MLB: Second Week Pitcher Pickups
A fantasy manager dealing with their pitcher rotation is a weekly process. Hopefully your league utilizes proper amounts of DL spots to secure valued pitchers hurt. If not it can be even more of a merry go round process with working the waiver wire. Flocking to the wire is just a natural progression for competitive fantasy baseball owners. Great value can be found early on. For the most part though early success doesn’t materialize for the entire year. Here are some guys that you can take a look at for the short term, and see how long they stretch out on your roster.
Jon Rauch, RP, 44% Owned-
Saves are a priority in any league. Rauch currently is playing the lead closer for the Blue Jays, as Frank Francisco sits out with injury. Rauch delivered last year with 21 saves for Minnesota, but it is highly unlikely he’ll hold onto the role. He already has a loss, and an unimpressive ERA of 4.15.
Chris Narveson, Milwaukee Brewers, SP– 28% Owned-
Narveson has made the most of starting out the 2011 year on proper tracking. He is at the backend of the Brewers rotation, but performing as a pitcher with a strong agenda. In two starts this year he has pitched extremely well. Including nine strikeouts while giving up only one walk, in an April 9th win vs. the Chicago Cubs. His next couple of starts will be key to see if he is truly worthy of picking up. Narveson has truly been pitching well since after the All Star break last season.
Brian Fuentes, Oakland A’s, RP- 52% Owned-
Save opportunities weren’t expected to be in quantities for the Oakland A’s. The young team though looks like they could be a team on the rise. Fuentes already has three recorded saves. All coming in a span of four days. Fuentes has great value in the short term while Andrew Bailey recovers from his forearm strain.
Matt Harrison, Texas Rangers, SP- 37% Owned-
Another young pitcher off to a fabulous start. Teams still don’t have the full scouting report on Harrison. As he gets more starts and teams are able to get a full read on him, it’ll be interesting to see how he responds. For now though, you can’t discount his first two starts of the year. His ERA is 1.29. He has went seven innings in both starts giving up minimal hits.
Zach Britton, Baltimore Orioles, SP- 38% Owned-
Buck Showalter thrives on getting the most out of his pitching staff. Jeremy Guthrie finally seems to be performing to the level expected from him, and Britton is proving to be a solid discovery. Much like Harrison, Britton is widely available in leagues until he shows a couple more solid outings. He doesn’t overpower batters with strikeouts, but finds a way to get outs with patience on the mound. How will he react to a poor inning, or multiple back to back tough outings?
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