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What's up RotoBaller. Week 9 of the fantasy baseball season is upon us, and we've got another set of starting pitchers to consider off the waiver wire. As always, we are providing options for both shallow and deeper leagues.
Don't forget to check out our Starting Pitcher Matchups & Streaming Tool for expert guidance during the week too, including what pitchers to start/sit for seasonal and DFS leagues. Let's get to it.
Editor’s Note: to read about even more waiver wire options for starting pitchers, be sure to check out our famous waiver wire pickups list which is a running list that is updated daily.
Starting Pitchers - Shallow Leagues
Eduardo Rodriguez (BOS, SP)
OWNED IN: 37% of Fleaflicker leagues
BALLER MOVE: Add in 10 + team leagues
Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. The 22-year-old Rodriguez is being looked at as a savior to the Boston rotation by the folks in Beantown, and rightfully so considering Boston starters have a combined 5.02 ERA to this point, only better than the Rockies. Rodriguez was fantastic in his debut in Arlington versus a hot Rangers team, completing 7.2 innings with no runs, three hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts. Check out the highlights here.
His fastball was averaging 96-98 mph and he was effective in keeping it down in the zone. His minor league stats show a power pitcher but with solid control who keeps the ball in the park. Considering the lack of power pitchers readily available in FA, I'm buying. The team has indicated Rodriguez is here to stay and wise fantasy owners have taken notice. His ownership rates have climbed from 5% to 37% in the past 48 hours and I expect that to continue to grow. Hopefully by the time you read this you have a chance to grab a share or two.
Mike Foltynewicz (ATL, SP)
OWNED IN: 9% of Fleaflicker leagues
BALLER MOVE: Add in 10 + team leagues / NL-Only leagues
Part of the advanced section of the Spelling Bee, Foltynewicz has really come on as of late and been a solid addition to the Braves rotation. Known for his control issues, Folty has now gone three straight outings with only one walk and at least seven strikeouts, which includes his last outing at San Francisco. Full details can be found be here but aside from an early 2-run HR from Buster Posey he was excellent.
Foltynewicz features a heavy fastball that he loves to use (74.1% usage) that reaches 100 mph and has begun incorporating a slider. Both were quite effective during the month of May, resulting in a .191 AVG vs the fastball and .133 AVG vs the slider. The main concerns with Folty are him regressing back to his control issues and batters catching up to his heater in the second go-around.
Regardless, Folty is a high-ceiling rookie who can pile up the Ks and will be given every chance to succeed with the rebuilding Braves. Available in 91% of leagues, it's likely you can still buy.
Starting Pitchers - Deeper Leagues
Charlie Morton (PIT, SP)
OWNED IN: 7% of Fleaflicker leagues
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12 + team leagues / NL-Only leagues
Morton was featured in the DL edition a couple weeks back, but now that he's in the rotation I think he deserves a second shout out. He was excellent this weekend at San Diego (although most pitchers have been lately), completing seven innings with two runs (one earned) with three hits, one walk, and two strikeouts. He induced 16 groundball outs with his sinker and it was his second outing of at least seven innings since his return from the DL.
Morton is not going to be a huge help in the K department (career 6.15 K/9) but on a competitive ball club he should see plenty of W opportunities. I'm not buying Morton for shallow leagues asides from streaming opportunities (Fri @ ATL) but in deep leagues he's a good backend SP available in 93% of leagues. Act accordingly.
Kyle Gibson (MIN, SP)
OWNED IN: 20% of Fleaflicker leagues
BALLER MOVE: Add in 14 + team leagues / AL-Only leagues
Trust me, I'm just as surprised to be writing about Kyle Gibson as you are to be reading about him. Gibson has never blown batters away with his arsenal as is evident by his career 5.11 K/9 rate, and before this season he had yet to put together a useful campaign for fantasy purposes.
Not so much in 2015; in 62 innings he has a 2.61 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, with a paltry 30/21 K/BB ratio. He has now gone nine straight outings with less than three earned runs, and if you remove his opening day outing at Detroit Gibson has a 1.85 ERA this season.
The real question becomes is this sustainable. Personally, I'm saying no. Yes, Gibson has increased his changeup usage (17.2%) and seen positive results from that decision (PitchF/X of 3.4) along with upping his first-pitch strike % up to 62.7%. But his LOB% is a career high 83.1% and he still isn't striking out enough batters (4.35 K/9) this year to make me comfortable using him in shallow leagues aside from a streaming match-up. For deep leagues I recommend grabbing him off the WW and either riding him out or sell high.
Other Pitchers Previously Highlighted to Consider
Noah Syndergaard (NYM, SP / 69%); Tim Lincecum (SF, SP / 60%); Ubaldo Jimenez (BAL, SP / 56%); James Paxton (DL) (SEA, SP / 50%); Tanner Roark (WAS, SP,RP / 47%); Jesse Chavez (OAK, SP / 42%); Mike Leake (CIN, SP / 34%); Jimmy Nelson (SP, MIL / 24%); Roenis Elias (SP, SEA / 15%); Tsuyoshi Wada (SP, CHC / 13%)
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