Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
The waiver wire can be a goldmine for fantasy baseball players who are looking to boost their pitching stats. 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 riches. In today’s slice of fantasy advice, let’s take a look at some hurlers who should be in for a strong day on the hill on June 27 and are quite possibly available on a waiver wire near you.
Now hurry up and grab one of these pitchers before some other cagey owner gets to them first. (Ownership percentages based off ESPN standard leagues)
R.A. Dickey: Toronto Blue Jays (71.4 percent)
I doubt we’re going to see Cy Young Award material from this knuckleballer again, but he has shown to be quite serviceable in 2014. His 4.04 ERA may not be impressive, but much of that has to do with his terrible start to the season. In his last 11 games, however, Dickey has allowed three earned runs or less 10 times and sports a solid 3.26 ERA over that span.
The Blue Jays will host the Chicago White Sox this evening, and the Sox have been absolutely dreadful of late. On top of owning the second-worst road record in baseball (15-26), Chicago is an ugly 5-14 over their past 19 games. The offense has been especially inept of late too, as they’ve managed to put up just 3.36 runs per contest over their past 14 games.
Kevin Gausman: Baltimore Orioles (19.8 percent)
In three starts since being called back up to the big club in early June, this 23-year-old has pitched like a bona fide ace. He owns an impressive 0.95 ERA in those contests and has allowed just 14 hits in 19 innings of work. Two of those starts came against the No. 1 and No. 4 offenses in baseball, too, so we probably aren’t looking at a fluky thing here.
The competition won’t be very scary today, though, as Gausman will take on the Tampa Bay Rays for the second time in as many outings. The Rays’ offense has perked up a bit the past couple weeks, but they still rank just 28th in the league in runs per game. When these two last got together on June 18, Gausman held Tampa scoreless over six innings while allowing just five hits and striking out five.
Jake Odorizzi: Tampa Bay Rays (9 percent)
Facing off against Gausman and the Orioles today will be this fireballer. Though his 4.29 ERA on the season is nothing to write home about, he has been in quite a groove of late. After putting up an awful 6.83 ERA in his first six starts, Odorizzi has since dominated to the tune of a 2.88 ERA in nine outings and has struck out an eye-popping 66 batters over his last 50 innings pitched.
The matchup today isn’t quite as difficult as it looks for Odorizzi either. Though Baltimore puts out a pretty scary lineup, their bats just can’t seem to get it going at Oriole Park this season. The team has managed a bewildering 3.28 runs per game at home this season, and that ranks them at 29th in baseball ahead of only the inept San Diego Padres. Odorizzi is a risky play considering how talented the Baltimore lineup is, but he’s worth a look for you gamblers out there.
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.
