Kyle Gibson (SP, MIN) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: In his age-31 season, Kyle Gibson is having one of the best years of his career. Posting a 3-1 record, he's punched out 40 in 38.1 innings to go with a 4.19 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. His numbers aren't the flashiest, but there's a lot to like in the right-hander's arm.

Gibson is fresh off a dominating 11-strikeout performance against the Blue Jays in which he only gave up two hits across six frames. Albeit the Toronto squad isn't exactly the most threatening batting lineup out there, but it shows how high his ceiling is in favorable matchups. He's also currently holding his best K-rate (24.5%), and walk rate (6.8%) of his career, so is his early season success a fluke or something sustainable?

Batters have hit Gibson's fastball for a robust .340 average across his career including a .335 average against in 2018. What he's done in 2019 is thrown this pitch less and mixing in more of his breaking balls and off-speed pitches. It's worked wonders as he's allowed only a .214 average against on the four-seamer while upping his SwStr% on both his changeup (26.1%) and his slider (26.9%) which have remained his best swing-and-miss pitches annually.

Gibson's 3.74 SIERA and 3.50 xFIP suggest his 4.19 ERA should be much lower and his WHIP shouldn't fluctuate too much as he's never been the type of pitcher to let the free pass eat him up. He will have a two-start week upcoming versus the Angels at home and on the road in Seattle making him, at a minimum, a terrific streamer this week. With another overpowering performance against either of these middle of the pack offenses, Gibson's stock will rapidly rise so jump in before the mad rush begins to the waiver wire.