Boston Red Sox Steven Wright: Deep Waiver Wire Add

Steven Wright is one of the last knuckleballers left in MLB, and he has been great to start the season for the Boston Red Sox. So, should fantasy owners now give him a look of the waiver wire?

The knuckleball is a lost art in baseball and it seems as though it has been phased out from the game over the last few seasons. With R.A. Dickey being the only predominant knuckleballer left in MLB since Tim Wakefield retired, we have not seen a knuckler emerge to potentially fill his shoes, until possibly now. Steven Wright may not be a household name just yet, but based on his torrid start this season, fantasy owners may quickly become acclimated.

Wright, like many other knuckleballers before him, developed the pitch late in his career after originally being able to reach 96 mph with his fastball. We should first concede that knucklers are hard to trust on a week to week basis because of their threat of being absolutely shelled, but that threat looms over all starters.

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However, he has the knuckleball dancing big time so far this season and after four starts to begin 2016, hitters are struggling to square it up. He has averaged at least six innings per start, not given up more than two earned runs in any one start, and has struck out at least five per game. He has especially gotten better over last two starts, only surrendering 3.5 hits per game over those starts.

He has faced some pretty talented lineups as well, as he shut down the Blue Jays twice, blanked the Astros and was predictably strong against the Braves. His next start does come versus the streaking Chicago White Sox lineup, but the way Wright has thrown lately, he can shut anyone down.

Next: Miami Marlins Dee Gordon: Suspended

Fantasy owners in deep leagues should look to Wright as a potential add or matchup play in the upcoming weeks, because with his knuckler prancing like it is now, it is important to ride him while he is hot. I also like that fact that Wright’s knuckler has a little more velocity and break than what usual knucklers have, and his walk rate has not been too bad this season. Fantasy owners looking for SP help, or even RP help as he qualifies in some leagues as a reliever, should look to Wright as a decent add that can supply moderate K totals.

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