Cal Quantrill (SP/RP, SD) - Week 18 Waiver Wire Pickups

Brady Grove profiles young San Diego Padres pitcher Cal Quantrill as a potential waiver wire acquisition of value for fantasy baseball leagues in Week 18 of the 2019 MLB campaign.

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ANALYSIS: He has jumped back a bit between rotation and bullpen action, but 24-year-old highly regarded arm Cal Quantrill has been absolutely shut-down for the San Diego Padres in recent outings. The former Stanford Cardinal has turned in a respectable body of work through his rookie campaign, and he has blown by the competition across the last 17.0 IP (four appearances, two starts) with a 1.59 ERA and 0.71 WHIP. While his strikeout volume has picked up lately with six K in his last start of 5.2 innings, Quantrill's main key to success has been in his unusual early mastery of the strike zone.

Even for a guy who has deployed a rather versatile pitching arsenal, including an effective 94.7 MPH average fastball (only 55.4% usage) and an 86.5 MPH average slider (20.5% usage), Quantrill has found his spots with consistent accuracy as he came out of his most recent start without walking a single batter and issued only two walks across this fantastic 17 innings stretch. That's a level of zone discipline that few young-guns are able to flash so early in their MLB careers. With his strikeout propensity on the ascent and another start slated for today against the San Francisco Giants at home, Cal Quantrill is already a talent worth acquiring in deeper formats for the glimpses he has provided.