Fantasy Waiver Wire Pitchers: Dixon’s Picks for Week of Aug. 4
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to August. Well, it’s a few days old, so you’ve probably already been welcomed to August. But this is our first Dixon’s Picks of the month. Man, this season is flying by.
Before we get to this fantasy waiver wire pitchers, let’s have a look at my season total after the weeks of Vance Worley, Bartolo Colon, and Chris Tillman.
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- Danny Duffy, Kansas City Royals — Probable Starts: Tuesday at Arizona Diamondbacks, Sunday vs. San Francisco Giants
When a pitcher is on the waiver wire, you really need to look at the stats and identify if there’s any one single reason why he’s not on more rosters. In the case of Danny Duffy, it’s the walks. The good news is that his BB/9 is the best of his career. The bad news? It’s still 3.5 walks per nine, which is way too many.
While high walk rate guys normally don’t appeal to me much from a streaming point of view, a few things work in his favor. The Diamondbacks game is in Arizona, a live yard, but he’ll have the luxury of not having to face a DH. That luxury won’t be there against the Giants, but this is not a deep offensive team, even if Angel Pagan and/or Brandon Belt are in the lineup.
Perhaps most important is that both the Giants and Diamondbacks easily rank in the bottom half of the league in walks. I’m not sure how well the Royals will support him offensively, but a few quality starts should be in order.
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- Dallas Keuchel, Houston Astros — Probable Starts: Tuesday at Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday vs. Texas Rangers
The 2014 season has been filled with hot and cold streaks for Dallas Keuchel, but coming off of a complete game victory against the A’s — who happen to be the best offensive team in baseball this year — I think it’s safe to say that we’re in the midst of a hot streak.
Even though the parks are hitter-friendly, the match-ups are very nice for the week. Even though they both play in great hitter’s parks, the Phillies and Rangers both have mediocre offenses this year. That’s not to say that Chase Utley or Adrian Beltre can’t burn him, but the overall match-ups are both favorable.
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- Charlie Morton, Pittsburgh Pirates — Probable Starts: Tuesday vs. Miami Marlins, Sunday vs. San Diego Padres
We’ll go ahead and put this one last because I can’t say that I love the way that Charlie Morton is pitching right now. It’s not a great week for streaming fantasy waiver wire pitchers.
That said, those match-ups are incredibly inviting. The Marlins are better than they were expected to be, but still generally rank in the middle of the road or worse in most offensive categories. The Padres are the worst offensive team in the league by a long, long way.
Similarly — like Morton — Duffy can get a little erratic. But like their other offensive categories, the Marlins are about in the middle of the pack in walks. Also, like the other offensive categories, the Padres are dead last, which makes these games even more positive for you streamers out there.
At this point of the year, you need to start making a move. If you need a pitching boost, it’s a gamble worth taking.
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