August 9, 2017

Nick Mariano's starting pitcher (SP) fantasy baseball waiver wire adds. Pickups and starting pitcher sleepers for Week 19 of the 2017 MLB season.

Let’s face it, you can sense the end of the season creeping up on us. The non-waiver Trade Deadline feels like the last hurrah of big moments before all of our horses start to enter that final bend before the home stretch. Of course, most of us still have our own leagues’ trade deadlines to navigate, but just in case your fellow owners are a bunch of court jesters, we’ve got you covered on the waiver wire as always.

For our purposes, we’re going to use Yahoo ownership levels and try to cut things off around 30%. Parker Bridwell (32% owned) and Luis Castillo (31% owned) have both looked sharp and should definitely be on your squad at this point.

Here are my starting pitcher waiver wire targets for Week 19.

Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Targets

Jeff Hoffman - (COL, SP): 20% owned

Hoffman has had a rough go of things after a lovely opening to 2017, but back-to-back quality outings have put him back on the grid. To be fair, they were starts against the Mets and Phillies, but they were both at Coors Field. He’ll travel to Miami to face Giancarlo Stanton and company on Aug. 13 next, but he’s at least become a viable coin-flip arm for fantasy owners seeking out a win behind Colorado’s offense.

Dinelson Lamet - (SD, SP): 17% owned

Lamet’s past 30 days have seen him produce a 3.63 ERA and 1.12 WHIP with three wins and 25 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings. If you restrict things to just his last three outings, he’s a perfect 3-0 with just four earned runs allowed over his last 18 1/3 frames. I was trying to be objective with the first figures, but this recent stretch has shown the rookie’s ability to adjust heading into a road start against the Reds on Aug. 10.

Reynaldo Lopez - (CWS, SP/RP): 14% owned

Hopefully, you listened last week and were ahead of the news that Lopez is going to make his White Sox debut on Friday against the Royals. While it’s discouraging to see that he’s given up four homers with nine walks against 24 strikeouts in his last three starts (15 innings), the upside remains stellar. Those seeking quality starts out of the youngster may be left wanting as he struggles to mix things up enough to effectively work through a lineup for the third time, but the K’s should be there.

Seth Lugo - (NYM, SP/RP): 12% owned

Lugo was dynamite against the Dodgers until the bats came alive with their third look against him. His ERA when facing a lineup for the first time is 4.57 and improves to 2.01 through the second time, but bloats to 8.40 the third time around. While he needs some polishing, his potential is there if he could just adjust his sequencing a bit better or something. Not that it’s that simple, but with a date against the Phillies on deck for Aug. 11, owners in deeper formats could do much worse.

Asher Wojciechowski - (CIN, SP/RP): 11% owned

There’s a lot to like when it comes to Wojciechowski’s forecast. He’s coming off of a strong bullpen stint (12 2/3 IP, 0.71 ERA, 17 K’s) and a fantastic first outing back in the rotation, tossing five frames of one-run ball against the Cardinals. And he gets to face the Padres at home today (Wednesday), which could provide a steady diet of whiffs given San Diego’s 23.3 percent strikeout rate over the last two weeks.

Chad Kuhl - (PIT, SP): 9% owned

Kuhl just rattled off a quality start against the Tigers after blanking the Reds over seven strong innings and is now 3-1 with a 2.93 ERA over his last eight outings. He’s given up more than three earned just once over that stretch and seems to finally be drumming up some consistency in his second big-league season. In this day and age of increased homers, the 24-year-old has actually cut his HR/9 down from 0.89 to 0.7, which I readily applaud. He’ll face the Blue Jays in Toronto next on Aug. 13.

Brandon Woodruff - (MIL, SP): 8% owned

There’s no doubting that Woodruff’s Major League debut rightfully turned some heads. 6 1/3 shutout innings should do that! And while we can’t forget that he posted a 4.46 ERA/1.35 WHIP/8.67 K/9 in 15 Triple-A starts this season, he’s just one year removed from a 3.01 ERA/1.04 WHIP/9.82 K/9 Double-A campaign and has some real pedigree to him.

Edwin Jackson - (WAS, SP/RP): 3% owned

With Washington’s offense behind him, Jackson stands a good chance at nabbing you the win against the Giants in his next start on Aug. 11. While Mr. Edwin is far from a bastion of consistency, he’s shown healthy control with only nine walks in 29 innings while allowing eight long balls. Luckily, the Giants are the lightest hitting team in the Majors and stand as the best matchup for what Jackson has shown himself to be in 2017. Fresh off of an eight-strikeout, zero-walk game, the 33-year-old could provide a nice short-term jolt.

Andrew Heaney - (LAA, SP): 1% owned

Heaney has look strong in five rehab starts thus far, striking out 27 against just three walks with a 3.05 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. On the heels of his most recent Triple-A rehab outing, manager Mike Scioscia said that the club is still evaluating Heaney’s next step but that a start against Seattle this weekend might be in the cards. Don’t start him right off the bat unless you’re extremely desperate and/or like to party, but his strikeout upside is worth a stash.

Austin Pruitt - (TB, SP/RP): 1% owned

Pruitt has built himself a home in Tampa Bay’s rotation thanks to posting a 3.12 ERA/1.15 WHIP with 15 K’s over his last three starts (17 1/3 IP). Navigating the AL East as a young arm is a tall order, but this is a guy who has held his own against the Yankees, Astros and Red Sox thus far. He’ll need to continue adjusting as Major Leaguers get the tape out on him, but the 3.38 ERA in his most recent four starts at Triple-A help flesh out the optimism here. He’ll face the Indians at home next on Aug. 13.

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