Fantasy Baseball: Waiver Wire Starting Pitcher Pickups-August 8, 2014
Friday is another jam-packed MLB day with an interleague matinee at Wrigley Field gettins us set up for the 14 other games tonight. If you need starting pitching help for your fantasy baseball rotation, check out my favorite widely available options listed below
Each afternoon, you can find my starting pitching pickups here on Fansided (archive here). So far this month, my 18 picks coming into Thursday’s action have a cumulative ERA just under 4.00 with a pretty solid 8-4 record and a 7.79 K/9 rate. I’d definitely like to get my ERA a little lower, but considering all my options are always available in over half of ESPN leagues, things are going pretty well. Hopefully I can keep it rolling with these options for Friday:
18.5% owned. vs San Diego Padres. Vance Worley. 1. player. 4. Worley has continued to produce nice numbers for the Pirates since joining the team in the middle of June. In nine games (eight starts) he has a 2.43 ERA and has an even more impressive 1.10 WHIP. He hasn’t been a strikeout machine, but he has only allowed two runs in 21.0 innings since the All-Star break going 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA. When you put that form with his matchup at home against the Padres, Worley’s clearly the #1 option who is likely to be on your waiver wire.
player. 61. It’s streamer vs streamer as Leake and the Reds host the Marlins and Nathan Eovaldi who has also made regular appearances in these posts all season. In this matchup, I like Leake better based on his recent results. He’s won his last two starts allowing just one run in a total of 13.2 innings while allowing eight hits and striking out 13. His last start also came against the Marlins and he got the win to improve to 9-9 by holding Miami to one run on three hits in six innings. The Marlins’ offense is no pushover anymore, but they do struggle on the road at times, so look to Leake to get you a win and some more solid innings on Friday night.. 32.6% owned. vs Miami Marlins. Mike Leake. 2
3. player. 8. Anderson has quietly put together a pretty solid season in his first year in the Majors going 6-4 with a 3.19 ERA. In his last four starts he’s allowed a total of five runs in 25 innings going at least six full frames each time out. He takes the mound Friday night against Colorado who he beat earlier this season allowing one run on four hits in six innings. Since the break, his ERA is just 1.89, but he doesn’t have a decision to show for it. The D-Backs offense is hard to count on, but if your priority is a solid start and you don’t absolutely need a win, Anderson makes a nice play at home in the desert on Friday. . 5.0% owned. vs Colorado Rockies. Chase Anderson
4. player. 9. Wada has looked solid in his four MLB starts this season going 1-1 with a decent 3.32 ERA. In his last home start, he held the Rockies to one run in seven innings to get his one career MLB win. His last time out, he fared OK in LA against the Dodgers striking out six in 5.2 innings earning a no-decision. His matchup against the Rays is a decent one since Tampa’s offense has struggled on the road. His lack of experience makes him a high-risk pickup, but I think he can deliver some early value as he takes the mound in the afternoon game at Wrigley.. 0.4% owned. vs Tampa Bay Rays. Tsuyoshi Wada
@ Philadelphia Phillies. Bartolo Colon. 5. player. 3. Colon got knocked around by the Giants in his last start to fall to 10-9 on the season and now has a 4.12 ERA. He’s been up and down all season, but two of his best starts of the season have come against his Friday night opponent, the Phillies. Colon is 2-0 against Philadelphia in two starts with a 1.84 ERA and 11 K’s in 14.2 innings. He faced them in the start before his last outing holding them to one run on 10 hits in seven innings on July 28. Colon is risky since he has gotten shelled several times this year, but the matchup is a favorable one and he’ll be taking on A.J. Burnett who has also struggled recently. Colon is an innings eater who usually is involved in the decision making him an intriguing option if you are looking for W’s headed into the weekend. . 35.4% owned