Jake Faria (SP, TB) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 17% of leagues ANALYSIS:  Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Jacob Faria suffered an oblique strain on May 22 after getting hit hard at Fenway Park and is roughly three rehab appearances from being stretched out for the bigs. He has two rehab starts under his belt […]

Vince Velasquez (SP, PHI) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 30% of leagues ANALYSIS: Overall, Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Vince Velasquez looks suspiciously like the 2016 version of himself. His K/9 sits around 10.5 (10.44 in ‘16, 10.49 in ‘18) with an ERA that’s roughly half a run higher than his xFIP and SIERA. However, there are some […]

Ervin Santana (SP, MIN) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 17% of leagues ANALYSIS: Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Ervin Santana is 35 years old and coming off of finger surgery that may very well dent his abilities as a Major League starting pitcher. Plus, he has never been a big strikeout guy (career 7.19 K/9), so […]

Week 16 Waiver Wire - Starting Pitchers

Welcome to the first day without anything MLB going on, which makes it the perfect day for reflection on your squad. What better place to start their your starting rotation? Analyze where you stand in terms of innings pitched on the year if applicable, or maybe the balance you need to strike between starters and relievers […]

Nick Mariano's Early-Round Overvalued List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Everyone loves to talk about sleepers and which late-round fliers are going to deliver them to the promised land, but those picks can only blossom when overvalued landmines are left for others to step on. Here we'll be looking at two players per position […]

Andrew Suarez (SP, SF) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 15% of leagues ANALYSIS: San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Andrew Suarez has not allowed more than two runs in any of his last six trips to the hill and has surrendered just one in each of his last four. Some of those starts have been more […]

Eric Lauer (SP, SD) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 3% of leagues ANALYSIS: San Diego Padres starting pitcher Eric Lauer was dominant at home against the Dodgers on Tuesday night, falling one out short of a complete game to give him his second victory in as many starts. His overall numbers are still gross, but […]

Vince Velasquez (SP, PHI) - Week Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 29% of leagues ANALYSIS: Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Vince Velasquez is set to come off the 10-day DL on Tuesday and face the Mets after missing the minimum thanks to a nasty comebacker off of his pitching arm. The key phrases here are “face the Mets” and “missing the […]

Nick Kingham (SP, PIT) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 9% of leagues ANALYSIS: Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Nick Kingham bounced back from a terrible July 2 outing against the Dodgers to pick up his first win in six starts thanks to a six-inning gem versus the Phillies. The rookie allowed just one run on a […]

Trevor Cahill (SP/RP, OAK) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 15% of leagues ANALYSIS: Oakland Athletics pitcher Trevor Cahill is finally set to return to Oakland’s rotation on Thursday against Houston after turning in a clean four-inning rehab appearance (with seven strikeouts) for Triple-A Nashville last Saturday. Even with some injury-saddled innings mixed in, Cahill has […]

Zach Wheeler (SP, NYM) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 20% of leagues ANALYSIS: New York Mets starting pitcher Zach Wheeler was far from his best in his last start, but that should not diminish the fact that he has been on a tear of late. Wheeler is part of a very small club for starters […]

Anibal Sanchez (SP, ATL) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 28% of leagues ANALYSIS: Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez is highly unlikely to maintain his 2.72 ERA and 1.04 WHIP that you will find on his seasonal stat sheet. What you can say, though, is that since he shook off the rust following a DL […]

Tyler Mahle (SP, CIN) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 28% of leagues ANALYSIS: Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Tyler Mahle has a 1.31 WHIP over the last month, far from ideal, but his 2.12 ERA, 30 strikeouts in 29 ⅔ IP and three wins over that same span will more than pay the bills. He has […]

Week 15 Waiver Wire - Starting Pitchers

Happy 7-11 day, everyone! Be sure to go get a free slurpee if the store still runs that promotion, but not before sitting down and fixing your team's starting rotation. Those in roto leagues better be on top of their innings limits and where they stand compared to opponents. Don't fret if you've only got […]

Joey Lucchesi (SP, SD) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 28% of leagues ANALYSIS: San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi remains on far too many waiver wires, as fantasy owners are slow to pick him up after he comes back off of an injury. The rookie did not allow a ball to leave the infield […]

