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Welcome back! It's Week 22 of our fantasy baseball Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups series! We have been having a good amount of success with our waiver wire pickups lately as a ton of fantasy baseballers have stopped paying attention and that's making the waiver wire a much more pleasurable place.
As we have been all season, we'll be looking for starting pitchers with strong K-BB ratios, favoring guys that can keep the ball on the ground.
Let's get to it - here are your starting pitcher fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups recommendations for Week 22 of the fantasy season (September 5 - September 11).
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Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Pitcher pickup recommendations for leagues of any size
Reid Detmers, Los Angeles Angels (48% Rostered)
He's just below the threshold here, so a good chance he's not available in your league, but if he is - he must be added. Since his return from the minors, he's made eight starts and put up a sweet 29.4% K% with a 9.6% BB% and a .280 xwOBA. There has really only been one bad start since that return, weirdly against the Tigers, and he's even been pulling in the wins in front of a hurting offense.
That lineup is warming up with Mike Trout back, and I think Detmers is going to finish off this season with authority.
Alex Cobb, San Franciso Giants (40% Rostered)
An ERA near 3.00 is great, but a WHIP above 1.25 is not. That's pretty much what you'll get from Cobb, along with a hefty supply of quality starts. He also continues to get strikeouts at a decent clip, putting up a 25% K% since July began. He's had some tough matchups lately but has been up to the task. He threw seven brilliant innings against the Phillies on Friday night. The schedule doesn't get a ton easier through the end of the year, but his ground-ball rate and ability to keep the ball in the yard are nearly unmatched which keeps him in the running for a good start every time out.
Jose Quintana, St. Louis Cardinals (36% Rostered)
We have tried to avoid "schedule talk" in this series since we're looking for long-haul pitchers that you play in any matchup. However, with just a handful of starts remaining for these guys, schedule matters a whole lot. Quintana's next two starts are against the Nationals and Pirates, two of the most exploitable lineups in the league. That goes a long way to make me want some of the guy for the rest of the year. He's been a nice ERA contributor and a quality start machine this year.
Justin Steele, Chicago Cubs (34% Rostered)
A 28.9% K% and an 8.8% BB% since July began while allowing almost no long balls with a low barrel rate of 5.6%. He's been checking all of the boxes, and yet he still can't find his way onto fantasy squads. Invest in Steele!
Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Nick Lodolo, Cincinnati Reds (29% Rostered)
The rollercoaster ride continues.
He has shown sick strikeout stuff (27.3% K%) and a great CSW% (30.9%) to back it up. The problem has been the walks (9.7% BB%) and some bad luck that isn't helped by the low ground-ball rate (40%). The ballpark is a tough one, and he doesn't get a ton of run support either. That all makes him pretty fringey, and he's really looked bad at times this year, which makes him far from the safe option in this post. However, few pitchers have this kind of upside, and he's a very fun pitcher to watch.
Ken Waldichuk, Oakland Athletics (20% Rostered)
We have seen all of one start in the Majors from him, but it was a decent one. He threw 4.2 innings against the Nationals and gave up just one run on five hits while striking out six. The four walks were a very bad sign, and he didn't exactly have a stellar walk rate in the minors (9.5%). Minor league pitchers rarely have success in their first go at Major League lineups, and one of the worst lineups is backing him up here, but the upside remains for a kid who has posted a 34% K% in the minors this season.
Roansy Contreras, Pittsburgh Pirates (18% Rostered)
Two good starts in a row for the young Buc, going 12 innings and giving up just two runs while striking out a dozen against the Braves and Phillies - two pretty good lineups. The stuff is really good with Contreras, we've just seen struggles with the walk and with executing pitches when ahead in the count. He's a talented pitcher, which is more than you ask for on the waiver wire a lot of times. Contreras will probably be frustrating, but the upside makes him worthy of an add in deep leagues.
Austin Voth, Baltimore Orioles (12% Rostered)
His season has been so surprising to me that I don't really even believe in it, but I can't completely ignore him at this point. He's made nine starts and not allowed more than three runs a single time. He has recently been given a longer leash in games, and has turned in two quality starts in his last three because of it. The 2.18 ERA and 0.97 WHIP are, again, tough to ignore when we're talking about nine starts now.
Give Voth a look!
Other Waiver Wire Options
- Alex Wood, San Francisco Giants
- Nick Pivetta, Boston Red Sox
- Josiah Gray, Washington Nationals
- Dean Kremer, Baltimore Orioles
- Jose Suarez, Los Angeles Angels
- Adrian Houser, Milwaukee Brewers
- JP Sears, Oakland Athletics
Alrighty, hope you enjoyed the piece and I hope some of these starting pitcher picks change your life forever and ever, for the better. So long!
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