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Welcome back, RotoBallers, to our starting pitcher fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 14 (June 24 - June 30). In this weekly piece, we search for starting pitchers rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo! leagues. These are SP options to consider that might be good additions to your fantasy roster, especially for streaming.
Last week, we recommended some starting pitchers to scoop up whose rostership was lower than they should be. For those of you in deeper leagues, we will split that into another section, looking at starting pitchers rostered in less than 30% of Yahoo! leagues. We also look at pitchers beyond this coming week and look for tasty matchups a bit further down the road. One consideration for many fantasy players is that the bottom portion of your roster in deeper fantasy leagues should be churned frequently. That means you are playing matchups and looking for pitchers who can exploit weak-hitting teams. Start anybody pitching against the following teams: Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins, and Colorado Rockies.
Another caveat here: you are unlikely to find guys on the waiver wire that will strike out tons of hitters or be extremely exciting in most instances. What I look for are guys who can contribute to my bottom lines: a win perhaps (although chasing them is foolish and tricky), while not destroying my carefully manicured ratios. Keep your expectations modest; think it will do no harm and hope for the best. Let's get after it.
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Let's take a look at some pitchers who could help you over the next few days.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Recommendations for leagues of any size rostered between 30-50% on Yahoo!
Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds (rostered in 46% of leagues)
Abbott is such an interesting and polarizing pitcher. He continues to outpitch his peripherals and many fantasy players seem to shy away from him. Yet in his last start, he struck out 10 Red Sox and only surrendered one walk and two earned runs. Reminder: there are guys who outperform their underlying metrics, and maybe Abbott is one of those guys. He has six wins, a 3.40 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and 70 strikeouts in 84 innings. Why he's on the waiver wire in 54% of leagues is absurd.
Miles Mikolas, St. Louis Cardinals (rostered in 38% of leagues)
Mikolas has been terrific of late for the Cardinals. He's gone six innings in six consecutive starts and has three wins in those starts. He's 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 17 strikeouts in 25 innings in June. Mikolas is never going to wow you with strikeout totals but has been very effective recently. If you need help filling out the backend of your rotation, take a look here.
Tobias Myers, Milwaukee Brewers (rostered in 33% of leagues)
Myers has stepped into the rotation and provided good results for the Milwaukee Brewers. He's 3-0 in June with a 0.44 ERA, a 0.69 WHIP, and 15 strikeouts in 20 innings. He's gone at least six innings in those three starts and has solidified the back of the Brewers' rotation. Myers gets the San Diego Padres on Sunday and gets the Chicago Cubs at home next weekend.
Michael Wacha, Kansas City Royals (rostered in 31% of leagues)
Wacha always ends up pitching well for long stretches. On Saturday afternoon, Wacha threw five innings against the Texas Rangers and struck out five, surrendering three hits and one run. Check out the graphic below: Wacha is a master of limiting hard contact. He's got four wins, a 4.07 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and 61 strikeouts in 73 innings. He's basically free at this point. Grab him and get those statistics on your roster.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Recommendations for leagues of any size rostered less than 30% on Yahoo!
Jameson Taillon, Chicago Cubs (rostered in 28% of leagues)
Taillon has thrown at least six innings in his last three starts, including Saturday, where he struck out 10 Mets and earned the win. Taillon is the kind of guy who you always feel should be better than he is, but he works well for your roster. Take a look at Taillon if you are looking for some help; he's 4-3 with a 2.90 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP, and 53 strikeouts in 68 innings.
Tylor Megill, New York Mets (rostered in 25% of leagues)
Megill's statistics do not tell the whole story. He wasn't good on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs, but Megill intrigues because of his peripherals; a 27.8% K%, a 28.6% Whiff %, and a 95.7 mph average pitch velocity. The current 4.81 ERA has an xERA of 4.12. There seems to be some bad luck here to an extent, and Megill seems primed to continue starting in New York.
Simeon Woods Richardson, Minnesota Twins (rostered in 15% of leagues)
Woods Richardson continues to get very little respect in fantasy baseball circles, and I do not fully understand the rationale. On Thursday night, he went six innings, getting six strikeouts and allowing only two runs on four hits against the Tampa Bay Rays. What intrigues me is that his velocity and K rate are both creeping up, and he has 22 strikeouts in 20 innings. Woods Richardson only has two wins in 12 starts, but chasing wins is generally a fool's exercise. This is a great candidate to spot-start at the back end of your rotation. Note below that the increase in slider usage (more than doubled from 14.4% to 31%) is helping him find success in 2024.
Jonathan Cannon, Chicago White Sox (rostered in 11% of leagues)
I hear people saying this pick is because I am a White Sox fan, but Cannon has shown staying power since his return from Triple-A Charlotte. Cannon came within one out of a complete game shutout of the Houston Astros last week. He won't get many strikeouts, but he also limits walks and baserunners. With the White Sox being the worst team in baseball and likely to sell off starting pitchers like Erick Fedde and maybe Chris Flexen, he should stay in the rotation. Cannon's three appearances since his recall are below. This an arm worth rostering in most formats.
Other Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Options
- Drew Thorpe, Chicago White Sox (rostered in 14% of leagues)
- Jose Quintana, New York Mets (rostered in 8% of leagues)
- Carson Spiers, Cincinnati Reds (rostered 8% of leagues)
Happy hunting for starting pitchers this weekend! If you have questions, you can always message me on X @mdrc0508. You can even tell me you hate these picks. Remember that fantasy baseball is supposed to be FUN above everything. Enjoy it!
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