Fantasy Baseball – Starting Pitchers to Pickup for July 17

All Major League teams are back in action with 15 games across the country on Tuesday night. If you need some help in the pitching department, there’s some solid options out there on the waiver wire. Here’s four starters that I think will do well in favorable matchups and owned in less than half of ESPN leagues.

The Pitching Pickups

Travis Wood – CHC: (17.0% ownership in ESPN leagues) Wood is on a run of seven consecutive starts with three earned runs allowed or fewer. In his ten starts, only twice has he left after five innings compiling a 4-3 record and a 3.05 ERA. He has a .208 BAA and a 1.13 WHIP and has won his last four starts in a row. He and the Cubs welcome the Marlins to Wrigley and he’ll match up with Anibal Sanchez who has struggled as of late. Wood has not faced Miami yet this year and may not be an elite strikeout option (42 in 62 innings), but he is the bbest option owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues going Tuesday.

Bartolo Colon – Oak: (15.7%) In his two starts since returning from the DL Colon has gone 14.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs. He’s 6-7 on the year with a 3.80 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. He has a tough matchup as the A’s welcome the Rangers to town, but on June 6 he shut out Texas in Oakland for eight innings. Colon attacks the strike zone and makes crafty pitches when he needs to. The Rangers lineup is scary, but I don’t think they’ll shell him. Meanwhile they’ll send Roy Oswalt and his 6.26 ERA to the hill against a hot A’s lineup. I like the A’s to get Colon his seventh win of the season in this one.

Trevor Bauer  – Ari: (40.0%) Bauer is more of a long-term pickup than a spot starter since he’s going Tuesday at Coors Field which is always nerve-racking. He was crushed in his first tow MLB starts earlier this season but his last time out looked fantastic while shutting out the Dodgers for six innings allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out six. His long-term potential is incredible, but he is on a fairly tight pitch-limit for this season. He showed in his last start he can pitch at this level and will face the Rockies looking for his second win of the year.

Joe Kelly – StL: (3.6%) Kelly has been a solid addition to the Cards rotation in his six starts so far for the Big League club. He has a 1-1 record but a solid 2.70 ERA. He hasn’t gone deep into a game yet but has pitched six innings in each of his last four starts allowing three earned runs or fewer each time. His last start before the break he allowed just one unearned run and a season-low two hits while striking out five against the Marlins. He’ll face the Brewers Tuesday as the NL Central division-rivals face off in game two of their three game set. He’ll be opposed by veteran Randy Wolf who is 2-6 on the year.

The Payoff

Our second-half picks started with mixed results Sunday. Carlos Villanueva was lights out, but Drew Pomeranz and Ricky Nolasco didn’t last very long. Here’s our results from Sunday and our picks for Monday: