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Welcome back RotoBallers to our starting pitcher fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups recommendations for Week 19 of the fantasy baseball season (July 31 - August 6). My name is Nick Shlain and this is my eighth week of writing this column -- I'll be sticking around for the rest of the MLB season to bring you my starting pitcher recommendations.
The MLB season continues to fly on by. With that being said, baseball is the longest fantasy season, so there's still plenty of time to make up ground in the fantasy standings and upgrade your rosters for a playoff run. We're looking to make up some of that ground on the mound here.
Today, we'll be taking a look at some promising recent prospect call-ups, some veterans arms who may be improving, and the best pitcher in the minor leagues to stash to help fantasy managers. Good luck on the waiver wire this week!
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Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Pitcher pickup recommendations for leagues of any size
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers (54% Rostered)
Tarik Skubal is making his second start of Week 18 on Sunday against the Marlins, so the time to pick him up was last week. Still, Skubal makes for a good add next week even though he'll only make one start. It seems like he's almost fully back in terms of being stretched out again after returning from the injured list.
In his last start, he completed five innings for the first time since returning from the injured list. Skubal also struck out nine batters in those five innings. He should be rostered in all leagues as he's got the potential to be a fantasy difference-maker over the second half of the season.
Logan Allen, Cleveland Guardians (42% Rostered)
Logan Allen makes for a good short-term add in shallow leagues. He was hit around in each of his last two starts, but he still struck out four and five batters in those games. In his start before that, he struck out eight batters in five shutout innings.
Allen is potentially just a short-term add with Noah Syndergaard joining the Guardians rotation and the potential return of Cal Quantrill.
Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners (33% Rostered)
Bryan Woo has a 4.96 ERA, but his xFIP is 4.10. He has 54 strikeouts in 49 innings. His last two outings are typical of a young pitcher going around the league for the first time. He struck out seven batters, but allowed four earned runs in six innings against the Blue Jays and then allowed three earned runs against the Diamondbacks in five innings while striking out zero.
Woo has only won one of his 10 starts, but he should be added in more leagues if you need strikeouts.
Kyle Hendricks, Chicago Cubs (45% Rostered)
Don't ask me how Kyle Hendricks is doing this, but at a certain point, you have to just take the good results he's giving us. Hendricks has had two quality starts in a row with four and five strikeouts in each game. He even recorded his fourth win in 12 starts in his last start against the White Sox.
Hendricks' other opponent in his quality start was the Nationals. Maybe only use him in good matchups going forward, but he's pitched well recently.
Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Pitcher pickup recommendations for deeper leagues
Nick Pivetta, Boston Red Sox (32% Rostered)
Nick Pivetta has been pitching out of the bullpen, but he's completed at least five innings of pitching in three of his last four outings. He has 27 strikeouts in 17 innings over that span and has allowed only two earned runs. Pivetta might be coming out of the bullpen, but he's pitching like a fantasy ace right now. He's not going to throw many innings as he's completed six innings twice all season, but the quality of his innings has been fantastic recently.
Pivetta should be added in all leagues but is widely available. He's especially helpful if you need strikeouts even though he's not working deep into games.
Jameson Taillon, Chicago Cubs (27% Rostered)
Jameson Taillon has finally turned the corner this season. While he has a 5.46 ERA, his xFIP is 4.77. He's now had four straight starts with at least five innings pitched and three earned runs or less. Taillon has also struck out 18 batters over those four outings.
Last week, I said Taillon should probably be left on the wire in shallow formats. But he should be added in all leagues at this point.
Clarke Schmidt, New York Yankees (28% Rostered)
Clarke Schmidt has now won five of his last six starts for the Yankees. He's only won seven of his 21 starts overall this season, but he's been a consistent winner lately. Schmidt recorded seven and eight strikeouts in two of those starts. He hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in a start since the middle of May.
Don't expect Schmidt to go deeper than five or six innings in his starts, but he should be a solid contributor for the rest of the season. He's widely available.
Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Stashes
Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox (66% Rostered)
Chris Sale is once again my stash of the week. He's due back in early August. If he's still available in your league, go and stash him now before it's too late.
Sale had 71 strikeouts in 59 innings and a 4.58 ERA and 3.60 xFIP when he was healthy earlier this season.
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