Trevor Richards (SP, MIA) - Week 11 Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: The Miami Marlins have received assistance from a slew of surprising starting pitchers this season, one of which has been 26-year old Trevor Richards. From a bird's eye view, Richards appears to be making conservative strides off of his work from last year, posting a 3.53 ERA and 1.24 WHIP over his first twelve starts as compared to a 4.42 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 25 starts through 2018. There are a few marks that warrant skepticism toward the Drury University alumni, namely his K/9 going down to (a still respectable) 8.5, his walk percentage rising to 10.8%, and his 1.4 HR/9 off of 40.7% hard contact on a 0.76 GB/FB ratio. Despite all of that, things are significantly looking up for Richards moving forward.

Richards started the year at a pedestrian pace, producing a 4.64 ERA and 1.33 WHIP throughout the month of April, but he has been downright dominant for a hot minute now. Over his last four starts (24.0 IP) for the fish  Richards has netted a 1.88 ERA and 1.00 WHIP, and more impressively, has allowed just one home run and thrown for 9.8 K/9 over his last two starts. Now that he has decreased the frequency of his fastball deployment to 41.7%, it has allowed him the freedom to toss his 86.2 MPH slider at a 12.5% clip while retaining the strength to sling his fastball at 91.4 MPH. This could be a big reason for Richards' overall contact rate dropping to 73.2% with a 5.5% reduction in zone-contact. With the issues that plagued his game currently on the mend, it's time to trust in the hot hand of Trevor Richards, especially while he's currently gunning a gem against the Atlanta Braves.