Fantasy Waiver Wire Pitchers: Dixon’s Picks for Week of 9/1
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome back to Dixon’s Picks. The end is nearing. By the time all of this week’s fantasy waiver wire pitchers make their first starts this week, it will be September. By the time they make their second starts, it will be football season, which brings me to a sidebar.
I’m not knocking fantasy football. Even though I don’t write about it, I’m in two leagues myself and have plenty of fun playing with family and friends. But the start of fantasy football season is not an excuse to to bail out on the final month of fantasy baseball. Even if you’re out of the race, you can still have a lot to say about who wins and who doesn’t. So, find a goal and play the rest of the season out.
Back to the fantasy waiver wire pitchers. Before we do get to this week’s guys, let’s take a look at my running total after the weeks of Eric Stults, Jake Peavy, and Matt Shoemaker.
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Now, on to this week’s Dixon’s Picks.
- Hector Santiago, Los Angeles Angels — Probable Starts: Tuesday at Houston Astros, Sunday at Minnesota Twins
It would definitely be a reach to say that Hector Santiago has pitched great recently, but he hasn’t had a truly bad outing in a long time. That’s nice to know because if you do roll with him, he’s not likely to make you really regret it.
The hope this week is that he goes from “not bad” to good, as neither the Astros or Twins or going anywhere in 2014. In September, you never know who may or may not be in the starting lineup for non-contending teams, so Santiago might get an even better assignment — although teams don’t usually go Minor League heavy against contenders.
Still, even if they go with the regulars, Santiago projects well to have a nice week.
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- Shane Greene, New York Yankees — Probable Starts: Tuesday vs. Boston Red Sox, Sunday vs. Kansas City Royals
With Santiago, the hope is that a good run can lead to a great week against favorable opposition. With Shane Greene, the hope is that he can keep a good run going, despite a less than ideal week of opponents.
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Even if the WHIP doesn’t look great, it’s actually a 1.05 in three of those four starts, as he allowed a few too many runners in one of those four games. You’ve got to like the fact that the last win was a genuinely great inning when he beat David Price. Actually, he beat the likes of Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and J.D. Martinez.
If you like the last outing against the Tigers then you have to love Greene’s strikeouts. At this point, streaming is mostly for either head-to-head players or for the counted stats, so a two-start guy that strikes out a hitter an inning is a potentially great asset. Well worth the roll of the dice.
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- Wade Miley, Arizona Diamondbacks — Probable Starts: Tuesday at San Diego Padres, Sunday at Los Angeles Dodgers
Of the two-start fantasy waiver wire pitchers that we’re going over this week, Wade Miley is probably the biggest risk. So, let’s take a second to go over the risks and rewards.
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You know your team and its needs better than I do. If you need some pitching help, then you need to take a risk at some point, probably soon.
Miley is by far the biggest gamble of the week, but the assignments aren’t that terrible, even though the Dodgers are likely headed for the postseason. San Diego and Los Angeles are both great pitcher’s parks and while I do realize that he’s likely to get into some trouble — especially with those walks — I think he’ll do a decent job pitching around it and helping your fantasy team in the process.
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