Daniel Lynch (SP, KC) - Week 21 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 7% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The 24-year-old, 6'6, 200-lb. lefty; Daniel Lynch has been tremendously tested by the Royals organization this season. As a pro, he has seen just 95.2 IP combined at the Triple-A/MLB levels with a 5.55 ERA and 1.57 WHIP, and all of those IP have come in 2021. So, while Lynch had a rough start to his rookie campaign for the now 51-67 Royals, we should actually commend him for not starting even worse. He was giving up homers in Omaha at an unpretty clip, and while that is gradually being corrected, it might be coming at the expense of his command. Lynch holds a 26.1% strikeout rate for August which is nearly 11% better than his previous best mark for the year, but his walk rate also jumped to 13% this month from 3.7% in July. After allowing 36.4% line drives in May, Lynch sustains his .256 August BABIP by bringing his LD rate down to 9.8% through the season while forcing 48.8% grounders.

Balls are taking flight with more dangerous frequency, but he has only allowed about 32% hard contact on batted balls while forcing close to 20% soft contact since the start of July, culminating in a 2.35 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, three wins, and just three HR allowed in 30.2 IP while his strikeout rate is drifting towards tolerable. Lynch has a ton of room left for improvement and he's still gaining steam despite having to learn on the job how to put the complete package together on the mound. Now in mid-August, he has plenty of time, wide-open opportunity, and absolutely no pressure on the mound for the last-place Royals, and is only going to get more comfortable from here. Daniel Lynch shouldn't be counted on for high-volume strikeouts, but his method of damage minimization and ability to go deeper into games as of late will be a big help to your team's ERA and WHIP with increased chances of picking up wins (even for Kansas City) while ultimately holding his own on Ks due to workload.

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