Homer Bailey (SP, OAK) - Week 25 Waiver Wire Pickups

Nicklaus Gaut profiles Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Homer Bailey as a waiver wire pickup or add target for Week 25 of the 2019 fantasy baseball season as the veteran right-hander has been quietly very good for the A's over the last month.

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues

OWNED IN: 30% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Ok, don't say anything too loudly lest you jinx it but Homer Bailey has been pretty good for about a month now. In his six starts since August 14, Bailey has gone 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 0.97 WHIP over 36 innings with 34 strikeouts and lines up for a great matchup in Week 25 when he'll take on his most recent team, the Kansas City Royals. Over this past month, Bailey has leaned on his fastball and splittie even more, raising both of their rates around 3%, while dropping the use of his curveball and slider in kind. The change has brought better results for both of the pitches, but the split-finger has turned into an even bigger strikeout machine, with Bailey's 39.6% K-rate with the pitch seeing a seven-point increase from earlier in the season.

Facing Kansas City at home in Week 25, Bailey goes up against the team that traded him to the Athletics earlier in the year and a team he faced on August 26, picking up the win after allowing three runs over six innings. The Royals have done poorly against right-handers in 2019, posting only an 85 wRC+ and .715 OPS against them. And they've also done poorly against Bailey's two best pitches, posting pVal's against four-seam and split-finger fastballs that are both bottom-10 in baseball. Trusting Bailey is always difficult but he looks like a solid stream this week.