Point League Pitchers: Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 20

3 years ago by Nicklaus Gaut

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We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax.

Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform, so we'll make sure to highlight where players are the best and worst fits. We know points league players get neglected and we're here to help.

These waiver-wire adds are for the week of August 9th - August 15th, looking at players below 50% rostered for ESPN and Yahoo! Stats and rankings are calculated using games through Saturday, August 8th.

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Know Your System

If you've read me even a little, you likely know what I'm going to say...You must account for, as precisely as possible, how a player performs under your particular scoring system. Every point, in every category, counts.

If your league uses standard settings, then great! Turn to page 94 and you can skip ahead to the leaderboards. If you play with custom settings, it'll still be fine. Go back to page 43 and look below at the scoring systems of the four major platforms. I bet there's a chance that you'll find that your league's scoring is very similar to one of the four (well, not Yahoo!'s), even if it's not the platform you actually play on.

For example, my home league started on a now-defunct platform before moving first to ESPN and is now at Fantrax. But our scoring is basically ESPN standard only with two points for stolen bases and a handful of other minor adjustments.

If you look above, you'll likely find a suitable mirror to your own system. While every point counts, as long as they aren't seismic changes you can get away with some "close enough" calls. IE. If everything is the same except for HBP (or something similar), you're probably fine.

Waiver Wire Leaderboards

The charts are updated prior to Saturday's games, on stats and ownerships. All leaderboards are sorted according to the player's APR*, and clicking on a chart will open a new page with a magnified version.

*APR = Average Platform Ranking - the average platform ranking between ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, and Fantrax (standard point settings)

Starting Pitchers

Two Start Weeks

Must Adds

Casey Mize, DET - Mize might start having his innings limited and got roughed up some by Boston in his last start, allowing 4 ER in five innings but has a nice, little twofer this week. Cleveland has a .300 wOBA vs RHP, while Baltimore has a .291 wOBA and 24.8% K% - and was recently dominated by Mize on July 29, scoring just one unearned run in 7 IP.
Josiah Gray, WSH - Gray has been more than excellent in his two starts as part of the Nationals, posting a 1.80 ERA over 10 IP, striking out 12.
Logan Webb, SF - In his six starts since returning from the IL, Webb keeps crushing, posting a 2.10 ERA over 30 IP, striking out 28 batters. He'll face a substandard Colorado team at home in San Francisco, with the Rockies posting just a .307 wOBA vs RHP.
Johnny Cueto, SF - Cueto gets the same junky offense that Webb does, facing Colorado at home, and has a 2.61 ERA over his four starts since the All-Star break.
Cal Quantrill, SD - Times running out to get on the Quantrill train, as he's been fantastic over his five starts in the second half, posting just a 0.90 ERA over 30 IP, while striking out 28 batters. Oakland has been surprisingly average vs RHP, running just a .310 wOBA and 23.1% K%
Tanner Houck, BOS - Houck has a juicy start vs an Orioles team that has posted just a .291 wOBA vs RHP, with a 24.8% K%. He doesn't go deep into games, only completing five innings once, but in his four games in the second half, Houck has a 1.17 ERA over 15.1 IP.
Brett Anderson, MIL - That's right, Brett Anderson is a must-add. Since returning from the IL, Anderson has been quietly excellent, posting a 1.31 ERA over his past four starts. He has a great matchup against the Pirates this, who have just a .290 wOBA vs LHP and against whom Anderson has dominated in two starts this season . Over 13 IP, he’s allowed just nine hits, with zero earned runs, picking up the win in both.

Can Adds

Merrill Kelly, ARI - Kelly's last start looked dicey going in, as San Francisco is one of baseball's best teams and has a .333 wOBA vs RHP but proceeded to dominate, shutting out the Giants for eight innings. He'll face those same Giants this week, who come in with a 25.6% K% vs RHP.
Austin Gomber, COL - Gomber continued his underrated dominance this season, shutting out Miami for six innings at Coors, striking out nine. San Francisco has been average vs LHP, posting a .318 wOBA but only a 22.1% K%. It's about time to erase the dreaded "Gombering" from our memories, as in when Gomber allowed 9 ER in 1.2 IP in San Francisco on April 26. If you throw out that outlier, Gomber would drop from a 3.79 ERA to a 3.01 ERA.
Steven Matz, TOR - Matz's first start against the Angels isn't ideal, with Los Angeles posting a .327 wOBA and 21.7% K% vs LHP but the second in Seattle is much more so. The Mariners have just a .296 wOBA vs LHP, with a 26.9% K%.
Joe Ross, WSH - Ross has a nice matchup against the Mets, who have a .303 wOBA vs RHP but has struggled some in his past two starts, posting a 5.91 ERA over 10.2 IP.
Tyler Anderson, SEA - Whether for Pittsburgh or Seattle, Anderson just does what he does. He'll give you five or six innings and allow two or three runs, just as he's done for his previous seven starts. Nothing fancy but over those starts (since allowing 6 ER to the Nationals) Anderson has a 3.38 ERA over 40 IP.
Drew Smyly, ATL - Our guy Smyly has only lasted four innings in each of his past three starts, allowing a total of 6 ER for a 4.50 ERA. He has a shaky two-step in Week 20, as Washington has crushed LHP to a tune of a .347 wOBA.
Michael Pineda, MIN - Tampa Bay has a .325 wOBA vs RHP but a 25.6% K%, and Pineda has been solid in the second half, posting a 3.00 ERA over four starts and 21 IP.
Vladimir Gutierrez, CIN - Gutierrez has been excellent since the start of July, running a 3.31 ERA over six starts and 35.1 IP, with a record of 4-0. And that includes an outing against the Mets where he allowed 6 ER in four innings.
Kris Bubic, KC - Bubic faces the Cardinals, who continue to be extremely weak vs RHP, posting just a .311 wOBA. Over his four starts in the second half, Bubic has a 2.63 ERA over 24 IP.
Marco Gonzales, SEA - Gonzales has finally started to turn things around, posting a 2.48 ERA over his last five starts. He'll get a chance for revenge against Texas, who lit him up for 7 ER last month and currently have a .285 wOBA and 23.2% K% vs LHP.
Madison Bumgarner, ARI - Bumgarner has been serviceable but faces a tough start against the Padres, who have a .316 wOBA and 22.8% K% vs LHP.
J. A. Happ, STL - This might be a Happ-trap but the mediocre left-hander has two starts against subpar competition, facing the Pirates and Royals on the road.
Tyler Alexander, DET - In his last start, Anderson shut out Cleveland for 5.1 IP, striking out four and picking up the win. His opponent this week? Cleveland.
Zach Thompson, MIA - Thompson's first start of the week against San Diego is tough but facing the Cubs in round two is extra spicy. Chicago has just a .300 wOBA and 26.4% K% vs RHP and recently traded away all of their best hitters.
Wily Peralta, DET - The wheels can come off in any given start but Peralta faces the future Guardians of baseball, who have just a .300 wOBA vs RHP.
Kyle Muller, ATL - Muller struggled some in his last start, allowing 3 ER in 4.2 IP against the Nationals but faces a Reds team in Week 20 that has a .309 wOBA and 23.6% K% vs RHP.
Luis Gil, NYY - Gil was excellent in his debut (and has four strikeouts through two innings on Sunday), I'm just not sure he'll get a start this week, depending on the availability of Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery.

