Fantasy Waiver Wire Pitchers: Dixon’s Picks for Week of 9/22

Josh Collmenter is one of a few good fantasy waiver wire pitchers available for streaming during the last week of the season.

Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the final Dixon’s Picks of the season. The last week of the year is definitely a tough one for finding good fantasy waiver wire pitchers to stream with. We just don’t know exactly how teams are going to play it, and teams could very weekend, especially since most of those games won’t mean a whole heck of a lot.

Still, understanding those risks, we’ve got to take the best chance that we can. Before we look at this weeks fantasy waiver wire pitchers, let’s look at my overall numbers after the weeks of Jerome Williams, Ryan Vogelsong, and A.J. Burnett.

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Alright, what about this week?

• Derek Holland, Texas Rangers — Probable Starts: Monday vs. Houston Astros, Sunday vs. Texas Rangers

Derek Holland was one of many Texas Rangers to miss most of the 2014 season. But how has he done since returning to the rotation?

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Good. Very good.

Now, Arlington in September is notoriously a little rough for pitchers, but this is where the fact that Holland missed most of the year actually serves to help him — and those fantasy players looking for a good streaming option.

He’s also got two pretty favorable assignments against the Astros and and A’s team that can’t generate any consistent offense. I’d also suggest that you act fast with Holland. His ownership rate is rising, and he’s exactly the kind of pitcher that people are going to rush to grab.

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• Aaron Harang, Atlanta Braves — Probable Starts: Monday at Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday at Philadelphia Phillies

Aaron Harang is more of a gamble than either of the other two fantasy waiver wire pitchers this week, but he’s coming off of two very solid outings against the Nationals.

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He’s definitely coming in on a good note. The Andrew McCutchen led Pirates are a tough team, especially since that game will certainly matter. But Pittsburgh definitely tends to win more on pitching than hitting. Still, if you’re more of a conservative gambler, that’s a start you might think about passing on.

The other outing is a definite green light. The Phillies are long out of contention and over the final weekend of the year, who knows who they’ll be throwing out there? Run support could be an issue, as the Braves may well be out of it by then, too, but I’m expecting a good outing from him that week.

Overall, I’m actually expecting a good week, even factoring in the Pittsburgh game — though I’d skip that game if your league counts losses.

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• Josh Collmenter, Arizona Diamondbacks — Probable Starts: Monday at Minnesota Twins, Sunday vs. St. Louis Cardinals

In what is definitely the final week of the season’s theme, Josh Collmenter has been on a roll over his last five outings, all quality starts.

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Unlike Harang, his tougher start is the second one. But the Cardinals are very likely to be playing for nothing at that point and if their starters do play, I would expect at least a few of them to see one or two at-bats and then sit out.

Plus, when you’re pitching that well, opponents don’t matter as much. Collmenter has been a nice little secret for fantasy players over the last month. I’m not expecting many strikeouts from Collmenter, as he tends to pitch more to contact. But I am expecting two very solid outings.

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