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Welcome back! It's Week 20 of our fantasy baseball Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups series! We have been having a good amount of success with our waiver wire pick-ups lately as a ton of fantasy baseballers have stopped paying attention and that's making the waiver wire a much more pleasurable place.
As we have been all season, we'll be looking for starting pitchers with strong K-BB ratios, favoring guys that can keep the ball on the ground.
Let's get to it - here are your starting pitcher fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups recommendations for Week 20 of the fantasy season (August 22 - August 29).
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Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Pitcher pickup recommendations for leagues of any size
Edward Cabrera, Miami Marlins (51% Rostered)
He is just a tick above the 50% threshold that we use here, but I have to update the game logs:
| Date | Opp | IP | H | R | ER | K | BB | HR |
| 6/1 | COL | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| 6/7 | WSH | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 6/12 | HOU | 3.2 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 8/5 | CHC | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| 8/11 | PHI | 5.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 8/16 | SD | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
While he only got through four innings, he was up to the challenge against the tough Padres lineup as you can see there. He's now given up zero runs in four of his six starts and has really only had one bad start in the majors this year. He looks really strong with a 28.8% K% and a 31.9% CSW%, but the walks continue to be an issue at 12.8%, but it's an issue that is largely canceled out by the high strikeout rate and the great 49.5% GB%. I would still be taking my chances on him given how elite his stuff is and how strong the results have been so far.
Johnny Cueto, Chicago White Sox (49% Rostered)
Maybe you play in a league where people aren't quick to believe in a 36-year-old pitcher who hasn't been good since 2016, if that's the case – it's probably a pretty sharp league.
However, we're past time to add Cueto. He has now ripped off four straight quality starts against some tough competition, and has a 3.13 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP for the season. He gets deep into the game almost every time and adds some wins because of that. He's been effective, and he should certainly be rostered in most all roto-type leagues.
Jose Quintana, St. Louis Cardinals (46% Rostered)
He sputtered a little bit in his start last week against the Rockies (at home), going just five innings and giving up two runs while striking out only three. That wasn't a very useful start for fantasy purposes, but it wasn't a killer either.
His 3.46 ERA and 1.27 WHIP for the year are middling numbers, but with the Cardinals, he's gone for a 2.65 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP – much better. The 24% K% and 9% BB% with the Cardinals are also better than you'd expect for someone only rostered in 46% of leagues – so go get your hands on Quintana if you need another solid starter in your rotation.
Alex Cobb, San Francisco Giants (41% Rostered)
He now has a 30.3% K% and a 9.0% BB% with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP in his five starts since the All-Star Break. The ground-ball rate stays elite at 60.5%, which really raises his floor. I don't think you'll get a good WHIP from him in most starts given the expected higher BABIP and the walks, but everything else is good to potentially great for Cobb – and I'd be starting him in most matchups.
Justin Steele, Chicago Cubs (29% Rostered)
Steele has put up a 1.26 ERA over his last seven starts with a 29.6% K%. Those numbers are elite. The bad news is the 1.38 WHIP and 9.4% BB%, along with the fact that it's been an extremely soft schedule – but Steele deserves some attention.
Since late June, he has been throwing his slider more often (27.5% usage before June 28th, 35.6% after). He has scrapped the sinker and changeup to be mostly a two-pitch guy, and it's been working.
The slider is very good with a 16.1% SwStr% and a 28.45 cSW%, and his four-seamer could be a lot worse as well with a strong 10.7% SwStr% and 27.2% CSW%. Again, he's benefited hugely from a really easy schedule, during this good stretch he has faced
- WSH x2
- MIA
- SF
- PHI
- MIL
- CIN
- PIT
There will be tougher matchups ahead, but he has two starts this upcoming week and to me, he's worthy of an add in most leagues.
Ross Stripling, Toronto Blue Jays (34% Rostered)
He re-joined the rotation on June 6 and has made ten starts since. In those ten starts, he's given up more than two runs just one time and has a 2.59 ERA with a 1.01 WHIP.
