Each week I look at the collection of starting pitchers owned in under 20% of leagues (consensus Yahoo/ESPN ownership from Fantasy Pros) with a few extra sub 10% discount options at the end, pointing out the options to consider if you need an extra arm or two at the end of your staff.

Let’s highlight my ten favorite starting pitcher options that may be available on your waiver wires, ordered by ownage %:

Under 20% owned

Reynaldo Lopez (Chicago White Sox – 15%) – You’ve heard it before, but it still rings true: you never know what you’re going to get from ReyLo. His four-seamer is a strong pitch on its own, but it falters if batters don’t have to respect his slider or changeup. The blueprint is there – four-seamers jamming batters in both boxes with sliders and changeups low to steal strikes and miss bats. The latter is the troublesome area as Lopez fails to hit a 30% O-Swing on either his breaker or slow ball for the year. Every start could be the one where it all clicks into place indefinitely, or it could be another one where we shake our heads in disappointment.

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Welcome to this week’s dive into the wild free agent pool. Let’s find out which two treasures we have uncovered.

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Another week of players heading to the waiver wire. Here’s a look at most dropped players in the NFBC Main Event (38 leagues).

Injured

• Drew Pomeranz (18): A lat injury has placed him on the IL but what’s really hurting him is the 5.93 ERA.
• Francisco Mejia (17): He’s landed on the IL (knee) and his owners moved on since he was just hitting .167/.207/.259.
• Mike Zunino (12): He’ll miss over a month with a quadriceps injury.
• Clay Buchholz (10): A bad shoulder is keeping him out.
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With just the normal closer speculation bids, I’d not be surprised if this week had the lowest percentage of remaining FAAB spent so far this season. With Derek Dietrich as the top prize on the hitting side, I don’t expect owners to be spending much.

The guidelines:

• The ownership rates are from CBS since they have some quickdraw waiver wire leagues where players can be picked up at any time.
• The FAAB estimates are based on the 2018 15-team mixed NFBC leagues which used a $1000 FAAB budget. Owners are going to need to convert these values to their own league.
• The ownership values were taken from Saturday and lots can happen in between when they publish and FAAB bids run.
• Only players owned in 50% or fewer of CBS leagues are examined.

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Each week I look at the collection of starting pitchers owned in under 20% of leagues (consensus Yahoo/ESPN ownership from Fantasy Pros) with a few extra sub 10% discount options at the end, pointing out the options to consider if you need an extra arm or two at the end of your staff.

Note: This week and moving forward, I’m going to focus more on the sub 20% and sub 10% owned arms as I expect many of the sub 30% arms are snatched up in your leagues.

Let’s highlight my ten favorite starting pitcher options that may be available on your waiver wires, ordered by ownage %:

Under 20% owned

Wade Miley (Houston Astros) – This list is barren compared to previous weeks, due to our favorite choices impressing and a larger emphasis on pitching needs due to a multitude of injuries. That makes someone like Miley a considerable option as he offers a strong chance at a Win whenever he takes the hill. The Houston offense will support him and his ability to induce weak outs often can push him into the sixth frame. Don’t invest for strikeouts, but if a 1.25 WHIP, 3.70 ERA, and a handful of Wins fits, Miley is your guy.

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For the drops, I use the NFBC Main Event (38 teams) where owners are more likely to stay active with more skin the game. Here is who they are dropping and why.

Injured

● Matt Adams (30): He continues the circle of life of injured Nationals. Ryan Zimmerman makes one of his annual trips the IL and Adams stepped up. And gets himself hurt. Jake Noll and Howie Kendrick have each played first base since Adams went down.

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There are a couple of big names this week, Lowe and Canning, and some potential closer roles up for grabs but overall it’s a slow week.

The guidelines

• • The ownership rates are from CBS since some of their leagues are quickdraw waiver wire leagues where players can be picked up at any time.
  • The FAAB estimates are based for 2018 15-team mixed NFBC leagues which used $1000 FAAB. Owners are going to need to convert these values to their own league.
  • The ownership values were taken from Saturday and lots can happen in between when they publish and FAAB bids run.
  • Only players owned in 50% or fewer of CBS are examined.

Read the rest of this entry »

Each week I look at the collection of starting pitchers owned in under 20% of leagues (consensus Yahoo/ESPN ownership from Fantasy Pros) with a few extra sub 10% discount options at the end, pointing out the options to consider if you need an extra arm or two at the end of your staff.

Note: This week and moving forward, I’m going to focus more on the sub 20% and sub 10% owned arms as I expect many of the sub 30% arms are snatched up in your leagues.

Let’s highlight my ten favorite starting pitcher options that may be available on your waiver wires, ordered by ownage %:

Under 20% owned

Reynaldo Lopez (Chicago White Sox – 18% owned) – Fanning fourteen batters in one game should be enough to warrant a pickup in deeper leagues, disregarding the solid performances in each of his previous two outings. Lopez is notorious for his erratic nature, often returning clunkers after starts featuring seven scoreless frames, though his brilliant performance may be a turning point. With the Red Sox ahead, if Lopez can produce with both his slider and changeup, he’ll be well off this list next week. Now could be your last chance to take a shot.

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