Fantasy Baseball: Waiver Wire Starting Pitcher Pickups-August 12, 2014
Tuesday is a great day for fantasy baseball owners to hit the waiver wire looking for starting pitching with several nice widely available options who are getting ready to make the first of their two starts of the week. While Monday was light on options, Tuesday has six solid selections who I think can help you based on your risk tolerance and what stats are a priority to you. Check out the list below.
When your starting rotation is in need of a boost from the wire, check out my my starting pitching pickups each afternoon here on Fansided (archive and new posts show up here). All my options are always available in at least half of ESPN leagues, but they’ve been producing nicely so far this month. Through Sunday’s games, my August selections are 16-7 this month with a 3.23 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP, and a 7.90 K/9 rate. I don’t normally have this many picks in a single day, but here are the many really nice options for Tuesday:
McHugh has 115 strikeouts in 102 innings this season, so even if he doesn’t deliver a win or a quality start, he’ll deliver some K’s which is why he gets the nod in my top spot. His last two outings he had turned in quality starts allowing a total of two runs in 13.1 innings while striking out 13. Those two starts have his ERA down to 3.18 as he takes the mound on Tuesday against the Twins looking for his first win of the second half. If strikeouts are your priority, and you aren’t as concerned about wins McHugh is the way to go.. 17.6% owned. vs Minnesota Twins. Collin McHugh. 1. player. 135
player. 62. With his win last week, Young improved to 10-6 on the season and is the best option if your priority is getting a win as he takes the mound against Toronto at Safeco. At home this year, Young is 7-3 with a 2.42 ERA while holding opponents batting average under .200, but don’t count on a ton of strikeouts since that’s not normally Young’s value.. 20.8% owned. vs Toronto Blue Jays. Chris Young. 2
player. 11. Another option if you’re hunting the elusive “W,” is Wei-Yin Chen who has posted an impressive 12-4 record this season. He lost his last start breaking his string of five wins in a row, but in this start he will return to Camden Yards where he’s 6-2 with a 3.65 ERA. Since the All-Star break, Chen is 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA which makes him a good pickup option if you need a win.. 38.4% owned. vs New York Yankees. Wei-Yin Chen. 3
4. player. 21. Hellickson is coming off his best start of the year after holding the Athletics to just one run on two hits in seven innings. He leveled his record at 1-1 with that win and has a 2.61 ERA in his four starts this season. He’s high-risk after missing so long on the DL, but he looks like he’s coming around and has a good amount of long-term upside as a waiver wire claim.. 2.8% owned. @ Texas Rangers. Jeremy Hellickson
8.1% owned. vs Milwaukee Brewers. Kyle Hendricks. 5. player. 9. Since being called up mid-July, Hendricks has been strong in his first five MLB games. He’s gone at least six innings in every start while only once allowing more than one earned run. In his 34.1 innings, he has 21 K’s to go with his 3-1 record and 2.10 ERA. The matchup against the first-place Brewers isn’t the best which is why he’s a little lower on this list, but he’s been surprisingly consistent so far this season and definitely has long-term upside for the rest of this season.