Bartolo Colon, Carlos Gomez, Johnny Damon: Waiver Wire

In today’s edition of the Waiver Wire, we look at a tubby starter who’s putting up numbers, a speedster, and an octogenarian outfielder.

Bartolo Colon | 13% Owned (Y!) | 13% (ESPN)
With Phil Hughes on the shelf indefinitely, Colon wof ill be remaining in the Yankees’ starting rotation until further notice. Colon is certainly one the elder statesmen in the league, but his fastball is still sitting above 90 miles per hour fairly comfortably. Colon has averaged a strikeout every inning thus far, but his swinging-strike rate doesn’t even come close to backup that strikeout rate up. However, when you throw 90 mph with the kind of movement Colon can put on his two-seamer, you may be able to sustain a higher strikeout rate than your swinging-strike percentage would indicate. Even if that’s true, though, Colon’s strikeout rate will still have to come down a notch. As a starter, Colon will be in line to pick up a good deal of wins thanks to the Yankees’ lineup, and even if Hughes comes back healthy and Colon is forced back to the bullpen, he could still be worth a pickup if you have innings to spare and want to vulture a win every now and again.

Carlos Gomez | 7% | 15%
One of the Brewers’ weak spots coming into this season, Gomez has been somewhat of a fantasy asset so far. Gomez still strikes out too often for a light-hitting centerfielder, but he has utilized his speed and given owners some added counting stats in April. Through Wednesday’s action, Gomez had stolen six bases in seven tries, and had even hit two homers in just over 100 plate appearances. The Brewers like to hit Gomez second for some reason or another, and he’s added twelve runs scored to his fantasy resume, along with ten runs batted in. With Nyjer Morgan on the DL, Gomez doesn’t have much competition for playing time, so add him if your looking for some cheap steals and runs scored, at least until Morgan returns.

Johnny Damon | 31% | 71%
Damon’s ownership rates clearly show the important of pre-ranks and different fantasy hosts, so this one’s for you, Yahoo owners. Since April 8th, Damon has at least one hit in every game he’s played, and has picked up an RBI in all but four of those games. Damon may not be a stud in any one category, but his batting average shouldn’t kill you, and he should be able to contribute on a daily basis. Because of his durability, he’s worthy of being a backup outfielder on your squad, and you shouldn’t be afraid to plug him in should one of your starters have the day off.





Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.

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Big Jgkemember
12 years ago

Dexter Fowler, Coco Crisp, Brett Gardner. Who ya got?

Big Jgkemember
12 years ago
Reply to  Zach Sanders

Really? Wow. So you think Coco’s injury problems are less of a risk than Fowler’s k-rate and Gardner’s flukiness?

Big Jgkemember
12 years ago
Reply to  Zach Sanders

Cool. Thanks for the input.