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Mike looks at three sneaky fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for starting pitchers in Week 16 (2024) who are off to hot starts and sees if they can sustain their success.
We’ll have a chance to catch our collective breaths soon with the All-Star break almost here. With so many starting pitchers injured right now, the break will allow fantasy managers some time to assess their rosters for the stretch run.
Streaming pitchers with favorable matchups is a good way to help offset injuries to your fantasy squad. Are Reese Olson, Sean Manaea, and Yariel Rodriguez just viable streaming options, or could any of them be worth rostering for the long haul?
Let’s dig into the stats for these three starters and discuss if they can sustain their current level of success.
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Reese Olson, Detroit Tigers
Olson has been in this column before. He’s not going to generate headlines the way his teammate Tarik Skubal does, but that doesn’t mean that he should be overlooked in fantasy. Through 17 starts, he has a 3.22 ERA and an even better 2.96 FIP.
Strikeouts are not Olson’s forte. He has a modest 22.5 percent strikeout rate this season. However, he has generated a 1.18 WHIP, with opponents having just a 5.5 percent barrel rate against him. Over 95 innings, he has given up just five home runs.
Reese Olson, White Castle Special. 🤮🍔🍔🍔 pic.twitter.com/E5H4tj5eDu
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 30, 2024
Olson is somehow still available in 54 percent of Yahoo leagues. It might be because he had a three-start stretch in early June in which he gave up 18 runs (17 earned) over 14.2 innings. Since then, he has allowed six runs (five earned) across 24 innings in his last four starts. Olson is much more than just a viable streaming option. If he’s still available in your league, add him.
Sean Manaea, New York Mets
Manaea dominated the Pirates in his last start, recording six strikeouts over six scoreless innings. That marked the fourth time over his last five outings in which he allowed one or no earned runs. He has not allowed a home run in four straight starts, and he gave up no more than two hits in three of those four outings.
With his recent hot streak, Manaea has a 3.43 ERA and a 3.68 FIP for the season. He had a 3.90 FIP last year, although he was a bit unlucky with his 4.44 ERA. Like Olson, Manaea generally does a good job of keeping hitters inside the ballpark. He has given up 0.7 HR/9 this season and 1.2 HR/9 for his career.
Manaea is what he is at this stage of his career. He only has a career 22.2 percent strikeout rate, so he doesn’t come with a ton of upside in that department. While he does have three starts this season in which he has given up at least six runs, he has allowed three or fewer runs in all 14 of his other starts. Still available in 60 percent of Yahoo leagues, Manaea is more than just someone to stream when he has a favorable matchup.
Yariel Rodriguez, Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays have brought Rodriguez along slowly during his first season in the majors. He didn’t log more than four innings in any of his first four starts. He then suffered a back injury that sidelined him for all of May and most of June. When he did finally come back, he was hammered by the Guardians for five runs (four earned) over 1.1 innings.
Since that blowup against the Guardians, Rodriguez limited the Astros and Mariners to one run over 12.2 innings in his last two starts. During that span, he allowed a total of three hits and four walks to go along with 12 strikeouts.
Yariel Rodriguez, 96mph Fastball...with a Pause. pic.twitter.com/f69n9POzc7
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 1, 2024
It’s worth noting that Rodriguez’s last two starts were favorable matchups. The Astros entered Tuesday with a .799 OPS at home but just a .698 OPS on the road. When Rodriguez faced them, the game was played in Toronto. The Mariners are also a favorable opponent, given that they have struck out the most times in baseball.
Rodriguez isn’t someone to just blindly start in fantasy at this point. However, strikeouts aren’t easy to find on the waiver wire. Rodriguez is currently available in 90 percent of Yahoo leagues. When he is taking on a favorable opponent, he has at least worked his way into streaming consideration.
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