The Cincinnati Reds pitching staff isn’t going to wow fantasy baseball owners anytime soon. And while Brandon Finnegan is one of those non-wow-worthy pitchers, he’s worth a look this week on the waiver wire as a two-start pitcher.
He’s been quietly putting up decent numbers during his last four starts. He’s gone at least 6.1 innings in four straight starts and allowed two or fewer earned runs in three of those starts. The Reds are not very good, so he’s only 1-2 in that stretch and he’s not going to be dynamic in the strikeouts category either, with his highest output at seven this season, but he’s pitching the best currently on the Cincinnati staff.
Despite the Reds’ inability to put up many wins this season, the matchups work well in his favor this week.
The continual whipping boy in Major League Baseball, the Atlanta Braves, is on tap for Tuesday. Houston, which has underwhelmed considerably on the offensive end this season, is on the docket for later in the week.
Both teams have been unable to hit the ball this year, with the Braves and Astros toward the bottom in Major League Baseball for batting average. Even with a bit more run production in June, the Astros still aren’t hitting the ball consistently. Houston ranks 15th in the month of June for runs scored, but ranks 25th in batting average.
The Braves, meanwhile, are one spot ahead of the Astros in the month of June with a blistering .238 average.
It shouldn’t be a problem to get Finnegan off the waiver wire. He’s currently owned in 10 percent of leagues on ESPN.com.
Finnegan isn’t a year-long option for fantasy baseball owners. However, he can provide a solid two starts this week before you send him back to the waiver wire next week.
