Hector Santiago (SP, LAA) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep Mixed and AL-only

OWNED IN: 14% of Fleaflicker Leagues

ANALYSIS: Don't be fooled by Hector Santiago's 2.28 ERA. In truth, Santiago is much more of a number 5 starter than the ace his run prevention numbers would seem to suggest. While his strikeouts are up so far this season, the increased wiffs have come at the price of a truly atrocious walk rate. To this point, a fortunate 89.6% strand rate has kept these mistakes from hurting Santiago too badly. When that rate drops to something approaching league average, however, we'll see his ERA start to climb. This is a large part of why Santiago's 4.64 FIP and 4.89 xFIP are as bad as they are. As a streamer against teams particularly prone to swinging wildly, Santiago could represent a high upside, all-or-nothing type streaming candidate in standard play. Until his peripherals start to catch up with his ERA, he's unlikely to ever be more than this though.