Jarred Cosart (SP, HOU) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Super Deep Leagues; Continue Scouting in Most

ANALYSIS: Jarred Cosart is one of my favorite up-and-coming young pitchers in the game. The high school righty was drafted in the 38th round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the Phillies, and after a solid start to his minor league career, he wasshipped off to Houston in 2011 as one of the centerpieces in the Hunter Pence deal. Cosart made his first start in July of 2013 and immediately showed a ton of potential, breezing through eight shutout frames in Tampa Bay in his debut. Though inconsistent to date in 2014, Cosart has given his owners in 10% of Yahoo leagues signs of promise. He had a horrid April, with a 5.52 ERA in 31 innings pitched, and struggled his way into the All-Star break, with 11 earned runs in his final two starts of the first half, but was incredibly dependable for Manager Bo Porter through May and June, during which he posted a stellar 2.67 ERA over 10 outings. His 5.77 K/9 ratio, though woeful, is not as big a concern,considering his 1.32 ground ball to fly ball ratio puts him sixth in all of baseball in 2014. There have been concerns in the past regarding his awkward delivery, but he smoothed it out a bit and it hasn't seemed to be an issue. As of now, Cosart is nothing more than a deep AL-Only fantasy option, especially since his strikeout numbers are less than noteworthy, but continue to monitor his production. With a little more consistency, Cosart can become a very appealing option in deep mixed leagues.