistent first two months of the season. Lopez is now 4-5 with a 4.26 ERA and 1.12 WHIP on the year.

Lopez showed solid potential as a control pitcher during his minor league career with low walk rates and a WHIP consistently right around 1.00. Thus far into his major league career, those skills have translated nicely. However, Lopez has also started to show more swing-and-miss potential this year, which elevates his upside greatly. Last year, through 10 major league starts, Lopez had a strikeout rate of 18.6%. Through 13 starts this year, his strikeout rate has been a much-improved 24%. Meanwhile, his walk rate is down from 7.3% in 2018 to 5.9% in 2019.

The Marlins unfortunately play in a tough offensive division and Lopez doesn’t have a ton of offensive support to help him get wins. However, there’s too much to like about the pitching profile to leave him on waivers in NL-only and 12+ team leagues. In shallow leagues, he’s worth consideration as well and can be a great fill-in starter for the right matchup, particularly if he’s pitching in Miami. Across his six home starts this year, he has four quality starts and hasn’t allowed over three earned runs once. His next outing is a favorable one at home against the Pirates on Sunday.