Dixon’s Picks: Waiver Wire Additions for the Week of July 8

Photo courtesy of Charles Atkeison.

Welcome to the last week of the first half of the season. I hope that all of you are enjoying the season and even though it has no fantasy relevance, I really hope that everyone enjoys the All-Star Game. With the lineup changes, excessive challenges, and expanded rosters, it’s not the truest form of baseball, but you do get to see some of the best players in the game on full display for nine innings. I’ve always enjoyed it, and I’m sure New York will put on a good show next week.

This will also be the last Dixon’s Picks until July 22. In the week after the All-Star game just about every team plays 10 games, so most starters are two-start guys. Streaming is a little more case-by-case in long weeks. I’d be happy to answer any individual questions, but this will take a break until the regular schedule begins again.

Before we go on, let’s see my season’s stats after the weeks of  Bronson Arroyo, Wade Miley, and A.J. Griffin.

Let’s see what these next three guys can do for that.

• Randall Delgado, Arizona Diamondbacks — Probable Starts: Monday vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday vs. Milwaukee Brewers

Delgado has made four starts this year, three of them were quality starts, and the other was a five-inning, three-run performance against the Reds. He’s also coming off of a great outing in his last start, going seven innings without a walk and striking out nine Mets.

The biggest negative that stands out on Delgado’s stat-line this year is a 1.37 WHIP, which is 1.32 as a starter. I also generally agree with what Nash said about streaming pitchers, that it’s better to chase WHIP than ERA. Still, I feel good including Delgado here this week.

If you eliminate the three walks that he had against a dangerous Atlanta lineup, his WHIP as a starter is 1.20, which looks a lot cleaner. I feel pretty good pointing that out, because he Brewers are dead last in baseball at drawing walks, while the Dodgers are middle-of-the-pack. Even phenom Yasiel Puig has a hard time drawing walks. When opponents swing the bat, Randall Delgado strikes out a lot of hitters and doesn’t allow too many hits. So, he’s a good addition this week.

Delgado’s Projections for the week

• Jhoulys Chacin, Colorado Rockies — Probable Starts: Tuesday at San Diego Padres, Sunday at Los Angeles Dodgers

For a pitcher who makes Coors Field his home and doesn’t strike out a ton of hitters, Jhoulys Chacin is actually having a fine season. But while he’s handling Coors Field about as well as can be expected, take a look at what he’s done away from Colorado this year.

Not only is he not pitching at Coors this week, but Petco Park and Dodger Stadium are two of the better pitcher’s yards in the league. Between the Padres and Dodgers, I see teams that could each conceivably hang a loss on the Colorado right-hander, but not in high scoring affairs.

Chacin is also coming off of a strong June, where he posted a 3.15 ERA with a 1.175 WHIP. His first start of July was a little rough by most standards, but just fine for Coors Field.

He’s worth a go this week.

Chacin’s Projections for the week

• Eric Stults, San Diego Padres — Probable Starts: Tuesday vs. Colorado Rockies, Sunday vs. San Francisco Giants

First off, it’s certainly a little rare to put two opposing pitchers in a Dixon’s Picks. There are a few handicaps in doing that, with the most obvious being that you can’t pick up two wins between them.

But as we went over, Chacin is very strong away from Coors Field. At Petco Park, Eric Stults has an ERA of 2.85 and WHIP of 0.866 this year. Since the beginning of May, his ERA at home is 1.41, while his WHIP is 0.73. So, going against two struggling teams that play much better at home than on the road, I feel pretty good about his inclusion this week.

A plummeting ownership rate indicates that people are staying away from Stults now because his last two outings have been rough. But not only were both away from San Diego, but one was against the Marlins (who are actually playing pretty well right now), and the other was against the Red Sox, who have been one of the league’s best teams this year.

Look for a good a bounce-back week to finish the first half of the season.

Stults’ Projections for the week

Lastly, I’m sure some of you noticed that this was a very National League West centered Dixon’s Picks. Not only are all three pitchers NL West arms, but all but one of the opponents is an NL West foe. The NL West is a really good streaming division. The offenses in it aren’t extraordinary and the parks are generally very hitter-friendly. It’s a streamer’s dream.