Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
The waiver wire can be a goldmine for fantasy baseball players who are looking to boost their pitching statistics. On most days, there is sure to be a starter (or three) just waiting to be scooped up who can help lead a fantasy team to the promised land. In today’s slice of fantasy baseball advice, let’s take a look at some hurlers who should be in for a solid day on the hill on June 13 and are quite possibly available on a waiver wire near you.
Now hurry up and grab one of these pitchers before some other sly owner gets to them first. (Ownership percentages based off ESPN standard leagues)
Justin Masterson: Cleveland Indians (53.9 percent): When this guy is on his game, few pitchers possess nastier stuff. Even though Masterson is having a forgettable season to this point, he’s certainly looking dominant right now. Over his last three starts he’s posted a very solid 1.78 ERA and has whiffed an impressive 19 batters over those 15.2 innings.
He’ll go up against a struggling Boston Red Sox team this evening, and their biggest problem has surprisingly been on offense. Not only do the Sox rank just 22nd in runs scored per game this season at 3.92, but they have been even worse since the beginning of June (2.91). Less than two weeks ago Masterson shut this team out over seven innings while striking out 10, and an encore performance may be in the cards today.
Collin McHugh: Houston Astros (45.4 percent): A blister contributed to a poor outing his last time out, but as of right now he looks good to go for tonight’s game. I doubt many people pegged this fellow to put up ace-like numbers this season, but with a 2.82 ERA and spectacular 1.03 WHIP, he’s been one of the better right-handed starters in the game so far. Those numbers should plummet even further tonight.
McHugh’s birthday isn’t until next week, but he gets an early present today as he faces the atrocious Tampa Bay Rays at home. What on earth happened to these guys? After winning 90-plus games in each of the last four seasons, they’re 17 games below .500 right now, have lost 14 of their last 16 games and are the fourth lowest scoring team in baseball. I see no reason that anything changes today, so McHugh should be started with the utmost confidence.
Bartolo Colon: New York Mets (39.3 percent): I must admit that I’m not a big Colon fan, but even I have to acknowledge that he’s pitching pretty well right now. In his last four starts he owns a minuscule 1.61 ERA and has struck out 23 hitters over that span to boot. While I have no doubt this train is going to derail at some point, it should remain on the tracks for tonight.
This may be a slight exaggeration, but I think my Mom could go out and put up a quality start against the San Diego Padres. This joke of an offense ranks dead last by a wide margin in team batting average (.216), and their 3.03 runs per game is nearly half a run less than the next lowest team in baseball. If those numbers don’t make you salivate at the thought of starting Colon, consider that the Padres have been even worse since the start of June, as they’ve managed to score an embarrassingly low 1.70 runs per game.
Brian Davis is a fantasy writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @SportsGuyBrian, ”Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
