Dixon’s Picks: Waiver Wire Additions for the Week of May 27

Photo courtesy of Keith Allison.

Happy Memorial Day! I hope that everyone out there will have a fun but most of all, safe day.

Unlike most Monday’s, Memorial Day features a full slate of day games. That means that you probably need to act fast if you’re going to bring anyone in for a Monday start. Since two of the four guys you’ll read about today are starting today, let’s not waste another second and get straight to it!

• Jose Quintana, Chicago White Sox — Probable Starts: Monday vs. Chicago Cubs, Saturday at Oakland A’s.

As far as waiver-wire pitchers go, one of the bigger surprises for me this year has been the consistency of Jose Quintana. While he’s only thrown a quality start in four of nine outings this year, I would only call his first outing of the year a bad one. Since then, look at the line of his worst start:

• 5 innings, 8 hits, 2 walks, 4 earned runs, 2 strikeouts.

It’s not great, but not four runs on eight hits is not bad, especially when you’re facing a dangerous Rangers’ lineup in Texas — and that’s his worst start.

What I like about Quintana is that he throws the ball around the plate. Entering the week, he’s allowed 46 hits in 51.2 innings, which is not a great ratio. Still, his WHIP is a respectable 1.18.

This week, he gets an Interleague outing against the Cubs to start things. The Cubs have talented hitters in Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, and Alfonso Soriano, but they’re just not winning games or scoring runs. They’ll get a bit of a boost on the South Side with the DH, but I don’t imagine that will bother Quintana much, seeing as how he faces a DH every time he takes the mound.

That moves us to Oakland over the weekend. Read that again, to Oakland, not to be confused with against Oakland. The Coliseum is a dream to pitch in for every pitcher who takes the hill there. The A’s certainly have some quality hitters and can put up big numbers, but they’re just not doing it on a consistent basis. Oakland thrives when pitchers walk them, and Quintana is just not doing that right now. This is a good matchup for him. Even if the A’s get the win, I’m not expecting a big run total.

Quintana’s Projections for the Week

• Jhoulys Chacin, Colrado Rockies — Probable Starts: Monday at Houston Astros, Saturday vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

If you’ve followed baseball since 1995, you know that Coors Field isn’t exactly a happy haven for pitchers. They’ve made some efforts to lower the scoring there, but it’s still the most hitter-friendly park in the league.

But despite all of that, I still like Jhoulys Chacin as a pickup this week, even when one of his starts comes in his home park.

Admittedly, a big reason for that is that his first start comes in Houston against the hapless Astros. Houston is one of the two worst teams in the league this year and while anyone can break out the bats in a given game, chances are overwhelming that they’ll score very little, if at all. The other team that rivals them is the Marlins. But at least when Giancarlo Stanton is healthy, Miami has one guy who can put up runs quickly. The best Astros’ hitter is Jose Altuve, a contact guy who runs the bases well. So, it’s not the first time you’ve seen them in Dixon’s Picks, and they’ll be there again. Any time you see a pitcher going against them, a cheap win is likely while a strong outing is always possible.

Now, for the weekend start against the Dodgers. Even with Hanley Ramirez hurt, there is still a lot of talent on that team, but the talent isn’t doing anything. Matt Kemp is not himself and realistically, needs to hit the DL. Andre Ethier isn’t exactly imposing anymore. Adrian Gonzalez is still a .300 hitter, but hasn’t exactly been much of a longball threat since the All-Star Break in 2011. That’s almost two full seasons worth of games. In a nutshell, this is why they’re near the bottom of the league in slugging, and runs scored.

It’s not just about the opponents, either. Granted, his 4.10 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and 5.21 K/9 aren’t exactly eye-popping, but they’re not bad when you consider where he plays his home games. His last outing was a quality start, at home, against a capable offense in Arizona.

If you’re in a head-to-head league, you’ll probably have a sense of what you need and don’t need by the time the start against the Dodgers rolls around. But unless you’re really confident that Coors Field will be a slump-buster for LA, this is a good play. Even if you aren’t, the Astros game is a great matchup, especially for a groundball pitcher.

Chacin’s Projections for the Week

• Jake Odorizzi & Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay Rays — Recommended Starts: Monday/Tuesday, vs. Miami Marlins

Despite the fact that every team is playing seven days this week, there aren’t many great two-start matchups out there. Even the two above both feature a game that’s a bit of a gamble.

To get to six starts, we’re going to go with a couple of teammates. Ironically, both are scheduled for two starts this week, but the second start in each case is against the Cleveland Indians. If you can absorb a hit to the ERA and WHIP and need help in the counted categories, go for it. But other than that, you’re probably best just going with both in the favorable early-week matchup.

We’ll go chronologically and start with Odorizzi, a big strikeout guy who had a sub 1.1 WHIP in Triple-A this year. His first start against the Blue Jays was a little rough, but he also struck out six hitters in five innings against a very capable lineup, and only allowed three earned in five innings. His manager, Joe Maddon, did Odorizzi a solid this week by bumping him back a day, thereby missing the Yankees and landing the Marlins.

The Marlins are not the Blue Jays. So, I expect Jake Odorizzi to show all of the same good signs, without anywhere near the amount of bad. Look for a lot of strikeouts and probably a win against an unimposing lineup.

Similar things can be said about Jeremy Hellickson. Granted, he’s struggled at times this year, but showed some real signs of coming out of it in a rock solid outing against the Blue Jays.

I know that Hellickson has struggled this year, but judging by his ownership rates, too many people are giving up on him. This is a guy with a career ERA of 3.38, and a WHIP of 1.195. Even this year, his WHIP is only 1.21, which isn’t bad. I understand leaving him on the bench in bad matchups (which again, I’d do over the weekend against Cleveland), but he’s available in far too many leagues. Remember, he’s only 26. Hellickson’s one of the game’s best young arms and it won’t be long until his stats show it.

Odorizzi & Hellickson’s Projections for Recommended Starts