Joe Musgrove (SP, PIT) - Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 10% of leagues ANALYSIS: Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove appears set to toe the rubber for the Pirates on Friday against the Cardinals after posting a very respectable 17-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 17 ⅔ innings (four rehab starts). The biggest knock against ol' Joe is the […]

Carlos Rodon (SP, CHW) - Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS:  Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Carlos Rodon fits a theme of “injury-prone starters” that are still available in many leagues. He just turned in five innings of one-run ball in a rehab start and is good for over a strikeout per inning […]

Anthony DeSclafani (SP, CIN) - Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 2% of leagues ANALYSIS: Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani now has two rehab starts under his belt and has looked pretty darn good against Double-A players. Tony Disco has struck out 12 while walking just one over eight innings of work, yielding two earned runs on […]

Zach Eflin (SP, PHI) - Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 23% of leagues ANALYSIS: While not at his best against the Cardinals on May 19, Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zach Eflin was in line for the win before a premature rain-delay call by the umpires saw him lifted after just 4 ⅔ innings. He had yielded […]

Trevor Cahill (SP, OAK) - Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 24% of leagues ANALYSIS: Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Trevor Cahill toyed with a watered-down Mariners team on Tuesday night, nearly cruising through seven innings without a blemish before serving up a two-run homer to Mike Zunino as he approached 100 pitches. He wound up throwing 101 on the […]

Week 8 Waiver Wire - Starting Pitchers

We've officially moved beyond the quarter-season mark and will be staring down the one-third pole when next week rolls around, so it's high time you start assessing your team and really scrutinizing those slow starts. I don't know why guys like Aaron Sanchez, Felix Hernandez, Rich Hill and Chad Bettis continue to have 50% ownership […]

Jack Flaherty (SP, STL) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 34% of leagues ANALYSIS:  The good news is that St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty allowed just one run over his 5 2/3 innings of work on Tuesday night against the Twins, lowering his ERA to 2.87 over three Major League starts this season, as […]

Mike Soroka (SP, ATL) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 36% of leagues ANALYSIS: Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Soroka deserved so much better on Saturday, as he was through 4 ⅔ innings before inducing a grounder toward third base that should have ended the inning. Instead, Jose Bautista booted the thing and, wouldn’t you know it, a bases-clearing […]

Caleb Smith (SP/RP, MIA) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 39% of leagues ANALYSIS: Miami Marlins pitcher Caleb Smith should have been owned for a while and, hopefully, RotoBallers who have bought him surely will not have bailed already. However, his ownership is still too low and we need more people to realize the talent in South […]

Jordan Lyles (SP, SD) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 4% of leagues ANALYSIS: There is something poetic about San Diego Padres starting pitcher Jordan Lyles dominating the Rockies, a team that he was absolutely awful on for the better part of four seasons. The 27-year-old had given up just one earned over five innings with […]

Alex Reyes (SP, STL) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 39% of leagues ANALYSIS: St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Alex Reyes is getting closer to the big leagues and this is likely the last chance to get this talented pitcher. Reyes tore through the Low-A Clinton LumberKings in his latest rehab start, striking out 12 out of […]

Week 7 Waiver Wire - Starting Pitchers

It's the middle of May and baseball has already descended into its prime chaotic form. We've got Robinson Cano getting popped with an 80-game suspension after breaking his hand, A.J. Pollock out for 4-8 weeks, DJ LeMahieu possibly out for over a month and Adrian Beltre is back on the DL. As I'm typing this, […]

Freddy Peralta (SP, MIL) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 0% of leagues ANALYSIS: Rookie pitcher Freddy Peralta was called up for a spot start on Sunday after Chase Anderson hit the 10-day DL with an illness. He dazzled in his debut performance, picking up the win at Coors field, while racking up 13 strikeouts over […]

Caleb Smith (SP, MIA) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 35% of leagues ANALYSIS: Miami Marlins starting pitcher Caleb Smith has really taken a shine to this whole “being aggressive” schtick, as his swing-and-miss stuff was once again on display against the Reds on May 5. Smith rung up seven Redlegs over 5 ⅔ shutout innings […]

Jeremy Hellickson (SP, WAS) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 15% of leagues ANALYSIS: It would appear that Washington Nationals starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson is doing that thing again where he does not walk a lot of people and induces awful contact. He had begun to stand out even before taking a perfect game into the […]

