To stay ahead of other teams in your fantasy baseball leagues, it is important to scour the waiver wire and free agent pool to pick up pitchers that will help your team succeed in the present and future. Here's a look at five pitchers owned in less than 50% of Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball leagues* who are worth adding for Week 21.
RP Santiago Casilla, San Francisco Giants (47% owned*)
Statistics*: 47.1 IP, 4 W, 24 SV, 47 K, 3.04 ERA, 1.25 WHIP
Since blowing his sixth save of the season over a month ago, Casilla has been relegated to a lesser role in the bullpen. In 14 games since his last blown save, he has only allowed eight hits and has a 2.23 ERA. While there are no specific talks about moving away from the closer-by-committee system, if Casilla continues to pitch really well like he's done this month, he could become a fantasy factor during the playoff weeks.
SP Tommy Milone, Oakland Athletics (39% owned)
Statistics: 153.1 IP, 10 W, 0 SV, 112 K, 3.87 ERA, 1.19 WHIP
After struggling over the past month, Milone finally found his way back in the win column with a dominant outing against the Minnesota Twins. With two starts in Week 21 against the beatable Cleveland Indians and a weakened Boston Red Sox team now without Adrian Gonzalez, he has a great opportunity to string together several great starts in a row.
SP Brett Anderson, Oakland Athletics (23% owned)
Statistics: 7.0 IP, 1 W, 0 SV, 12 K, 3.18 ERA, 1.18 WHIP
On August 21, Anderson replaced rookie Dan Straily in the rotation and made his first start in nearly 15 months against the Twins. Like Milone, Anderson had great success against Minnesota, throwing six strikeouts and allowing one run in seven innings of work. With the same two opponents in Week 21 as Milone, he'll have good matchups as he continues his return.
SP Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds (17% owned)
Statistics: 158.0 IP, 10 W, 0 SV, 102 K, 3.87 ERA, 1.22 WHIP
Moving away from the Bay Area, one NL Central pitcher who has been overlooked in fantasy circles is Arroyo. With his latest eight-inning win over the Phillies, he is now 6-1 with a 3.50 ERA in his last seven starts. A two-start option in Week 21 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros, the hot Arroyo is in good shape to continue producing into September.
SP/RP Kyle Kendrick, Philadelphia Phillies (10% owned)
Statistics: 118.0 IP, 7 W, 0 SV, 84 K, 4.12 ERA, 1.35 WHIP
Few starting pitchers have been more on point as of late than Kendrick. Owning a 3-0 record, 16 strikeouts, and a 0.83 ERA over his last three starts, he is pitching the best in his career and has done great since rejoining the rotation. While the Phillies are out of the playoff race, Kendrick could help many fantasy teams in their respective playoff chases.
Other Week 21 waiver wire adds of interest: Chicago White Sox SP/RP Francisco Liriano (41%), San Diego Padres SP Clayton Richard (24%), Colorado Rockies SP Jhoulys Chacin (19%), Kansas City Royals SP Jeremy Guthrie (15%), Pittsburgh Pirates SP Jeff Karstens (12%)
*Percentage owned numbers for Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball leagues and player statistics accurate as of August 24, 2012. IP: Innings Pitched, W: Wins, SV: Saves, K: Strikeouts, ERA: Earned Run Average, WHIP: Walks + Hits / Innings Pitched.
Sources:
Santiago Casilla Game Log, Yahoo! Sports
Brett Anderson News & Notes, Yahoo! Sports
Bronson Arroyo News & Notes, Yahoo! Sports
Kyle Kendrick Game Log, Yahoo! Sports
Who's Hot, Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball
More from this contributor:
Fantasy Baseball 2012: Week 21 Batters, Waiver Wire Pickups
Fantasy Baseball 2012 - Week 19 Most-Added Pitchers: Fan's Review
Fantasy Baseball 2012 - Week 19 Most-Added Batters: Fan's Review
Fantasy Baseball 2012 - Week 19 Top Performers, August 13-19: Fan's Review
Fantasy Baseball 2012: Week 20 Waiver Wire Pitchers, Deep League Pickups
Austin Chang is a lifelong baseball fan, San Francisco Giants supporter, and fantasy baseball player since 2005 who has been a Top 3 finisher in 70% of the leagues he has played in. Follow this contributor on Twitter @_austinchang.
