We’re nearly to the halfway point of the 2023 MLB season, and things are only getting wilder with each passing day. The Cincinnati Reds are now America’s team. The Los Angeles Angels just dropped 25 runs at Coors Field. For fantasy baseball players, it’s time for the rubber to hit the road — time to decide whether they’re in or out this year, and what they might need for the stretch run ahead. This is especially true for starting pitching, where a combination of rampant injuries and new rule changes designed to goose offense have just about every owner looking under every available rock for quality innings. That’s why we’re here to help, with four targets likely available in your league showing signs that they’re in for a strong finish.
Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Week 13 top starting pitcher pickups
Kyle Bradish, SP, Baltimore Orioles
Roster percentage: 11.2%
Bradish made it three great starts in a row on Sunday, striking out seven while surrendering just two hits in seven innings in a win over the Seattle Mariners. The O’s righty boasts among the better sliders (.184 batting average against, 38.7% whiff rate) and curveballs (.180, 30.2%) in the game, and as long as he’s keeping his fastball elevated and out of harm’s way — which he’s been doing much more of over this recent hot stretch — those two pitchers will continue to chew up batters. A matchup with the Minnesota Twins is up next, and given that Minnesota is striking out a historic pace so far this year, Bradish is worth adding in all formats.
Kyle Hendricks, SP, Chicago Cubs
Roster percentage: 7.6%
Hendricks has been turning back the clock lately, with just three earned runs allowed over 19.1 innings across his last three starts — including a near-no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants a couple weeks ago. Even more impressively, Hendricks has managed this without getting his changeup and curveball — his best two pitches — fully locked in, and once that happens, look out. Hendricks should get better with every start as he works his way back from the shoulder surgery that cut his 2022 season short, and as long as he’s commanding everything and avoiding the heart of the plate, good things will happen. An inconsistent Philadelphia Phillies lineup isn’t too tall of a task this week.
Gavin Williams, SP, Cleveland Guardians
Roster percentage: 10.6%
Williams’ much-anticipated debut last week was a bit up-and-down, coughing up four runs in the third inning but keeping the Oakland Athletics off the scoreboard otherwise. The way he bounced back to close his start was impressive, and this is still an electric arm that scouts regarded as the best remaining pitching prospect in the Minors before he got the call. With a triple-digits fastball and two plus breaking pitches — and the Guardians’ great track record of pitcher development — he could go off against the dismal Kansas City Royals this week.
Tarik Skubal, SP, Detroit Tigers
Roster percentage: 7.0%
Skubal is still a week or two away from returning to Detroit’s rotation as he works his way back from last summer’s flexor tendon surgery, but if you have an open IL spot, you’d be wise to use it. The lefty has looked like his old self as he builds up strength in the Minors, and before his injury he was on his way to a breakout year with a 3.52 ERA across 21 starts. Playing in one of the best pitcher’s parks in baseball certainly doesn’t hurt, and Skubal is likely to be worth a roster spot in 12-team leagues and deeper as soon as he comes back.
