Fantasy Baseball: Waiver Wire Starting Pitcher Pickups-August 10, 2014
Sunday wraps up another big week in fantasy baseball with a jam-packed day of baseball with the Braves hosting the Nationals on Sunday Night Baseball. If you’re in need of some starting pitching to finish your fantasy baseball week, there are some nice options on most leagues’ waiver wire. You can find my top four options who are widely available in the list below.
Whenever you find yourself in the market for starting pitching or if you’re a dedicated streamer, check out my my starting pitching pickups here on Fansided (archive and new posts show up here). After a solid Friday, my picks improved to 13-5 this month with a 3.29 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and a 7.89 K/9 rate. This week, my picks have been tearing it up, and hopefully I can finish the fantasy week strong with these top pickups for Sunday’s games:
1. player. 7. Duffy is the top option on most leagues’ market as he takes on the Giants who have lost three of four coming into Saturday night’s game and have only scored more than three runs in one of those four games. Duffy isn’t just a matchup play, though, since he’s shown all season he can put up solid starts. Don’t be fooled by his 6-10 record, he’s allowed more than on earned run just once in his last eight starts which is why his ERA is all the way down to 2.39 to go with a 1.10 WHIP and a .202 BAA (batting average against). Duffy doesn’t typically get a ton of strikeouts, but if you need good, solid numbers to close out your week, look for his name on the wire first.. 43.6% owned. vs San Francisco Giants. Danny Duffy
11. Gausman isn’t getting the super-high strikeout totals which fantasy owners would have hoped for, but he’ll be looking to win his third straight start as he takes the mound against St. Louis on Sunday. He has allowed a total of seven runs over his last three starts going at least six in each outing. He has not faced the Cardinals before, since they’re in the NL, so they’ll be getting their first look at the 23-year old righty. Gausman is a top prospect and a big part of the O’s future, but he looks like he can contribute now to your fantasy team as well. Gausman is a more risky pickup than Duffy, but if Duffy’s off the table he’s the next best widely available. . 7.4% owned. vs. St Louis Cardinals. Kevin Gausman. 2. player
62. Seattle was forced to send Ramirez to Triple-A earlier this season after a run of ineffective and especially short outings, but the 24-year old Nicaraguan is back with the M’s now and looks like he’s refound his groove. Ramirez was impressive in his last outing even though he picked up a loss. He struck out ten Mets in seven innings allowing two runs on five hits. He’s risky as you can see from his 4.35 ERA, but his ERA has been 3.00 or lower in each month since April and is in a pretty favorable matchup at home against Chicago.. 0.8% owned. vs Chicago White Sox. Erasmo Ramirez. 3. player
Hughes has struggled with consistency and is in a tough matchup in Oakland, but he has put together a pretty solid year going 11-8 with a 4.01 ERA. He struck out nine in his last start in a win over San Diego allowing just one run on seven hits in six innings. He is higher risk than Gausman and Duffy, and his matchup is a bit tougher than Ramirez which is why he’s fourth on this list even though he’s still an option to consider for his start on Sunday. . 26.9% owned. @ Oakland Athletics. Phil Hughes. 4. player. 2