Phillies: Ben Lively worth a gamble in the fantasy playoffs?

Ben Lively is one of the lone bright spots in the rotation for the Philadelphia Phillies this season. Now on a roll on the bump, should fantasy gamble on him in the fantasy playoffs?

The Phillies may be in the midst of a rough season but they are loaded with young talent. While most of those pieces are on the offensive side of things, Ben Lively has emerged as a potential future rotation arm due to his performance this season. Yet, is he worth a waiver wire add?

Ben Lively came to the Phillies from the Indians during the 2015 season as the return for Marlon Byrd. Lively was never deemed a top end prospect by any means, but he did shape up to be a backend of the rotation arm.

He features a low-90s fastball that can touch 94 mph, while also sprinkling in a curve and changeup as well. His secondary offerings are graded to have low ceilings, thus why he seems destined to be a back-end arm.

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Lively’s best attribute is his ability to pound the zone. Throughout his minor league career and 74 innings this season in the majors, he averages two walks a game. Over his 12 starts for the Phillies in 2017, he owns a 3.86 ER/1.28 WHIP/45 K/74 H/22 BB line.

There are some red flags and peripheral stats that may stunt his success long-term, .269 AVG/5 HR from LHH over only 74 innings, yet he continues to provide consistent outings. Only three of his starts this season have not reached the quality start designation.

He is averaging six innings per start, and even though his K/9 seem low, he has struck out 24 batters over his last four starts. He is not too bad with the bat either.

While lefties seem to see Lively well, RHH have posted just a .744 OPS against him. Coming off his best start of the season, eight innings of three earned runs and seven strikeouts against the Nationals, he gets the weak hitting Oakland A’s for his next start.

The Athletics have some mashers, most notably Khris Davis, but outside of Matt Olson, they lack any consistent left-handed power threat. If that was not motivating enough to add him, the A’s will just so happen to be without Davis for the next few days, Lively is scheduled to face them on Sep. 16, giving him one less land mine to worry about.

Next: What is the fantasy impact of a possible Shohei Otani signing?

Ben Lively is by no means flashy or going to carry a fantasy team to the promised land. But, he is one of those under the radar adds that owners can add at the end of their staff as he has a great matchup to exploit.

Make the move.

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