Yoshihisa Hirano (RP, ARI) - Week 26 Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: After having spent eleven seasons as an elite pitcher in Japan, Yoshihisa Hirano is about to finish his first campaign in the MLB at the age of 34 with sensational results. In 64.2 IP this year Hirano boasts a 2.09 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, but he has been especially deadly over the last two months, holding a 1.47 ERA and 0.98 WHIP across 18.1 innings. It is easy to see what have been some key catalysts of Hirano's recent torridity. This month he has produced a K/9 of 10.38 with a BB/9 of 2.08, keeping the base-paths air-tight. Although he has allowed a potentially dangerous combination of 45% hard contact with 15% soft contact and a 50% pull rate to opponents in September, he has been allowing just 31.6% fly balls while baiting batters into hitting 63.2% grounders, creating a GB/FB ratio of 2.00.

He doesn't have a particularly dynamic repertoire: he throws his fastball 53.9% of the time at an average velocity of 91.4 mph while he tosses his split-fingered fastball at an average of 83.3 mph at a frequency of 41.6%. His success this season has been largely slept-on due to being behind such names as Archie Bradley and Brad Boxberger in Arizona, and though he only has two saves for the whole season, he has accrued an impressive 32 holds. With the groove he has managed to find over the final two months of the regular season, the Diamondbacks may opt to throw him into even higher-leverage game situations over the last week now that their playoff hopes have been dashed.