Rubby De La Rosa (SP/RP, ARI) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep Leagues / NL-Only Leagues

OWNED IN: 3% of Fleaflicker Leagues

ANALYSIS: A lot of the attention in the Arizona Diamondbacks rotation towards the end of Spring Training was geared towards Archie Bradley. This is a completely warranted opinion given the state of the rotation as a whole. However, an overlooked potential starter with value lurks in the desert like a snake in the night. It comes in the form of Rubby De La Rosa.

De La Rosa had stints with the Dodgers and the Red Sox that were filled with injury and inconsistency. The Diamondbacks sent Wade Miley to Boston to acquire his services along with Allen Webster this offseason. De La Rosa won a rotation spot with a solid spring posting of 18 K in 20 IP. He brings four pitches to his arsenal including a slider, changeup, curveball and fourseam fastball. Its his overpowering fastball that induces a ton of groundouts along with strikeouts. The development of a cutter as his fifth pitch could make him a true commodity for the future of the Diamondbacks.

There are two obvious downsides to De La Rosa. The first is his high walks totals and his low 2:1 K/BB ratio. Those two combined can be a bit of concern. The K numbers will deliver but owners will have to deal with some control issues as well. The other concern is that the the Diamondbacks staff as a whole is quite frankly lacking any real ability to keep teams off the scoreboard. The Diamondbacks averaged a 4.26 ERA and a WHIP of 1.34 as a team during the 2014 season. They finished 26th in MLB in both categories. Ouch.

Balancing out any fantasy roster can include risk/reward factors in the later half of drafts. Rubby De La Rosa has locked up a top of the rotation spot for a team looking to rebound. Pitchers such as Adam Warren, Nick Martinez and Dillon Gee do not have the high upside of De La Rosa in K totals or a strong GO/FO ratio. Those aforementioned pitchers are not only getting drafted in deep fantasy leagues, but also recently received spots in their rotation at the back end. Pickup Rubby De La Rosa off the waiver wire to replace a player on the DL, or to simply add depth to your pitching staff, especially in deeper formats or NL-Only leagues. If the revamped Diamondback offense comes alive should be pleasantly surprised with the results.