Grayson Rodriguez - Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Waiver Wire Adds for Week 18

Grayson Rodriguez is a fantasy baseball waiver wire pickup for pitchers heading into Week 16 (2023). Ben Ueberroth explains why you should target Rodriguez as a free agent pitcher on the waiver wire.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 10+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 50% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: Grayson Rodriguez was the darling of many fantasy managers' draft boards in the preseason. He was identified as a sneaky middle-round pick with the potential upside of a future ace. Unfortunately, he proceeded to demolish the ratios of any fantasy team that held onto him before his demotion in late May.

Rodriguez again is garnering excitement with his recent call-up back to the Orioles, though. His strikeout potential is tantalizing, maintaining a 30.0 K% or higher in Double-A and Triple-A in both 2022 and 2023, respectively. He brings a fastball that can top out at 101 mph coupled with an 83 mph changeup for a lethal one-two punch.

After his demotion, "G-Rod" maintained a 1.96 ERA in Triple-A with an eye-popping 33.1 K%. His 3.58 FIP in Triple-A still suggests that caution is needed for those chasing ratio stabilization. However, his strikeout potential and offensive backing from a strong Orioles club creates significantly more upside than most bottom-of-the-rotation starters that are left on waiver wires.

Rodriguez unsurprisingly ran into the buzzsaw that is the Dodgers in his first start back in MLB and he has another tough assignment with the Rays coming up. After that his assignments ease up a bit and he should be a wins candidate in addition to strikeouts. Those in need of those categories and/or in points leagues should go grab Rodriguez now given his potential to be an SP2 down the stretch.

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