Keone Kela (RP, TEX) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Saves Leagues

OWNED IN: 21% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Kela was recently named the closer for the Texas Rangers. He may have previously dug himself into Texas’ doghouse, but he doesn’t deserve to be in fantasy ones too. Ignoring his brief disciplinary stint at Triple-A, the fireballer posted a 2.79 ERA (3.26 FIP) and 0.91 WHIP with 51 K’s in 38 ⅔ innings last season. He did a great job at limiting hard contact (26.8 percent hard-hit rate, 24.4 percent soft-contact rate), which went wonderfully with his 57.3 percent fly-ball rate. Weak flies yielded a .179 BABIP, though I would expect some give on that. The point is, he can generate his own outs with K’s and also induces weak contact, making him a much better fit for the ninth.