Jake Faria (SP, TB) - Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS:  Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Jacob Faria suffered an oblique strain on May 22 after getting hit hard at Fenway Park and is roughly three rehab appearances from being stretched out for the bigs. He has two rehab starts under his belt already, with his latest being a three-inning showing at Triple-A Durham on July 13, but he has struck out only one in five total innings so far.

This comes after posting a 6.99 K/9 in 47 ⅔ pre-injury innings, so fantasy owners have to hope that he is just working on the basics first. His ERA and all peripherals are above 5.00 right now, but he had a strong rookie showing in 2017 and could be useful should he regain that form. Faria's 3.43 ERA in 86 2/3 innings last year show the top end for Faria, as does his 84 strikeouts, but he should be dropped if he struggles in his first start or two in the big leagues.