Waiver Wire: Scott Feldman’s Quiet Sucess
By Brad Kelly
If fantasy sports we tend to always gravitate towards the higher profile or big splash types of players, because we all love the ability to boast that we own them.But, too often than not, while these higher profiled players are certainly integral to our success, we tend to overlook the importance of owning unsung players whose production holds the true key to success.
These players are often late round fliers or waiver wire finds, but the most successful owners are well aware that they have to be heads up for these types of players when they reveal themselves.
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This is why, I am advising owners to start noticing the silent, yet effective, success Scott Feldman has had lately.
Feldman has surprisingly been around for ten years now, as he has entrenched himself in the big leagues as a quality back of the rotation arm. Over the last four years or so he has bounced around to three different teams, as they all targeted him for his ability to offer competitive and quality innings.
Feldman has found himself in Houston over the last two seasons and he has been just about what the Astros could have expected as he has given them solid production.
The 2015 started out pretty rough for Feldman though, as he got hit early and often early on in both April and May, opening the door for the likes of Lance McCullers and Vincent Velasquez to emerge this year for the Astros.
He also hit the D.L. in late May, which cost him the entire month of June as well. After his D.L. return though, there were some signs that Feldman was going to turn things around though.
With him struggling mightily in April and May, it was interesting to see him return after his injury and post pitching lines that resembled the quality success he was having over the last few years. His E.R.A dropped nearly two runs from the time he hit the D.L. in May, compared to his three starts in July.
The success did not just stop there either, as Feldman has dropped his E.R.A over two runs again over his first four starts in August. For me, his early season struggles probably had to do with him battling a nagging injury, which seems as though he has fully recovered from since his return.
His last six starts have been phenomenal, as he has a 1.80 E.R.A over the course of those starts. His last outing against the Yankees was probably the best he has had all year, as he blanked their high powered offense for eight innings, while striking out six and giving up no earned runs.
Feldman is not sexy by any means, he has a pretty capped ceiling as his 5 SO/9 is pretty modest and he just does not have the stuff to overpower people, but the current streak he is own shows that value came from any and all types of players.
He is currently unowned in about 80% of leagues across all fantasy formats, even though he is one of the hottest pitchers in baseball right now. People sleep on him because he doesn’t post those jaw dropping performances nor wow you with stuff, but the stats do not lie.
I would recommend all owners take a low risk gamble on Feldman while he is on this hot streak, as he profiles perfectly as a backend fantasy arm. He gets the Twins on the road for his next start, but Feldman has been great on the road as he sports a 2.36 E.R.A over his eight road starts away from Minute Maid this season.