Fantasy Baseball: Waiver Wire Pitching Pickups, 5/01/13

If you’re looking for help from the waiver wire for your fantasy baseball starting rotation, check out Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen who here pitches against the Oakland Athletics during the fourth inning at O.Co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Monday was a rough day for my Spot Starter picks after they had been rolling along for a couple weeks. When your starting pickups go bad, it’s not time to stop making moves; it’s actually time that you have more margin for error and need to step up your aggression. Each league has their own unique ways of limiting moves, so make sure you understand yours and take full advantage of as many options as possible especially if your week starts to slide downhill like mine did on Monday thanks to Ted Lilly, Zach Britton, and Wade Davis.

Wednesday offers some solid options to bounce back with as all 30 MLB teams have a scheduled game. These are the options I like the most who are available on more than 50% of ESPN leagues’ waiver wires:

Possible Pickups

Wei-Yin Chen-Baltimore Orioles: (13.6%) Chen’s the top option widely available after his eight shutout innings in Oakland in his last start. Wednesday, he faces the Mariners who he pitched well against last year as he tries to build on his 2-2 record with a solid 2.53 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. Chen hasn’t racked up K’s and tends to be a fly ball pitcher which can come back to bite him as things heat up through the summer. Safeco is a good park for him as he faces the M’s who rank in the bottom five in the league in runs, batting average, and OBP.

Apr 9, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher Andrew Cashner (34) pitches sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Cashner-San Diego Padres: (3.7%) Cashner allowed just one run to the Giants in his last start getting the win to get to 1-1 on the season. In his two starts he’s allowed three earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out 10. He starts Wednesday against the Cubs in Wrigley. Chicago ranks 28th in the Majors in runs, batting average, and on-base percentage. Cashner makes a nice add as he looks to solidify his spot in the Padres rotation long-term.

Nick Tepesch-Texas Rangers: (2.4%) Tepesch has a 2.53 ERA and is 2-1 in his four starts while striking out 14. He and the Rangers host the White Sox Wednesday as he goes against Chris Sale. He may not be as strong a pickup for a win because of Sale’s potential dominance, but has been solid in WHIP and ERA in his limited time in the Majors.

Apr 26, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Dillon Gee (35) pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fifth inning of a MLB game at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Dillon Gee-New York Mets: (0.6%) It would have to be a very good situation to advise starting Gee who has two good starts and three rocky ones on his way to a 1-4 record with an ERA near six. He’s definitely in a good spot on Wednesday though as he pitches against the offensively-challenged Marlins who just lost Giancarlo Stanton to the DL thinning out their already scant offense. He’ll be opposed Wednesday afternoon by Wade LeBlanc who is 0-4 with a 6.20 ERA.

David Phelps-New York Yankees: (0.2%) If you’re looking for a deep-league pickup for a win, check out David Phelps who gets the start for the Yankees as they host Houston. Phelps is 1-1 with a 5.29 ERA coming out of the pen but pitched four innings of one-run, nine-strikeout relief in his last time out. He’ll be opposed by Erik Bedard who has been shelled in all his starts and should give him a chance to win with a solid start against an Astros lineup in the lower-half of the league in production.

Past Peformance

Monday was awful and it shows on my bottom line. Hopefully the rest of the week goes better.