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Welcome back, RotoBallers, to our starting pitcher fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 15 (July 1 - July 7). 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 not harm and hope for the best. Let's get after it.
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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Recommendations for leagues of any size rostered between 30-50% on Yahoo!
Reese Olson, Detroit Tigers (rostered in 45% of leagues)
Olson continues to fly under the radar in most leagues, I think mostly because he's 2-8. However, a look past those numbers shows some useful statistics for fantasy players: a 3.35 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP, and 72 usable strikeouts in 83 innings. In his last start against the Chicago White Sox, Olson pitched into the seventh inning, earning a win and three strikeouts. That followed a start against the Atlanta Braves in which he went six innings and struck out eight batters. Olson next gets the Los Angeles Angels on the road next week.
Michael Wacha, Kansas City Royals (rostered in 37% of leagues)
Wacha continues to get very little fantasy love. I wonder if this is due to the lack of wins. Looking under the hood as we must on the waiver wire, Wacha has seven consecutive starts in which he has allowed two runs or less. Due to a lack of run support, he only has four wins, none in his last four starts. Wacha can help with ratios, though, and has a 3.91 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with 67 strikeouts in 78 innings. He is a viable starter in many formats and gets the Tampa Bay Rays at home this coming week.
Michael Lorenzen, Texas Rangers (rostered in 34% of leagues)
Lorenzen is a master at keeping hitters off-balance while using seven different pitches. He's using the sinker and cutter more this year, relying less on his fastball and slider. Some pitchers outpitch their peripherals, and that is the case with Lorenzen this year. He's got four wins, a 3.04 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP, and 55 strikeouts in 77 innings. Yes, the strikeouts are less than what you would like, but as with every pitcher on the waiver wire, there is a flaw you have to overcome, and so your roster construction becomes very important. Lorenzen is a great piece to add to the back of a successful rotation. See his Statact pitch percentage below. It's fun to see.
Landon Knack, Los Angeles Dodgers (rostered in 31% of leagues)
Knack is assured of a rotation spot on one of the best teams in baseball. The one knock on Knack (see what I did there) is that he has yet to pitch deep into a game. He has only hit six innings once in his six starts. But, he's limiting hard contact and has a 2.08 ERA and a .96 WHIP to go with 25 strikeouts in 30 innings. Knack gets the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks next week, which is a good matchup for the young right-hander.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Recommendations for leagues of any size rostered less than 30% on Yahoo!
Colin Rea, Milwaukee Brewers (rostered in 26% of leagues)
Check out the comparison below of Rea's sweeper from 2023 to 2024. In tandem with the sinker, he's getting outs and good results despite what the Statcast data says about what should be happening. Rea has seven wins and has a 3.61 ERA and 1.23 WHIP with 62 strikeouts in 87 innings. Before you bemoan the lack of strikeouts, keep in mind he has six and eight in his last two starts, respectively. Rea also has wins in three of his last four starts. As with most starting pitchers, you are going to have dud outings, but Rea seems to be a good bet to continue his recent run of good pitching. Rea should be rostered for more than he is at this time.
Drew Thorpe, Chicago White Sox (rostered in 20% of leagues)
Thorpe was torpedoed in a start two weeks ago against Arizona, where he gave up seven earned runs and six hits with five walks. This caused many fantasy players to shy away. However, Thorpe has pitched six innings in his two starts since that debacle, both wins, with five and four strikeouts, respectively. The strikeout rate is not impressive, but this guy knows how to pitch, and features a plus changeup that has hitters swinging and missing. He should have an extended run in the White Sox rotation for now to continue his development, and Thorpe profiles as a mid-rotation starter in the future. See the box below for more information on his pitches, looking at the Statcast data for his changeup.
David Festa, Minnesota Twins (rostered in 10% of leagues)
Festa will be a hot add this week in most formats, even though his debut was mediocre at best: five innings, two strikeouts, and a win, but surrendered seven hits and five runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Festa looks like he has a chance to stick in the rotation. He features a 96 MPH fastball with an impressive slider and changeup to go with it. The strikeouts should come; see the chart below of Festa's career minor-league results. Festa gets the Detroit Tigers next week.
Other Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Options
- Frankie Montas, Cincinnati Reds (rostered in 18% of leagues)
- Jose Quintana, New York Mets (rostered in 14% of leagues)
- Hogan Harris, Oakland Athletics (rostered in 11% 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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