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There are only two, count them, two, weeks left in the fantasy baseball season. These are the “championship weeks”, with many head-to-head leagues starting their two-week finals matchups while others are battling down the home stretch of rotisserie leagues.
Jockeying for position in each and every category is precious, so let’s see what pitchers we can find who are owned in roughly 30% of leagues or less that might be able to help you.
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Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Targets:
Jon Gray (COL, SP) – 34% Owned – Our darling boy Gray just logged the best start of his Major League career, and according to a Game Score of 102, the best start of the season. He struck out 16 while walking none and scattering four hits in a complete-game shutout, at Coors Field, against the Padres on Saturday. He should face the Dodgers in Los Angeles next, as he’ll look to build on this wave of confidence heading into the final weeks of the season. This more of a ceremonial tip of the cap, as he’s likely owned in most active leagues, and if he isn’t you’re going to have to pay a lot after this performance, but boy does this writer enjoy him when he’s on.
Zach Davies (MIL, SP) – 34% Owned – Davies may have seen his quality start streak snapped at four with his last outing against the Cubs, but A) it’s the Cubs (who he posted a QS against three starts ago anyway) and B) he got the win anyway. He’s still readily capable of tallying a great start, and his last three home starts have resulted in a QS, so he’s a solid option for his next start on Sept. 23 at home against the Reds.
James Paxton (SEA, SP) – 26% Owned – Paxton put together his second straight quality start on Sept. 17 against the Astros, and while he couldn’t get the win, that’s why we look at QS and the performance behind the record. J-Pax has had quite the roller coaster of a season, but when he’s feeling good then his stuff is that of a decent SP3, and these recent starts seem to indicate that he’s comfortable out on the hill, making him a solid option for his next start against the Twins in Minnesota on Sept. 23.
Tyler Anderson (COL, SP) – 21% Owned – Anderson was a casualty in the Colorado-Arizona war, where pitchers were torched left and right, but this is still a guy who has been pretty steady all season long. Long story short, he’ll face the Cardinals (who are a meager 26th in wOBA over the last 14 days) on Sept. 19 next. While it’d be objectively nicer if this were away from Coors Field, Anderson actually has a 3.04 ERA at home versus a 5.10 ERA on the road (71 home innings, only 30 road innings). Not bad for some encouraging context there.
Joe Musgrove (HOU, SP) – 20% Owned – If Musgrove’s been forgotten about, then perhaps you’ll want to be the one who remembers him before he goes into spacious Oakland Coliseum for a matchup against the A’s on Sept. 20. That park ranks as fourth-most pitcher friendly in the league according to ESPN’s park factors, so he at least has that going for him as he looks to make it three quality starts in a row.
Alex Cobb (TB, SP) – 19% Owned – Cobb would apparently be a Hall of Famer if he only faced the Blue Jays, as his two starts against them have gone swimmingly. His other start was against the Yankees, and while it was a quality start, it was only a one-strikeout, three-run, bare-minimum QS. He gets a chance to redeem himself against the Bronx Bombers at home, and there are certainly worse shots to take than against a deflated Yanks squad.
Chad Kuhl (PIT, SP) – 11% Owned – Kuhl is coming off of a nice two-run quality start in which he struck out five and got the win against the Phillies on Sept. 15, and now he heads to Milwaukee next. While Kuhl isn’t known for Ks, the Brewers are a notoriously free-swinging bunch who really thrive if they can draw walks. Kuhl’s strength happens to be his solid control, so hopefully Pittsburgh’s bats can come alive to support him in what should be a good matchup on Sept. 21 in Milwaukee.
Sean Manaea (OAK, SP) – 9% Owned – Manaea returned to action by beating Kansas City with five scoreless frames, in which he struck out five, on Sept. 14 on the road. Oakland is looking to space out their young arms a bit more down the stretch, so Manaea is slated to face the Astros at home next on Sept. 20, but this is a guy who had looked strong for a month before getting hurt, and then picked up right where he left off.
Miguel Gonzalez (CWS, SP) – 8% Owned – This number is slowly approaching 10%, which would make me so happy to see by the time the season is up. C’mon, we can do! Gonzalez just rewarded the lot of you who fired him up for this two-start week with two quality starts against Cleveland at home and at Kansas City, which gives him 10 quality starts in a row (omitting the one-inning start in which he got hurt on Aug. 11, but that inning was scoreless for the record).
10 quality starts in a row! This is not a drill! He has a rematch with the Indians in Cleveland next on Sept. 23, so go where few have dared to go.
Ariel Miranda (SEA, SP) – 8% Owned – Miranda has put together two starts in a row now where he’s gone six innings without allowing an earned run, and he’s also won his last three starts. That means those in deeper leagues are going to pay attention. While fielding-independent metrics over that starts are still around the 5.00 range, he’s at least got some confidence going now as he looks to earn a job in 2017. Obviously you can judge Miranda after his start against Houston at home from this piece’s publication date, but after that he’ll face the Twins at Minnesota on Sept 23.
Jake Thompson (PHI, SP) – 4% Owned – Thompson has posted a robust 2.49 ERA over his last four starts, which is good enough for intrigue at the 4% mark. Now, over that same span he has a 4.64 FIP and 4.83 xFIP, and pitching for Philadelphia makes it hard to get the win, but at this point you take what you can get. He’ll face off against the White Sox at home on Sept. 20 before a projected road date with the Mets on Sept. 25. That’s not bad as far as a possible two-start option gets at single-digit ownership.
Luis Perdomo (SD, SP) – 2% Owned – Perdomo got back in the win column on Sept. 14 against the Giants, with a strong one-run outing to improve to 8-9 on the season. In the last 30 days, Perdomo has three wins with a stellar 2.83 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, strong numbers which he’ll take into his next start at home against the D-backs on Sept. 21.
Brock Stewart (LAD, SP) – 1% Owned – Stewart just went into a rematch with the D-backs after he beat them on Sept. 7 at home, and all Stewart did was beat them again with six strikeouts over five solid innings on Saturday. His start before those two was a thumping of the Cubs where he struck out eight over five scoreless frames on Aug. 28, so this is a guy who can throw a ball. He’ll face off with the Rockies at home, safely away from Coors Field, next on Sept. 22.
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