Brad Ziegler (RP, MIA) – Waiver Wire Pickups

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OWNED IN: 42% of Yahoo! Leagues  

ANALYSIS: Brad Ziegler certainly doesn’t carry a typical closer’s profile, as he has just 21 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched. He also has a cringe-worthy 4.73 ERA and 1.58 WHIP for the season. That makes it little surprise he is owned in only 42% of leagues despite converting nine saves in the month of August.

However, it is imperative to look beyond his season-long ratios. Since he was activated from the DL on July 29 and put in the closer role for the Marlins, Ziegler has pitched 11 shutout innings and allowed just nine hits and one walk. In that time, his ERA has dropped from 6.30 to 4.73. The DL stint didn’t fix everything, however, as he has recorded only four strikeouts in his 11 innings pitched. That makes him reliant on inducing soft contact to be effective, and he has been able to do that to this point by inducing a groundball rate of 67% and a 25.7% soft contact rate.

All in all, Ziegler is a waiver wire add strictly rack up saves. He generates very few strikeouts and his ratios are a risk given the way he pitches to contact. Still, he is a valuable piece down the stretch as he has had plenty of save opportunities and has shown no sign of losing the job.