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 5 of the fantasy baseball season (April 24 - April 30).
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Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Pitcher pickup recommendations for leagues of any size
Kyle Bradish, Baltimore Orioles (12% Rostered)
Bradish was dominant in spring and that made everybody very excited for him in the regular season. His first outing of the year was cut short after getting hit by a comebacker in the first inning and then he hit the IL for a couple of weeks.
He is back now and has made two starts (one rehab), throwing 11 innings with 11 strikeouts, two walks, and three earned runs allowed. The two walks there is a key stat for him. Nobody has ever questioned his stuff, the guy is nasty. He just that major issues with command last year, and it seems like he's improved that big time this year.
He is a priority pickup right now.
Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates (40% Rostered)
I knew it was going to be a slow climb up past 50% rostered, but it's getting a little bit ridiculous. Keller posted another strong outing on Friday night, even if it was against a bad Reds lineup away from Cincy.
The Pirates' former top prospect has just looked fantastic all season long. He's now turned in four straight quality starts and has a strikeout rate north of 24%. His pitch mix is DEEP.
Mitch Keller 2023 Pitch Usage
| Pitch | Usage | CSW% |
| Cutter | 23.5% | 31.0% |
| 4-Seam | 23.1% | 29.7% |
| Sinker | 21.2% | 36.3% |
| Sweeper | 14.8% | 16.9% |
| Curve | 13.7% | 28.8% |
| Change | 3.7% | 27.8% |
Having the three different fastball variations all thrown nearly equally is a real advantage. You can tunnel these pitches extremely well and the hitter just doesn't know exactly where the pitch is headed until it's too late. This is basically how Lance Lynn resurrected his career at an older age - and it seems like this may be the thing that finally boosts Keller into being a very good Major League pitcher.
The results have been great so far, and I think he can even get better as the season goes on. He should absolutely be rostered in any sort of league of moderate depth, and I hope to push him over the 50% mark this week!
Tyler Mahle, Minnesota Twins (34% Rostered)
The veteran right-hander has now made four starts and has put up a 3.32 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP on a strong 19.5% K-BB%. He has been short of dominant with a worst-than-average 11.3% SwStr% and he's still giving up the long ball at a high rate (21.8 PA/HR), but Mahle certainly looks better this year than he has in recent years.
His fastball just isn't a great one, and he's still throwing it 52% of the time. The 7.1% SwStr% and 30% GB% are going to keep him out of fantasy greatness, but it's possible that he could dial that pitch back a little bit in favor of his good slider and great splitter.
I don't think Mahle is reaching new heights this year, and he's not a guy that's going to flirt with getting Cy Young votes or anything like that, but he seems like a solid back-of-the-fantasy-rotation option and he's widely available right now. There is something to be said for having a dependable arm on your fantasy team that can give you innings with decent results in all categories - and I think that's what Mahle is this year.
Domingo German, New York Yankees (26% Rostered)
I'm not sure what has gotten into German this year but he has racked up a beautiful 30.5% strikeout rate with a good-enough 8.5% BB%.
Actually, I do know what has gotten into him - and it's this sick curveball he's throwing.
His curveball has one of the best Stuff+ marks in the league and he's put up a sweet 19.7% SwStr% with it (league average on curveballs is 12.8%). It's a dominant pitch, and he's throwing it a lot (40% usage).
Will that be enough to keep German putting up great starts all year long? I have some doubts, but he certainly does look like a new pitcher this year - and it's been working for him so far. It was also good to see him get past the sticky stuff incident from this fourth start and look solid again this weekend.
Brayan Bello, Boston Red Sox (15% Rostered)
We have only seen a little tiny bit of Bello so far, as he made his season debut on Monday and saw that get cut short by a lengthy rain delay. Because of that, there isn't much we can say about his 2023 performance so far.
What we do know is that this kid was dominant in the minor leagues and has a Big-League-Ready pitch arsenal. He put up a 33% strikeout rate in his time in the minor leagues with a ground-ball rate north of 60%. That's impressive stuff.
The obstacle he will have to overcome is the walks. He had a bad walk rate last year and that hampered him significantly - especially since he couldn't keep the strikeout rate up after coming to the Majors. We'll have to keep a close eye on him to see if those are still problems this year, but I do expect at least a bit of growth in a hurry, and if he really refines the command he could be a very, very good pitcher in due time.
Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Matt Strahm, Philadelphia Phillies (28% Rostered)
Here's something to see:
K% Leaders (4+ GS)
Data not including games from 4/22
| Pitcher | GS | K% |
| Spencer Strider | 4 | 40.9% |
| Jacob deGrom | 4 | 40.0% |
| Matt Strahm | 4 | 38.0% |
| Shohei Ohtani | 4 | 36.2% |
| Chris Sale | 4 | 33.7% |
| Pablo Lopez | 4 | 33.7% |
| Zac Gallen | 5 | 33.1% |
| Gerrit Cole | 4 | 32.0% |
| Logan Gilbert | 4 | 31.1% |
| Hunter Greene | 4 | 30.8% |
Yeah, one of those names is not like the others! Strahm has posted above-average SwStr% on four different pitches this year:
| Pitch | Strahm | League |
| 4-Seam | 12.5% | 10.1% |
| Slider | 17.9% | 15.8% |
| Curveball | 23.5% | 12.8% |
| Sinker | 15.6% | 7.0% |
That said, the case against him is pretty easy to make
- He's been around for a long time and has never sustained a high strikeout rate
- He's taken advantage of three easy matchups recently (Marlins, Reds, Rockies)
But I still just can't ignore a 38% strikeout rate, even if it is over just four starts. I mean bad pitchers don't just go out and strike out more than a third of the batters they face over any kind of sample size - it's a positive sign.
Strahm had been limited by low pitch counts so far, but he set a new season-high in that regard on Thursday by firing 82 pitches against the Rockies. He seems to have taken a hold of this rotation job in Philly and he will keep it until his performance cools down. I won't be shocked if this train derails in short order, but for now he's worth a speculative add.
Roansy Contreras, Pittsburgh Pirates (25% Rostered)
Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo have stolen the show in Pittsburgh, but Contreras has been solid in his own right.
He had one really bad start against the Astros where he just didn't have the slider and he gave up seven earned runs to that tough lineup. However, his other three starts have all been strong. Over his last outings, he has 14 strikeouts to five walks while throwing 12.2 innings and giving up just three runs to the Cardinals and Reds.
The slider is a great pitch for him, and he is throwing it much more often this year - a welcome sign. The fastball has also improved, and this is a former highly-touted prospect - so there's plenty of ceiling here.
MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals
I'm recommending someone I wouldn't add myself, so that's an admission right off the bat. Gore has pitched decently well this year with a 3.43 ERA and a sweet 29.1% K%. However, the walk rate is absolutely abysmal at 16%. I know without a doubt that he can't keep an ERA under 4.00 for long with that kind of walk rate, but it's also true that the walk rate will improve. It's incredibly hard to keep a walk rate that high, and while he's always had his struggles - it's never been this bad.
If Gore can drop this to 10-12% from here on out, the strikeouts and deceptiveness he brings to the table might be enough to counteract it. The WHIP just isn't going to be good, but he could give you a half-decent ERA while posting some big strikeout numbers, so if that fits your needs - you can take a shot on the young lefty.5
Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks (5% Rostered)
This is very likely the last week we can get Pfaadt with no competition. The Diamondbacks DFA'd Madison Bumgarner this week and then announced that Tommy Henry would be taking his spot in the rotation. Call me a skeptic, but I'm not buying that.
Pfaadt nearly made the rotation out of Spring Training, and he threw 167 innings between AA and AAA last year with a beautiful 31.6% K% and 4.8% BB%. Both the innings and that ratio are stunning to see. His pitch arsenal is deep, and even the Diamondbacks have admitted he's ready for the bigs. I think by this time next week, we see him in the Majors. Grab him now before someone else gobbles him up.
Mason Miller, Oakland Athletics (34% Rostered)
Yeah, it's that time of year when the contract deadlines start passing and all of the young kids start getting the call. Miller looked decent in his first outing with the Athletics, showing off his big 100+ mph fastball and striking out five of the 18 Cubs hitters he faced.
The problem is that the upside feels very, very limited. He is heavily reliant on the fastball, which is never a great sign for a young pitcher in the bigs, and it doesn't seem likely at all that the A's let him get deep into games. His innings will certainly be watched and limited this year, so that takes away a lot of the long-term appeal. But you can add Miller for now as he should give you a good strikeout rate and some good outings along the way.
Logan Allen, Cleveland Guardians (3% Rostered)
This one confused me. There was a Logan Allen that pitched for the Guardians last year and was not very good. However, they have another Logan Allen! It's another left-handed pitcher that is one of their top prospects. It was announced Friday that he would get the call to the Majors, and while it is possible this is just a spot-start situation, it's also possible that he could end up being an interesting fantasy option this year.
Cal Quantrill just joined Triston McKenzie and Aaron Civale on the IL, so Cleveland is certainly hurting for starting pitching. The profile on Allen isn't as good as Pfaadt, so maybe we should just watch to see what he does in his first start - but any time a young top prospect get the call up they deserve some attention.
Other Waiver Wire Options
- Drey Jameson, Arizona Diamondbacks
- Hayden Wesneski, Chicago Cubs
- Sean Manaea, San Francisco Giants
- Drew Smyly, Chicago Cubs
- Tyler Wells, Baltimore Orioles
- Gavin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers (could get the call-up soon)
- JP Sears, Oakland Athletics
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