The second half of the season is officially underway, which means it’s long past time to hold on to any illusions that you’re going to win your league with all of your brilliant draft picks intact. It’s time to throw out what you thought you knew around draft time and make adjustments. Time to decide whether you’re in it to win it this year, and what you might need to make that happen. Time to check narrative and sentiment at the door.
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 starting pitcher waiver wire: Week 17
Grayson Rodriguez, SP, Baltimore Orioles
Roster percentage: 10.6%
Rodriguez entered the year as the consensus top pitching prospect in all of baseball after years of laying waste to the Minor Leagues, but his first taste of the Majors this spring didn’t go so well; the righty got lit up to the tune of a 7.35 ERA and .956 OPS over 10 starts. The team sent him back down to Triple-A in June to get his command (and his confidence) back, and it didn’t take long: Rodriguez has pitched to a 1.69 ERA in seven starts since the demotion, including three games with double-digit Ks. With the O’s still searching for answers in the back end of the rotation, the team is set to call Rodriguez back up to the Show on Monday, and he still has the electric stuff and stratospheric upside that made him so highly touted in the first place.
Quinn Priester, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster percentage: 1.3%
Pittsburgh’s top pitching prospect is also set to start in the Majors on Monday. Priester won’t blow anyone away, but what he lacks in power, he makes up for with polish. The righty boasts a legit four-pitch mix, with a slider and curve that both project to be above-average MLB offerings. The 2019 first-round pick hasn’t been overwhelming in Triple-A this season, pitching to a 4.31 ERA with less than a strikeout per inning, but he’s got a Major League-ready arsenal and figures to get a very long runway for a Pirates team that’s out of contention.
Logan Allen, SP, Cleveland Guardians
Roster percentage: 6.4%
Shane Bieber’s injury has led the Guardians to call Allen back up after the rookie was just demoted late last month. The lefty had been struggling in June — he didn’t make it past the fourth inning in any of his last three starts — but he flashed real potential earlier in the year, carrying a 2.76 ERA over his first eight starts and striking out 63 guys in 62.1 frames. Bieber sounds like he’ll be on the shelf for a while, giving Allen a path to a permanent place in Cleveland’s rotation. He gets a dream matchup against the Pirates on Tuesday to start out, and if he does well there, we should be off to the races.
Ben Lively, SP, Cincinnati Reds
Roster percentage: 5.1%
Lively was an unknown entering the season, but he’s been a godsend for a Reds club that’s seen its rotation decimated by injuries. The righty’s surface-level stats might not jump off the page, but that’s largely a product of two very ugly starts: Lively allowed six hits, five earned runs, three walks, and a pair of home runs at home against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 4, then was tagged for 10 hits, seven earned runs, three home runs, and a walk in 6.2 innings five days later against the St. Louis Cardinals. Outside of that, though, he’s been remarkably consistent, giving up two runs or fewer in every other outing. The 31-year-old was forced from his start on Sunday due to cramping, but he’s not expected to miss any time, and he’s an underrated option behind a potent Cincy lineup — especially when he’s away from his hitter-friendly home park, as seven of his 10 homers allowed have come at home.
