In deeper leagues, especially those of the mono-league variety, everyone is typically always in search of better pitching. Hitting too, of course, but that’s for another article. The problem with deep leagues is that no one has depth. So to fill one hole you will almost assuredly create another one. It’s simply much more difficult to trade when your bench is filled with scrubs, except when it’s categorical, like trading an excess of saves for a starting pitcher. But that doesn’t happen often, so the alternative is to simply aim lower. Trading for a Chris Sale level pitcher is great and all, but it’s not the only way to improve your pitching staff. So here are four names who have all drastically underperformed their SIERA marks so far this year, which means they could likely turn you a profit in a trade if their fortunes turn.

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Is it hard to believe that we only have a little over a month of the season left or is it hard to believe that we still have a little over a month of the season left? I think I feel both ways at the same time. In any case, it’s time to uncover some hidden gems. Or at least that’s the goal.

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You know when you don’t own a player on any of your fantasy teams and late in the season you’re browsing through box scores and you realize “Woah, Player X has XX homers?!?!?!”. Yes, as fantasy owners, especially for those in mixed leagues, we generally follow all of baseball. But I personally don’t pay as much attention to players I don’t own and know I am unlikely to own all season. So when spending the last 20 minutes trying to figure out what to write about, I noticed that Matt Carpenter had just hit his 19th homer of the season. Bingo! Something to write about.

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In 157 plate appearances, Kyle Schwarber has posted a .406 wOBA. He’s a rookie. And a catcher (well, half the time). If he qualified for the leaderboard, that wOBA mark would easily rank highest among catchers, while sitting sixth in all of baseball. He has certainly enjoyed quite the tremendous start to his Major League career and the Cubs have an embarrassing amount of young talent.

We haven’t even finished the month of August yet and I’m certainly not looking toward 2016 yet. But apparently some are. And in an article I read recently, the author discussed his early picks for the first two rounds of next year’s drafts. Schwarber wasn’t included, but was discussed at the end as a notable omission.

The fact that he was even mentioned as part of a small group of omissions shocked me. That’s typically the case when we start mock drafting for the following year and you see a new name in the first couple of rounds. It takes a while to get used to seeing a new name, so the knee-jerk reaction is to feel that it’s ridiculous and the player is severely overvalued after a breakout or career year. Is it fair to feel that way about Schwarber or is he rightfully zooming up 2016 lists?

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Last week, I discussed the five starting pitchers whose fastball velocity had experienced the greatest surge over the previous two weeks. So today, I’ll check in on the decliners. Since velocity trends upward as the season rolls on, a significant decline in velocity at this time is concerning and could signal a serious issue.

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In just a couple of weeks, deep league waiver wires across the land will be overflowing with options as rosters expand. But you don’t have to wait until September as a pair of minor leaguers will be making their debut and are expected to get near regular at-bats for the time being!

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Yesterday, I discussed four lightly owned hitters who could contribute positive value in stolen bases over the rest of the season in deep leagues. I inadvertently included all American Leaguers. Oops, my bad. Not again! So today, I’ll highlight six hitters who could be respectable sources of power for the deep league owner in need, half of which are National Leaguers!

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With just about a month and a half left in the season to go, it’s not automatically about choosing the most valuable offensive contributor for your active lineup. More important is where you sit in the various categories and which you could gain and lose the most points. For those in need of some speed, these four young men are almost certainly available in your league. All are owned in 10% or less in CBS leagues, though are probably better options in deeper leagues, rather than shallow mixers.

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We know that average fastball velocity rises as the season progresses. And of course, velocity is highly correlated with strikeout rate. Sometimes velocity increases as a result of improved/changed mechanics, while other times pitchers might suddenly feel healthier than they had earlier in the season. Players are always dealing with aches and pains, the majority of which we never hear about. Since velocity stabilizes quickly, we should take surges very seriously. They could portend or confirm better performance. So here are your American League starting pitchers who have enjoyed at least a two mile per hour jump in velocity since April over the last two weeks.

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The trade that jettisoned both Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher opened up opportunities for two players to make some sort of impact in deep leagues. So today is an all Indians edition of the deep league waiver wire.

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