Rockies Adam Ottavino: Deep waiver add

The Rockies have one of the deepest bullpens in the league, after spending a lot of money in the offseason. Yet, Adam Ottavino is outshining all of them.

The Colorado Rockies are in win-now mode. The front office added a couple of big names to their bullpen and recently extended Charlie Blackmon’s contract. However, it’s their in-house relief pitcher Adam Ottavino that deserves all of the praise and should be added to your fantasy teams.

Ottavino has some save experience but has been mostly used as a middle relief pitcher. That doesn’t hurt his fantasy value as much as it would other relievers. He’s been an extreme strikeout pitcher with limited walks, making him a good pitcher to help with your ratio stats.

In just 10.2 innings this season, Ottavino has 22 strikeouts, one walk and one earned run. He has a 0.84 ERA, 0.281 WHIP, 18.6 K/9 and 0.8 BB/9. Ottavino has three wins and three holds if those stats matter in your league.

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The positive is that Ottavino has pitched in Coors Field in just three games. Then again, looking at his career splits, that doesn’t seem to matter to him as much. Ottavino has a 3.68 ERA at home and a 4.12 ERA on the road in his career.

As I said, the Rockies have a fairly deep bullpen. They signed Wade Davis and Bryan Shaw in the offseason. The team also brought back Jake McGee. The team also has Mike Dunn in the mix but Ottavino has the most appearances and second-most innings pitched.

There have been a few closers already removed from their role or teams using a committee in the ninth inning. That gives other relief pitchers a shot to earn a save or two per week and increasing their fantasy value.

While Davis is pitching well, Ottavino is racking up the strikeouts and limiting baserunners and runs scored. Like an Andrew Miller and Chris Devenski, he’s worth an add in most league formats even without the saves.

Next: Is Jose Pirela worth an add?

Ottavino is getting a lot of traction in ESPN and CBS leagues. He’s been added in 23.1 percent of ESPN leagues over the last week and up 15 percent in CBS. If you need to improve your ratio stats and increase strikeouts, Ottavino seems to be the guy you want.