The air is starting to get a bit crisper (well, in the north at least). The real-life and fantasy trade deadlines have come and gone. September is almost upon us. The marathon of the 2023 MLB season has become a sprint to the finish, and right now is winning time for those of you lucky enough to still be in contention in your fantasy baseball leagues. With precious few weeks to shore up holes and make up ground in the standings, smart adds become even more important: Hit on an under-the-radar free agent, and fantasy hardware awaits; miss, and you’ll spend the winter wondering what if.
Luckily, our weekly waiver wire recommendations are here to help, with position-by-position looks are players you should consider snagging off the waiver wire. Next up: starting pitchers.
Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Week 22 starting pitcher targets
Emerson Hancock, SP, Seattle Mariners
Roster percentage: 4.1%
Oh look, another promising Mariners righty thriving after making the jump from Double-A straight to the Show. Like Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo before him, Seattle was aggressive in promoting Hancock after a string of strong performance for the 24-year-old down in Arkansas. He thrived in his debut against the Padres (five innings of one-run ball) and was cruising his second time out against the Royals until a grand slam in the fifth spoiled his line. It’s not an overwhelming arsenal, but Hancock has a four-seamer, sinker, slider and changeup that are all at least average, forcing a healthy number of ground balls and using the change to earn his fair share of strikeouts. Even when Woo comes back, he and Miller are both pushing their innings limits, meaning Hancock should see regular work in Seattle’s rotation down the stretch.
Jose Quintana, SP, New York Mets
Roster percentage: 8.5%
His six innings of two-run ball against the Cardinals on Thursday makes it now five consecutive quality starts for Quintana, who’s locating like it’s 2022 all over again. The lefty won’t offer much strikeout upside, but the go-nowhere Mets have no reason not to let him go six innings with regularity. If he’s spotting his fastball at the top of the zone and his curve and changeup down below like he has been recently, he should be a very useful starter down the stretch, helping your ERA and putting himself into the running for wins consistently (even if your WHIP takes a little bit of a hit).
Zack Thompson, SP, St. Louis Cardinals
Roster percentage: 0.9%
With Steven Matz out with an injury, the Cardinals are giving the lefty Thompson the first crack at filling his spot in the rotation down the stretch. He struck out eight and allowed just one run on two hits in his first start against the Rockies back on August 6, then starred in four innings of relief against the Royals before another solid start against the Mets this weekend. Thompson’s curve has been his biggest weapon so far this year, as batters are hitting just .152 against the pitch, and while he’s still a little rough around the edges there’s real strikeout upside here if he gets the ball every fifth day from here on out.
Allan Winans, SP, Atlanta Braves
Roster percentage: 1.1%
After another mediocre effort from Yonny Chirinos as Atlanta’s fifth starter, it’s well past time to let Winans have a crack at locking down a big-league rotation spot as the Braves near the postseason. The 28-year-old has been sensational down at Triple-A this year, with a 2.79 ERA and 1.027 WHIP across 20 appearances (15 starts) and he dazzled in his MLB debut last weekend, silencing the Mets with nine strikeouts over seven shutout innings. He almost looked like a young Michael Soroka at times, filling up the zone with his sinker and slider and using an effective changeup as his out pitch. It looked more than good enough to get through Major League lineups multiple times, and the Braves have no reason not to hand over the keys over the final few weeks of the season to see what they have.
