Nathan Eovaldi (SP, NYY) - Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: Nathan Eovaldi has had a decent first half to the 2015 season. He currently sits with a quality 4.50 ERA, a record of 9-2, a 3.53 FIP that indicates he is pitching better than his actual ERA, a high 1.54 WHIP, while only allowing 0.7 HR/9, and only 2.4 BB/9. Eovaldi's numbers indicate he could have a monster second half. First off, it has already been established that Eovaldi's FIP shows that he is pitching better than his ERA indicates. Eovaldi has also gotten off to a hot start in July by posting a 2.87 ERA.

Eovaldi is likely to maintain his pace of racking up wins as well. Eovaldi currently is fourth in MLB with 5.61 runs in support per start. That isn't a lucky coincidence either, as Eovaldi pitches for the AL East leading Yankees who rank second in all of baseball with 413 runs scored on the season. Even if Eovaldi's ERA remained at quality start level, he would still be in good shape to accumulate wins.

However, Eovaldi's ERA is likely to drop. This is because he currently has the highest BABIP among all qualified pitchers in baseball at .340. Given that Eovaldi doesn't walk many batters and that he gives up few HR, it can be concluded that the majority of the runs scored on Eovaldi and his high WHIP have more to do with the bad luck of so many balls in play becoming hits. If you are a fantasy baseball manager looking for a solid second half charge candidate for your rotation, count on Nathan Eovaldi to continue his winning ways and have his indicative FIP and BABIP turn his luck around to drop his ERA and WHIP.