Vince Velasquez (SP, PHI) - Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 30% of leagues

ANALYSIS: His ratios don't jump off the page (4.39 ERA, 1.24 WHIP), but Vince Velasquez is having a sneaky-solid season in Philadelphia. The question of whether he would perform well enough to stick in the rotation was a pressing one this spring for a Phillies team that hoped to contend. That he's answered the bell thus far is a big reason why the Phillies find themselves in first place in the National League East at the moment. After a rocky April, Velasquez has allowed more than two runs just three times in his last 12 starts, posting a 3.78 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 29.0 K% during that span. Strip out a disastrous 10 ER outing against the Brewers and those ratios fall even further, to 2.52/1.02.

Velasquez is sitting on the wire in 70 percent of Yahoo leagues currently. There aren't many pitchers that widely available who offer the kind of upside that he does.