Luke Weaver (SP, ARI) - Waiver Wire Pickups

Mike Schwarzenbach profiles Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Luke Weaver as a potential waiver wire add or pickup for fantasy baseball leagues in Week 4 of the 2019 MLB season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12-team leagues

OWNED IN: 25% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: Luke Weaver has pitched well in back to back outings after striking out nine Braves in five innings Thursday. So far this season, Weaver is sporting an impressive 27.3 percent strikeout rate against only a 5.7 percent walk rate. After a disappointing season last year, Weaver has been good so far in his new home. His ERA is 3.92 but his FIP is over a full run better at 2.90 which is not surprising given all the strikeouts and lack of free passes. The biggest change Weaver has been able to make however is keeping the ball on the ground more. Home runs allowed were a big problem last season but so far he's been able to generate a 53.4 ground ball percentage. If he can keep the ball on the ground and maintain this strikeout pace he can be a useful fantasy starter for the rest of the season.

Weaver should make two starts this week with one good matchup Tuesday in Pittsburgh and a more challenging matchup on Sunday against the Cubs. The two-start week makes him a good add in points-based formats for the week but his long term outlook could be limited by not pitching deep into games. However, in rotisserie formats, he should provide very good ratios in addition to the strikeouts he'll provide when he pitches.