Jordan Lyles (SP, PIT) - Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickups

Nicklaus Gaut profiles Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher (SP) Jordan Lyles as a waiver wire pickup or add target for Week 12 of the 2019 fantasy baseball season due to his ability to toss quality starts.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 33% of All Leagues

ANALYSIS:  After having a minor hamstring issue, Jordan Lyles is set to come off of the IL when eligible on June 2oth. But it wasn't only the injury which has caused his ownership to drop to 33%, as his performance in his last four starts was an ERA-killing disaster - 16 ER in less than 19 innings. He also recorded 19 punchouts, so there was a silver lining - but when combined with the aforementioned IL stint, it's not surprising to see his ownership get so low.

While Lyles' last four starts went poorly, he was quietly fantastic in his first eight games of the season, giving up one or fewer runs in six of them, with a 9.26 K/9. His curveball was a hammer during this time as well, with a 65% groundball-rate, 40% K-rate, and 1.41 xFIP. There were warning signs during this eight-game stretch which warned of regression, however - namely a .253 BABIP and a career-high 42.3% Hard Hit %, along with an xFIP that was two runs lower than his sparkling 1.97 ERA.

Before his injury, Lyles had been slotted after Stephen Brault in the Pittsburgh rotation - so with Brault scheduled to pitch the Pirates' last game before Lyles comes off the IL, it would make sense for Lyles to make his return at home against the Padres on June 22nd. San Diego has been rather poor against right-handers lately, as over the past 30 days they've posted only a .724 wOBA and 91 wRC+ - not to mention a 26.6% K-rate that's worst in baseball over the same period.

Putting aside the known faults, Lyles is striking out over a batter per inning, has a fairly devastating weapon in his curveball, and calls pitcher-friendly PNC Park home. Grab him now before his ownership jumps up once the competition realizes he's back.