Eric Lauer (SP, SD) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 3% of leagues

ANALYSIS: San Diego Padres starting pitcher Eric Lauer was dominant at home against the Dodgers on Tuesday night, falling one out short of a complete game to give him his second victory in as many starts. His overall numbers are still gross, but he now carries a 1.99 ERA/1.26 WHIP with a respectable 31 strikeouts in 36 1/3 IP over the last month.

To quote Dodgers’ 1B Cody Bellinger, "He has a (bleeping) weird heater. It's hard to hit. You see it. Then you swing and it's by you." (per Bill Plunkett). Petco Park is nowhere near the pitcher’s paradise that it used to be, but Lauer seems to be making it all work lately and deserves an ownership bump.

It could just be that he just owns the Dodgers, as he has given up just one run against them over 14 ⅔ combined innings, but he is also looked good against Oakland (6 IP, 0ER, 7 Ks), San Francisco (6 IP, 1 ER, 4 Ks) and Arizona (5 IP, 1 ER, 2 Ks) lately. Considering that he has such low ownership, he is worth a stream or two.