Antonio Senzatela (SP, COL) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 1% of leagues ANALYSIS: Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela likely helped Colorado feel comfortable with Jon Gray going to the minor leagues by tossing 7 ⅔ scoreless frames with just three hits and a walk allowed to San Francisco’s Triple-A affiliate on June 28. His […]

Week 14 Waiver Wire - Starting Pitchers

We've officially hit July and while you can try to call the All-Star break the real "midseason checkpoint" of the baseball season, the halfway mark per games played is now in the rearview mirror. All of you who are anxiously awaiting a turnaround need to ask yourselves how much longer you can sit on your […]

Zach Wheeler (SP, NYM) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 19% of leagues ANALYSIS: New York Mets starting pitcher Zach Wheeler continues to pick up momentum ahead of the Trade Deadline, with his latest effort resulting in 6 ⅓ innings of two-run ball, allowing three hits with three walks and five strikeouts against Toronto. The 78.3 […]

Matt Harvey (SP, CIN) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 18% of leagues ANALYSIS: Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Matt Harvey benefits from having a very recognizable brand and has allowed three combined runs over three consecutive victories, with his latest start seeing him hit 97 mph against Milwaukee. It was not just the fastball that did […]

Brad Keller (SP/RP, KC) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 9% of leagues ANALYSIS: Over the last six weeks, Kansas City Royals pitcher Brad Keller appears on the xwOBA leaderboard at No. 16 with a .329 mark, good for a tie with Luis Severino and right ahead of Miles Mikolas and Blake Snell. Sufficing to say, this fact alone makes […]

Max Fried (SP, ATL) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 6% of leagues ANALYSIS: Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried was on fire this weekend, setting down 11 Cardinals via strikeout over 6 2/3 innings and now has 24 punchouts over 17 2/3 big-league frames this year. Another young Braves pitcher with strikeout potential? Sign us […]

Steven Wright (SP, BOS) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 19% of leagues ANALYSIS: Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Steven Wright received a PRP injection in his injured left knee on Monday and could rejoin the Red Sox rotation after the All-Star break. Wright could be very useful, especially with Drew Pomeranz’s own rehab adventures going poorly. […]

Joey Lucchesi (SP, SD) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 28% of leagues ANALYSIS: San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi has seen his ownership continue to slowly decline despite a solid start against the Rangers on Monday. It was just his second start back from the DL as he spun four scoreless frames despite spotty […]

Marco Estrada (SP, TOR) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 22% of leagues ANALYSIS: Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marco Estrada continued his renaissance of his 2018 season, keeping it going against the Los Angeles Mike Trouts of Anaheim. Now with four consecutive quality starts under his belt, the soon-to-be 35-year-old righty looks like the arm who […]

Mike Minor (SP/RP, TEX) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 8% of leagues ANALYSIS: Minor had some preseason buzz going if he could keep his bullpen gains from 2017 going in Texas’ rotation. It hasn’t been that simple, but the 2009 seventh-overall pick has built up momentum with quality starts against Houston, Colorado and Minnesota in […]

Dereck Rodriguez (SF, SP/RP) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: Rodriguez’s first appearance in the bigs was an iffy relief spot at Coors Field, but since then he’s posted three quality starts in five outings with a solid 24-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. I’d be remiss not to say how he’s faced San Diego […]

Wilmer Font (SP, TB) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 1% of leagues ANALYSIS: Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash named pitcher Wilmer Font as his starter on Thursday against the Astros and he has a spot in Tampa Bay’s fluid rotation. While this is a rough start for Font, it is a good sign that […]

Jonathan Loaisiga (SP, NYY) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 24% of leagues ANALYSIS: Rare is the pitcher who shows immunity to real volatility, and rarer still is the rookie pitcher who can make such a claim. New York Yankees starting pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga was likely cast aside in several leagues after failing to go four […]

Ivan Nova (SP, PIT) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 29% of leagues ANALYSIS: Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Ivan Nova was battered over five May starts before hitting the DL, allowing 20 earned runs over just 23 ⅔ innings, but has risen from the ashes in June. Across 19 ⅔ IP, the 31-year-old righty has allowed […]

Week 13 Waiver Wire - Starting Pitchers

Holy guacamole, Batman, we’re almost halfway through the season! I hope those of you that could scoop Freddy Peralta and Shane Bieber after last week’s notes didn’t hesitate. We're back to name names, 10 in fact, and I hope we can satisfy those in shallower formats as well as the multitude who make me feel […]