San Diego Padres Drew Pomeranz: Deep Waiver Wire Add

By Brad Kelly | Apr 21, 2016

Mar 23, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz (13) pitches during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

Drew Pomeranz was named a starter to begin the season and has three solid starts already, fantasy owners should be looking at him as a quality waiver wire add.

Life as a major league lefty pitcher can be quite a roller coaster, as they are usually rushed to the majors and can oftentimes, have an undetermined role with a ball club. This scenario just about encapsulates what Drew Pomeranz has had to go through since his debut with the Rockies in 2011. That season he was drafted and made four starts at the end of the season for Colorado, completing his trial by fire and initial taste of the big leagues.

The following season he would go on to make a career high 22 starts, but finished with an unsightly 4.93 ERA. Pitching in Denver will do that, but the following season he was regulated to the bullpen and still made the occasional spot start, but through this transition he struggled mightily to the tune of a 6.23 ERA over only 21 innings.

The Rockies made the decision that they had seen enough from him and eventually shipped to the Oakland A’s. His first season with the A’s went great as he was able to post a minuscule 2.87 ERA over 69 innings and made 10 starts. He was an invaluable piece of their bullpen, and the A’s decided to keep him as a lefty specialist and long-man last season. He suffered a bit of a setback in 2015, but still finished 2015 with a 3.66 ERA and 82 K.

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This brings fantasy owners to this season, where Pomeranz was generating some sleeper buzz going into the draft, but his role with the club was still too clouded for owners to take a flier on him. But, the Padres ultimately gave him a rotation spot and he has taken off with the job ever since.

Pomeranz is by no means a flamethrower, his fastball tops out around 91-93 mph, but his calling card has always been his devastating curveball. His curve is one of the better ones in baseball, as his 6’6 frame allows him to take full advantage of its 12 to 6 movement in and out of the zone. His fastball does has decent late life movement, but his Achilles heel was that he did not feature a third pitch.

We hear stories like it every year in baseball, but Pomeranz’s early season success can be attributed to him learning how to throw a nasty cutter while simply just playing catch in the offseason. He learned the grip just enough that he has now sprinkled it in along with his fastball/curveball combo and has hitters more off balanced at the plate.

Pomeranz has made his starts this season in Colorado, Philadelphia and at home versus the Pirates. He is certainly familiar with the perils of pitching in Coors Field, but he also had to navigate a bandbox in Philly as well, along with facing one of the better lineups in baseball in San Diego. Making his success this season, more than just a mere fluke.

So far this season he sits with a 2-1 record, is averaging 6 innings per start, 1.3 runs per game, and has struck out 25. His K totals are what is most encouraging as he has seen his K rate climb in each of his starts and the swings and misses have added up already.

Next: Chicago White Sox Melky Cabrera:Waiver Wire Add

Pomeranz will make his next start against the Giants in San Francisco and will look to keep up the momentum he has built so far this season. With his still dominant curveball in hand, and the added wrinkle of a cutter, there is tangible evidence that can validate his early season success. Owners looking for back-end rotation help or even looking for the added benefit of slotting him in as a reliever, Pomeranz definitely has the potential to provide a significant boost.

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