Fantasy Baseball: Waiver Wire Starting Pitcher Pickups-August 15, 2014
Congratulations to you if you’re one of the dedicated fantasy baseball owners consistently sticking with your team and making big moves coming down the stretch to get into your leagues playoffs. This weekend has plenty of opportunity to grab some help for your pitching staff from the waiver wire starting with a full slate of games on Friday. The pickups for Friday aren’t as sure-fire as some other days, but if you’re streaming or need to make a pickup, check out my top three options below.
August has been a good month for my daily starting pitching pickups (archive and new posts show up here). All my selections are always available in at least half of ESPN leagues when they are selected the day before their scheduled start. Through Wednesday’s games, my August selections are 20-10 with a 2.98 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and a 7.66 K/9 rate in over 270 innings. On Wednesday, my picks did go 0-3 taking hard luck losses even though they were able to get my ERA down under 3.00. Hopefully my Friday picks can keep it going and also pick up a few W’s. Here are the widely available options I like the most:
Brandon McCarthy. 1. player. 43. Since coming over to the Yankees, McCarthy is 4-1 with a 2.21 ERA in six starts. While most of that success has come at home, he’s still a nice pickup as he takes on the Rays in Tampa. The one thing he hadn’t been providing fantasy owners was significant strikeout totals until his last two starts when he’s picked up 16 K’s in 12 innings. He’s not no-risk since he’s on the road and did struggle earlier this season, but he’s the best option for Friday that is available in most leagues.. 44.8% owned. @ Tampa Bay Rays
2. player. 9. The Cubs lefty has had a disappointing season and struggled through much of July, but he’s turning things back around with a 3.52 ERA and 23 K’s in 23 innings over his last four starts. He’s a high-risk play, but he’s also in a favorable matchup against the Mets at Citi Field, so Wood may be worth a roll of the dice if you need a one-start spot starter.. 3.2% owned. @ New York Mets. Travis Wood
Paxton turned in a strong outing against the White Sox in his last start holding them to just one run on six hits in 6.1 innings. He didn’t get a decision but was able to get his ERA down to 2.38 in his four MLB starts. He’s in a tough matchup on Friday as he takes on the Tigers, but he’s a prospect who is starting to realize his talent so grabbing him before he’s gone off the wire is a move that has a lot of long-term upside.. 22.6% owned. @ Detroit Tigers. James Paxton. 3. player. 62