RADIO
The middle of August has come and gone, leaving us with just a month and a half of baseball between now and the moment where fantasy baseball champions are crowned. And I guess the real baseball playoffs too. But for many of us, that just means making a full pivot to fantasy football.
Perhaps your league doesn’t have trade deadlines and you can still make moves that way, but the waiver wire is now the only source of assistance for many fantasy owners. Here are my starting pitcher waiver wire targets for Week 20.
For our purposes, we’re going to use Yahoo ownership levels and try to cut things off around 30%.
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Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Targets
Dinelson Lamet - (SD, SP): 30% owned
In the interest of leveling with you, the reader: I love this guy. He’s won four of his last five and the only reason that isn’t five in a row is because his bullpen blew the game against Cincinnati in epic fashion. It’d be ideal if the rookie could develop his changeup alongside the killer fastball-slider combo, but that hasn’t kept him back from posting a 2.37 ERA with 30 K’s in his last 30 1/3 innings (five starts). Not only that, he hasn’t yielded more than three hits in any of his last four trips to the hill! He’ll go up against the Nationals at home next on Aug. 20.
Luis Castillo - (CIN, SP/RP): 29% owned
I’m surprised that Castillo wavered back into our range here, but all he did was answer the doubt by blanking the Cubs over six frames at Wrigley. He struck out seven Cubbies and allowed two singles and walks, looking dominant from start to finish on Tuesday. With a date against the Braves in Atlanta due up on Aug. 20, he should rebound way above the 30 percent mark here.
Garrett Richards - (LAA, SP): 23% owned
Richards is set to face live hitters this week after making it through several bullpen sessions, and still looks to be on track for a September return. Those of you with DL space to spare -- all three of you -- could have a nice stash for the semifinals/finals in the final weeks of the regular season.
Jordan Montgomery - (NYY, SP): 23% owned
Montgomery’s fantasy relevance in 2017 looked to be null after he was demoted to the Minors with the acquisitions of Sonny Gray and Jaime Garcia, but injuries to CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka reopened the case. The southpaw allowed just one run on two hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings against Boston at home on Aug. 13, but the Yankees’ allegedly-elite bullpen would lose the game. The rookie is set for a rematch with the Red Sox in Boston on Friday, with his availability moving forward hinging on Tanaka’s shoulder inflammation status.
Jake Junis - (KC, SP): 19% owned
Junis will have his next turn in the rotation skipped, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s notched the win in his last three appearances alongside a 1.80 ERA and 0.53 WHIP (no walks!). He isn’t that good, but he’s finally hit his stride after some early-season struggles in the Majors. Don’t forget that he owns a 2.92 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over 12 starts with 86 K’s in 71 Triple-A innings. He should face the Indians next week for you forward-thinkers.
Edwin Jackson - (WAS, SP/RP): 9% owned
Jackson did indeed deliver in a plus matchup against the Giants on Aug. 12 and now owns a 3.30 ERA/1.07 WHIP with 25 K’s over his last 30 innings and 30 days. It’s a strange year all around, but the fact of the matter is that the 33-year-old gets to face the Padres in San Diego next on Aug. 17. While his current pattern (W-L-W-L-W) dictates trouble is coming, we’re a little more scientific than that here and like his odds for a strong start to come.
AJ Griffin - (TEX, SP): 8% owned
Griffin has won both of his regularly-scheduled starts since returning from the disabled list, with his lone loss coming when he was bumped up a day to face the Mets. He’s only struck out 11 in those 16 innings, but a 3.38 ERA and 1.06 WHIP over that span makes him an arm to target with a home date against the White Sox -- whose .151 ISO over the last two weeks ranks 22nd in the Majors -- for an Aug. 20 start.
Matt Andriese - (TB, SP/RP): 6% owned
Andriese has been on the shelf for over two months now with a stress reaction in his hip, but threw 44 pitches in his first rehab start without any issues on Sunday and will advance his rehab to High-A on Friday. He could return to Tampa Bay’s rotation by the end of August to his 3.54 ERA and 5-1 record, though his 40.7 hard-hit rate in 61 Major League innings is a gigantic red flag. He should be able to improve on things given his 3.78 FIP and 3.90 SIERA from last season.
Andrew Heaney - (LAA, SP): 4% owned
Heaney’s six rehab starts have seen him strike out 29 against five walks with a 2.60 ERA over 27 2/3 innings. He should be able to return to the big leagues against Baltimore this weekend, which isn’t a great welcoming party, but you need to get ahead of the curve in case he shines. At just 26 years old, the southpaw also makes for a nice late-season stash for keeper owners who can secure him for a quick buck heading into 2018.
Austin Pruitt - (TB, SP/RP): 3% owned
Pruitt remains one of my favorite low-owned arms given his 3.47 ERA/1.07 WHIP with 18 K’s over his last four starts (23 1/3 IP). He’s now looked good against the Yankees, Astros, Red Sox and Indians thus far, which is a pretty good bar to set for determining when someone is “battle tested.” The 27-year-old also has a 50.7 percent ground-ball rate over that four-start span, which tends to be more helpful than not for a pitcher, and he's also yielded just one long ball over his last three outings. He'll look to build on this recent momentum in a home start against the Mariners on Friday.
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