The second-half of the fantasy baseball season is finally upon us. If you’re still in the thick of a tight race, finding those two-start pitchers for the next month-and-a-half each week can go a long way in assisting your team in pitching stats.
There still are some options on the waiver wire, and as the season progresses, keep an eye on young pitchers making a mark in fantasy baseball. Here’s the two best options this week for two starts.
Michael Wacha, St. Louis Cardinals, SP
Wacha is not a normal pitcher to be on the waiver wire this late in the season. Struggles earlier this season still plague him among owners, leaving him available in 50 percent of leagues on ESPN.com. However, that shouldn’t be the case.
Wacha is on fire in July, going for 18 strikeouts in his last two games and allowing just two earned runs. His recent turnaround, which also stems into June, is likely due to his knack for not walking the opposition. He’s allowed just one walk in three of his last four starts. He also has allowed more than two runs only once since June 9. He lines up against the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs this week on the road, so that’s not great. However, he’s a pitchers who can strike out batters, so that elevates his value on the waiver wire.
The Mets and the Cubs don’t do much in the batting average category, so Wacha should be able to limit the hits this week and provide two good chances at quality starts.
Chad Kuhl, Pittsburgh Pirates, SP
The waiver wire doesn’t feature great two-start pitchers this week, so proceed with caution with Kuhl. I don’t like the matchups, with a home game against Milwaukee and a road tilt against Colorado, but Kuhl has shown enough recently that he does present an opportunity at getting two decent outings.
He’s allowed three or more earned runs only twice since May 31. That includes matchups against the Brewers and the Rockies, where he allowed a combined five earned runs in 10 innings. Kuhl isn’t likely to record major strikeout numbers, but he’s at least going to limit earned runs.
The matchups aren’t going to incite much confidence. But Kuhl is showing on a per-start basis to compete. He’s worth a shot for two starts when he takes the mound Monday at home.
