RADIO
Welcome back to starting pitcher waiver wire pick-ups! I'm Jon Anderson back again to give a bunch more SPs to consider adding.
This is a really, really crucial point in the season. Every year, several SPs vastly improve over the offseason. It takes a few starts to figure out who those guys are, and the teams that identify them and add them first have a really big step up on the competition. Another week gave us another handful of surprise performances, and a bunch more names to ponder These are the most important few posts in SP waiver wire pick-ups, so let's crush this.
Let's get to it – here are your starting pitcher fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups recommendations for Week 4 of the fantasy baseball season (April 17 - April 23).
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Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Pitcher pickup recommendations for leagues of any size
Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays (26% Rostered)
He came up to make a spot start for the Rays but was then sent back down to AAA. However, with Jeffrey Springs hitting the IL, he's likely to come back and fill that spot in the rotation. In his first start, he racked up eight strikeouts against the Red Sox. He threw a bunch of strikes (34.5% CSW%), which is always extra good to see from a young pitcher.
The appeal of Bradley is the big fastball he has. He averaged 96 mph on the four-seamer in his first start and the Stuff+ mark really popped way up there at 164. It's a small sample, but that number stabilizes really quickly – and not many pitchers in the whole league have four-seamers that good.
Highest Stuff+ on Four-Seamers, 2023
| Pitcher | Pitches | Stuff+ |
| Felix Bautista | 55 | 168 |
| Colin Poche | 49 | 165 |
| Drew Smith | 81 | 164 |
| Taj Bradley | 42 | 164 |
| Freddy Peralta | 100 | 163 |
We love some Rays pitchers. It seems that just wearing that jersey turns you into an ace, so Bradley is near a must-own right now.
Tyler Mahle, Minnesota Twins (35% Rostered)
All of the indicators are pointing upward for Mahle early this year. He appears to have come into 2023 as an improved pitcher, and I don't think it will be long before he's very highly owned in fantasy.
The SwStr% is up, the K% is up, the BB% is down, the Stuff+ is up, and the GB% is up! Everything that you want to be up, is up! It's all very good news for Mahle, and you should get him right now if he's out there.
Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates (24% Rostered)
I understand that it is going to take some time for fantasy managers to trust Keller again, but I think it's time to bury the hatchet. He has made three starts this year and they have all been positive. He has racked up 22 strikeouts in 17.2 innings (a 29.3% K%) while walking eight (10.7% BB% - that's bad) and giving up just seven earned runs. He has faced the Reds in Cincy, the Red Sox, and the Astros – so it has not been a cakewalk schedule so far.
Mitch Keller SwStr% by Pitch
| Pitch | Count | SwStr% |
| Cutter | 72 | 15.3% |
| 4-Seam | 64 | 18.8% |
| Sinker | 54 | 0.0% |
| Sweeper | 52 | 15.4% |
| Curveball | 47 | 8.5% |
| Changeup | 12 | 8.3% |
You can see above that he has a very deep arsenal now and several of these pitches are working very well. The SwStr% marks are great on three different pitches, and the presence of all the variation is a very good thing - especially as far as getting deep into games goes. Keller looks very good, and I'm buying in.
Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Garrett Whitlock, Boston Red Sox (41% Rostered)
It was not the greatest season debut for Whitlock, as he gave up five earned runs in his first start of the year after being late to the party after getting right after some minor injury issues over the offseason. The good news was that he earned an above-average 12.9% SwStr% and his slider looked terrific with a 23.5% SwStr%.
The sinker will be key for Whitlock as he will need to find a fastball to rely on if he's going to have continued success as a starter. It wasn't a good sinker day in that first start giving up a bunch of loud contact, but the good news was that the Stuff+ mark on the pitch was elite at 125.
It's still too early to really tell what Whitlock will be. I will go more in-depth with him next week after we see another start or two from him - but we at the very least know that he has some real talent and you don't often find his kind of upside on the waiver wire.
Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals (24% Rostered)
I am a little bit hesitant here because Bubic has been pretty dreadful in the past. However, his velocity is up and so are all of the other indicators. He has already had a 19-whiff start, which is just not something any old pitcher can do. He seems to be a much-improved player this year, so while I'm not overly confident that it will keep up – he's worthy of an add right now.
Tylor Megill, New York Mets (42% Rostered)
Megill has gritted his way through three starts this year giving up just four earned runs in 16 IP. We saw him be dominant in the Majors before his injury last year, so it was exciting for us to see him get another shot in the rotation this year, and plenty of leagues have seen him be added already.
The problem I have is that his K:BB ratio is just 13:7 right now, a pretty bad ratio in 16 innings. That will need to improve for me to continue to roster and start the guy. He also has a bad 10.3% SwStr% so far, so yeah the leash is really short for me on Megill. He seems to be able to get deep into games and that means he'll get some wins for your fantasy team with that elite offense behind him – but he's one of the lower-priority options on the list this week.
MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals (41% Rostered)
Walks, walks, walks. That seems to be the final hurdle we have to clear with Gore (although it's quite a large one). He has 18 strikeouts in 15 innings with a great 29% K%. But that's the end of the great news as his walk rate is sky high at 16% as he's walked 10 batters in 15 innings.
If he can get the BB% down under 10%, watch out! Gore gets a bunch of whiffs and keeps the ball on the ground when it's put in play, which is exactly what you want to see. I have my doubts that he can solve his career-long walk issue at this point, but crazier things have happened – keep an eye on Gore.
Drey Jameson, Arizona Diamondbacks (31% Rostered)
Drey entered the rotation and threw four innings in his first go at it. He struck out four Brewers in that time without giving up any runs. He will take another start or two to get fully stretched out, but we do know that this is a talented kid.
You tend to see more whiffs and better "stuff" in a bullpen role, so some of these high numbers will come down as Jameson prepares to throw 80+ pitches per outing, but yeah there are some really good pitches in the repertoire so the upside is high with the young Snake.
Matt Strahm, Philadelphia Phillies (12% Rostered)
The guy is 31 and has a career 3.69 ERA in the Majors. He has mostly pitched out of the bullpen and has never really shown any kind of upside as a starter.
This season, however, he looks very good - at least early on. He posted a 16.2% SwStr% in his first two starts with a very strong 109 Pitching+ mark. The data sample is small, and I don't have super high hopes for Strahm, but he looks quite good right now and we shouldn't ignore that. He's especially nice for certain leagues where his RP eligibility helps you out.
Other Waiver Wire Options
- Johan Oviedo, Pittsburgh Pirates (3% Rostered)
- Alex Wood, San Francisco Giants (6% Rostered)
- Braxton Garrett, Miami Marlins (3% Rostered)
- Eduardo Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers (14% Rostered)
- Nick Martinez, San Diego Padres (18% Rostered)
- Michael Wacha, San Diego Padres (38% Rostered)
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