The elite WHIP is mostly because of a strong walk rate of just 3.6% – because the strikeouts haven't been all that great at 20.3%. Whatever he's doing, he's doing it right – and he should be started in moderately sized leagues. The only downside is that he hasn't gotten very deep into games, so maybe he's less appealing in quality start leagues – so keep that in mind.
Nick Lodolo, Cincinnati Reds (22% Rostered)
The rookie had his worst start of the year in Iowa for the Field of Dreams game, giving up four earned runs on seven hits and failing to get through five innings. That was his second straight start with four walks, and things were not looking good for him. That was until he went out and threw seven shutout innings against the Phillies in Great American Ballpark. He struck out eight with just two walks, his best start of the year by a good margin.
The underlying numbers are all really impressive, besides the 10.4% BB%. His 30.9% CSW%, 13.0% SwStr%, 18.3% K-BB%, and .280 xwOBA against are all very competitive marks. The only problem the kid seems to have is with walks, which is admittedly a big problem – however, the upside is immense, and he lines up for two starts in week 20 – a bonus!
Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Eduardo Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers (34% Rostered)
After a couple of months MIA, E-Rod has returned. The guy can hardly be trusted at this point, but he remains a talented pitcher, I presume. He has three starts in the minor since returning to baseball, and he's coming off of an 11-strikeout game in AAA. That should have primed him for a return to the big leagues, and he's good enough to use a speculative add-on right now.
Aaron Ashby, Milwaukee Brewers (26% Rostered)
The walks continue to be a mess, and he isn't getting deep into games. Despite that, he has massive upside any time he takes the hill with how nasty his stuff can be. He is best used in K/9 leagues and leagues without the quality starts category – but he's useful in plenty of situations and I'd take a look at him.
Braxton Garrett, Miami Marlins (28% Rostered)
In his last 13 starts, he has put up a 24.% K% and a 5.9% BB% for a strong K-BB% of 18.6%. He has limited hard contact as well with a .296 xwOBA. These numbers are solid, and Garrett seems like he has truly turned into a major league pitcher that will be a part of this rotation in the future. The strikeout rate has been ticking up throughout the summer as well. On July 15 he sat with a 19% strikeout rate, which is now up at 24.5%.
The reason he's pretty low-owned right now may be the brutal schedule the Marlins have in the second half. He just toughed through two starts against the Braves and Dodgers, and his next start is against those Dodgers again. There are also probable starts against the Braves and Padres in the future, but I think he's talented enough to put up some roster-worthy stats even in the tough spots.
Aaron Civale, Cleveland Guardians (25% Rostered)
A ten-strikeout game last week against Detroit gave Civale a 26.2% K% since returning from the IL on June 21st. In that time he has a 3.50 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. The WHIP mark has always been pretty strong for Civale, as he is a guy with really good command and a bunch of pitches to use to get deep into games. He is on a good roll right now and should be looked at in deep leagues.
Drew Smyly, Chicago Cubs (24% Rostered)
We have seen streaks of dominance from Smyly several times in the past, which usually quickly come to a halt due to injury or fatigue, or some other problem. Well, he seems to be on one of those streaks right now, as he's given up just two earned runs over his last three starts while striking out 17 batters and walking three (17 innings).
Over these last three starts, he has a 25.4% K% and a great 4.5% BB%. Like his teammate in Steele, they have been soft matchups (MIA, CIN, WSH), which raises a red flag. The schedule ahead is tougher, but Smyly is throwing well right now and can be rostered until that changes.
Other Waiver Wire Options
- Domingo German, New York Yankees
- Kutter Crawford, Boston Red Sox
- Jake Odorizzi, Atlanta Braves
- JT Brubaker, Pittsburgh Pirates
- JP Sears, Oakland Athletics
Alrighty, hope you enjoyed the piece and I hope some of these starting pitcher picks change your life forever and ever, for the better. So long!
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