Tyler Anderson (SP, COL) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 12% of leagues ANALYSIS: Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Tyler Anderson got knocked around pretty badly in his 2018 debut at Arizona and it seems to be haunting him and his ownership levels even through May. That is not "wrong" of folks to do -- ignoring the […]

Andrew Suarez (SP, SF) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 5% of leagues ANALYSIS: San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Andrew Suarez did well to scatter seven hits and allow a lone unearned run over 5 1/3 innings against Atlanta on Sunday en route to his first Major League W. The 25-year-old righty does not have great […]

Kyle Freeland (SP, COL) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 10% of leagues ANALYSIS: Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland has made some real strides early on in his second season, resulting in a lovely 2.14 ERA/0.81 WHIP with a strikeout per inning in his last 21 frames. The southpaw has cut his walk rate down […]

Week 6 Waiver Wire - Starting Pitchers

With well over a month of the season in the books, we’re more than equipped to identify some legitimate arms, some hot starts that are likely to fade but fun to enjoy for now, and the true duds. You likely have a good idea as to where your team stands against your competitors and have […]

Mike Soroka (SP, ATL) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 27% of leagues ANALYSIS: All Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Soroka did to win his Major League debut was toss six innings of one-run ball against the Mets. Ho-hum. He struck out five and walked none, which illustrates his likely strikeout limits (he had 125 K’s […]

Fernando Romero (SP, MIN) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 30% of leagues ANALYSIS: Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Fernando Romero is the next young arm to be called up for his MLB debut, which comes on Wednesday (May 2) at home against the Blue Jays. The rookie has had some spotty control to kick off his […]

Marco Gonzales (SP, SEA) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 9% of leagues ANALYSIS: Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Marco Gonzales is showing off some impressive command and limiting opposing bats with a 21.3 percent K-BB rate that’s currently nestled in between Luis Severino and Clayton Kershaw in 20th place on the leaderboard. That’s good company! However, and there is usually […]

Domingo German (RP/SP, NYY) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 0% of leagues ANALYSIS: With Jordan Montgomery likely to miss at least one turn in the rotation, if not quite a bit more, New York Yankees pitcher German looks to be the one to step into his rotation slot. He is technically a reliever on Yahoo right now, […]

Eric Lauer (SP, SD) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 1% of leagues ANALYSIS: The first four innings of San Diego Padres starting pitcher Eric Lauer’s Major League career were rough. After giving up six earned in three innings at Colorado in his debut, he opened his second start by allowing three runs to score in […]

Week 5 Waiver Wire - Starting Pitchers

Welcome to May, RotoBallers! A quick note: Be mindful of how the 2018 season as a whole compares to 2017 with regard to HR/FB rates, swinging-strike rates, etc. when you’re analyzing a pitcher’s performance versus last year’s stats. It’s been an eventful SP week despite only being Wednesday, Nick Kingham is already owned in too […]

Chris Stratton (SP, SF) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 28% of leagues ANALYSIS: San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Chris Stratton is a great addition, especially when looking at  deeper leagues. There is a lot to like about him and his gloriously-spinny curveball -- the 2.32 ERA and 2.69 FIP so far are no joke -- […]

Trevor Cahill (SP, OAK) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 10% of leagues ANALYSIS: Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Trevor Cahill continued to show plus whiffs by inducing 16 swinging strikes on 98 pitches against the Rangers, with only one really poor pitch on the evening. His giving up three earned over five was not the encore […]

Week 4 Waiver Wire - Starting Pitchers

With nearly a month of the 2018 baseball season in the books, it's getting to the point where you start to have some legitimate bodies of work to study for pitchers, as well as earlier performances in the year that could feel rather irrelevant now. Matchup data continues to take hold and weaker teams ripe […]

Sean Newcomb (SP) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 5% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Sean Newcomb was robbed of his second victory in ‘18 on April 14 as Atlanta blew a 10-2 lead in epic fashion, but the southpaw still racked up seven strikeouts despite turning in just 10 swinging strikes. That’ll […]

Michael Kopech (SP) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 5% of Leagues ANALYSIS:The flamethrowing Chicago White Sox starting pitching prospect Michael Kopech has pitched 10 innings in 2018, allowing a lone run with 11 strikeouts against four walks. The four free passes are what we’re going to care about because we know the whiffs are […]