Waiver Wire: July 29th
Danny Valencia | 3B | Twins | 4% owned
There’s nothing like six games against the Orioles and Royals to help jump start the bat, eh? Valencia went 14-for-23 with four doubles and homer in those two series, enough of a surge to guarantee him some regular playing time until the Twins trade for someone better. David Golebiewski broke Valencia down in detail last month and concluded that he’s not an every day fantasy option, but there’s never anything wrong with riding out a hot streak while it lasts.
R.A. Dickey | SP | Mets | 30%
I’m not going to lie, I’ve been waiting for what I figured would be Dickey’s inevitable crash back down to Earth for a few weeks now, but I’ve got to hand it to him, the guy’s been great. Knuckleballers tend to be late bloomers, so it’s not out of the question that Dickey has gotten a hold on things at age-35 and can be a viable ML starter.
Will he maintain the 2.32 ERA he has following 8.1 shutout innings of work this afternoon? No, of course not. His FIP coming into today was rock solid at 3.24 thanks to an abnormally low 2.34 BB/9. That should rise in the future just because of the nature of the knuckleball, but he could very easily settle in as a ~4.00 ERA guy for the rest of the season with just enough wins and strikeouts to keep you interested. His next start comes against the Braves next week.
Ownership rates based on Yahoo! leagues.
10
I’ve always thought that FIP and xFIP were terrible ways of predicting knuckleballer’s performance. That’s just the nature of the pitch. Dickey’s been showing good performances, so regardless of what DIPS metrics say, I’m just going to ride him until he explodes (if he does).
That’s what she said.
There is no predicting knuckleballers using any sabermetrics available. When he plows over the braves next week you can come back and change that 4.00 ERA comment for the rest of the year. My man tricky Dickey is here to play. He’ll come back to earth next year when this mojo wears off, but until then, just smile and ride the wave. Never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but Dick is good.
Drew Storen!!
Closer for the Pirates, Evan Meek?!
You mean Hanrahan..
Drop Scott Baker and pick up Jason Hammel?
I’m not sure how much longer I can stick with Baker, and he has the Rays up next.
Shocked you stayed with Baker this long. Go get Hammel even though he’s been rocked lately. At least he had a long string of good starts after a rocky Apr. Wacky home/road splits this year, opposite of last year, hard to plan when to spot him.
Baker’s k/bb ratio is so good, I keep hoping his surface numbers will turn around. In the end, he’s still the better pitcher and I don’t know that he’s hurt.
Hammel is awful on the road, but I hate spot starting guys, it’s like thinking this time you’ll win at Three Card Monte on the street. Fool’s bet!
Really not sure what I’ll do…