Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 23

This is it, folks. We've officially crossed the rubicon into September. Almost all head-to-head leagues have commenced postseason play, and rotisserie owners are scrambling for any edge they can find as we rapidly approach the end of the 2019 season.

Pitching has been a trouble spot for many owners this season. Hopefully, this column has helped you navigate the waters thus far and will continue to do so as we finish out the year.

A reminder before we begin: Our focus is on players who are below 50% owned in Yahoo leagues, and standard 5x5 scoring. Your mileage may vary, in terms of availability or league settings. Using that cutoff point for ownership rate, however, these are your starting pitcher waiver wire targets and adds for Week 23 of the 2019 fantasy baseball season.

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Pickups for Shallow Leagues

Anibal Sanchez (SP, WSH) — 46% Owned

Sanchez wasn't quite sharp enough to get the win in his last start on Friday, but hasn't been saddled with a loss since May 10. That's a span of 17 starts, in which the veteran has produced eight victories and tidy ratios (3.16 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) with 77 strikeouts in 94 innings. He'll take on the Mets in his next outing.

Tanner Roark (SP, OAK) — 37% Owned

Roark has acquitted himself well since switching leagues at the trade deadline. In five starts with the Athletics, the right-hander has maintained his career-high strikeout rate while also putting up solid ratios (3.30 ERA, 1.13 WHIP). Considering that two of those games came against the powerhouse Yankees and Astros, that's commendable. Roark isn't scheduled to face a team above .500 in September, making him a solid bet for wins and continued success as Oakland chases a wild-card berth.

Anthony DeSclafani (SP, CIN) — 29% Owned

Tony Disco's unfriendly home park and penchant for allowing home runs have led to some rough outings this year. However, he's on track to make 30 starts for the first time since his rookie season, and they've been more good than bad, especially of late. DeSclafani has allowed just two runs in his last three starts, and owns sneaky-good numbers since the end of May (7-4, 3.43 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and 84 strikeouts in 81 innings).

Pickups for Deeper Leagues

Brock Burke (SP, TEX) — 23% Owned

Burke has now made three starts in the major leagues and allowed just three runs in 18 innings of work. Not bad for a guy who entered 2019 having pitched only 55 innings above A-ball. You'd like to see more whiffs - he's only struck out 11 batters thanks to a well below-average swinging strike rate - but the 23-year-old is a lefty with three solid pitches and a projectable frame. Plus, he gets to face the Orioles next.

Logan Webb (SP, SF) — 18% Owned

Like Burke, Webb made his third big-league start on Saturday. He's flashed more upside his fellow rookie, however, with 16 strikeouts in 15 innings. While his next start presents a difficult matchup at St. Louis, he'll get the Pirates and Marlins after that. The 22-year-old is one of the Giants' top prospects and owns two quality off-speed pitches in his slider and changeup.

Sandy Alcantara (SP, MIA) —13% Owned

Even after allowing four runs in his last start, Alcantara had a pretty good month of August. He produced a 3.03 ERA and 0.98 WHIP with 27 strikeouts in 32 innings of work and deserved better than his 0-2 record. Obviously the Marlins will continue to be lousy and make victories difficult to come by, but the rookie does have an appealing stretch of opponents coming up: @PIT, vs. KC, and @SF. Those are all bottom-10 offenses in pitcher-friendly venues.

For Your Radar

Mitch Keller (SP, PIT) — 9% Owned

Keller has made seven starts in the majors this season. Four of them have been 6+ ER disasters, and he's allowed just four runs total in the other three. So yeah, definitely volatile, and his ugly ratios (8.62 ERA, 1.98 WHIP reflect that). Nevertheless, he's also piled up 41 strikeouts in those 31 innings, while keeping the free passes at a reasonable level. His .479 BABIP and 53.6% strand rate are both bound for positive regression, and he gets the Marlins at home in his next start.

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