Deep League Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 14 Sleepers

Among the deep league options this week are four interesting starting pitchers. Some of these starting pitcher sleepers are vets putting together decent stretches, while others are potential front line starters establishing themselves. I hope that you are able to find something to your liking that can give you an edge on the competition.

Lucas Duda - OF, NYM

Owned in 17% of Yahoo Leagues

Duda has been the Mets biggest threat as of late. With power in his arsenal, he has found himself hitting cleanup. It has been a breakout season for the big lefty who should easily outdistance his HR and RBI totals of past seasons.

Although he has received a few at bats against lefties, Duda is a heck of a matchup against right-handers. Duda’s success should continue if the table setters do there job. With runners in scoring position he is at .290, which is nearly 40 points above his season average.

Recommendation: Own in deep leagues. Continue monitoring in shallow leagues. Solid matchup play.

Jesse Hahn - SP, SD

Owned in 24 percent of Yahoo Leagues

Standing an imposing 6’5”, Hahn has hit the big leagues with the pedal to the metal. With an opponent’s average of less than .200 and a miniscule whip of 1.06, this may be the early stages of a stud starting to rise. Hahn does not posses a huge fastball, but his 12-6 breaking ball is devastating. If he can maintain control of his off-speed pitches then his fast start should continue. Plus Padres pitchers have the advantage of doing half of their work at Petco.

Recommendation: Pick him up now. He is a hot commodity.

Trevor Bauer - SP, CLE

Owned in 14 percent of Yahoo Leagues

Bauer is about as unorthodox as it comes. After being dealt unusually early in his career by the Dbacks, he is hoping to find a home in Cleveland. Bauer works off a deep variety of pitches and deception to keep hitters off balance.

While most of his statistics are ordinary, fantasy owners will like his 9 K/9. The other positive is that his minor league work has been impressive and the Tribe hope that the light will come on soon.

Recommendation: Wait and see approach. Not a terrible option if you picked him up now.

Vance Worley - SP, PIT

Owned in 7 percent of Yahoo Leagues

The Phillies have always had solid frontline starters and then filled in the rest of the rotation with fillers. Well, Worley was one of the fillers that would try to keep the ship afloat as a 4^th or 5^th starter. The experience gained with Philly might help Worley become a valuable journeyman type starter in the future. He has been hot winning 2 of his first 3 starts and yielding very few runs. Worley will probably only give you 6 innings and low strikeout totals, and his career ERA is near 4 which urges caution, but while he's pitching well and has nice matchups he deserves to be owned.

Recommendation: May want to wait another start to see if this is real.

Jeremy Guthrie - SP, KC

Owned in 11 percent of Yahoo Leagues

Solid but not spectacular has defined most of Guthrie’s work throughout his career. This year he is putting together some numbers slightly better than expected. In June he has been particularly effective posting 3 wins an ERA of 2.88 and double the K’s of his previous two months. Kansas City has the look of a good second half team and Guthrie may play a positive role in their push.

Recommendation: Nothing to write home about, but may fill a need for the short term.