Desperate Adds

Notable IL

Corey Kluber, NYY
Tony Gonsolin, LAD
Danny Duffy, KC
Domingo German, NYY
Huascar Ynoa, ATL
Matthew Boyd, DET
Alex Cobb, LAA
Brady Singer, KC
Adrian Houser, MIL
Elieser Hernandez, MIA
Carlos Martinez, STL
Eric Lauer, MIL
Dane Dunning, TEX
Chad Kuhl, PIT
Spencer Turnbull, DET
Justus Sheffield, SEA
Tucker Davidson, ATL
Miles Mikolas, STL

Relief Pitchers

Keep in mind that with relievers, points scored can be deceiving. Most scoring systems make it pretty difficult for even the best non-closers to score elite points, making them very reliant on unpredictable wins. You simply need the save points to really do damage. AKA, when you see totally random names hit the leaderboard (particularly the 14-Day one), it's probably because they happened to get a few wins and/or a lot of usage. If a reliever doesn't have an established role, tread carefully.

One note about ownership; because ESPN uses nine open pitching slots, as opposed to dedicated slots for RP/SP, relievers tend to be lighter owned than on other sites.

Notable IL

With the trade deadline shaking bullpens up all over the league, we're going to do things a little differently, going through each team that currently has a relevant (according to our roster% threshold) bullpen situation.

Arizona Diamondbacks

In the Mix: Tyler Clippard (got a save on Tuesday, blew a save on Thursday), Sean Poppen (got a save on Friday).

Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore collected zero saves in zero chances this past week.

In the Mix: Cole Sulser (loss on Wednesday), Paul Fry (loss on Friday), Dillon Tate, Tanner Scott.

Boston Red Sox

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All of the opportunities are going to go to Matt Barnes but given his usage and strikeouts, Garrett Whitlock is still a viable option in those playing in daily leagues.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs bullpen remains mostly an unusable mess since their trade of Craig Kimbrel.

In the Mix: Manuel Rodriguez (loss on Friday, save on Wednesday), Codi Heuer(hold on Wednesday), Kyle Ryan, Dan Winkler, Rowan Wick (currently on the IL but may ultimately be the favorite).

Cincinnati Reds

Mychal Givens got the Reds last save but Michael Lorenzen might be the favorite to take hold of the job. It's still a mess.

In the Mix: Amir Garrett (hold on Saturday), Mychal Givens (save on Thursday), Michael Lorenzen (save on Wednesday), Heath Hembree (loss and blown save on Tuesday).

Kansas City Royals

In the Mix: Scott Barlow (hold on Thursday), Greg Holland (hold on Thursday), Jake Brentz (save on Thursday).

Miami Marlins

In the Mix: Dylan Floro (saves on Monday and Tuesday), Anthony Bender (save on Thursday).

Minnesota Twins

With an injury to Tyler Rogers, Alex Colome has "reclaimed" the job, picking up saves on Tuesday and Thursday.

New York Yankees

With the injury to Aroldis Chapman, the Yankees bullpen is thrown into flux.

In the Mix: Jonathan Loaisiga (save on Saturday, win on Wednesday), Chad Green (win on Thursday), Zack Britton (hold on Thursday).

Philadelphia Phillies

Ian Kennedy got saves on Friday and Saturday but Jose Alvarado (save on Tuesday) and Archie Bradley (save on Thursday, blown save, and win on Monday). Good luck guessing this one on a daily basis.

Pittsburgh Pirates

In the Mix: David Bednar (win on Tuesday), Chris Stratton (blown save on Tuesday), Chasen Struve (blown save on Wednesday).

Seattle Mariners

Seattle is the land of blown saves, as of late, with Diego Castillo, Paul Sewald, Anthony Misiewicz, and Erik Swanson all blowing one in the last week.

Texas Rangers

It's Spencer Patton's job but the Rangers are bad, without a save opportunity since last Monday.

Washington Nationals

It's Kyle Finnegan's job. Pick him up.

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