A fantasy owner’s best friend is the waiver wire—where finding value can make the difference between a great week and a very disappointing week. Most pitchers see the mound once a week, but if you want to maximize the number of starts per week, it’s important to look for pitchers pitching twice and exploit favorable matchups if they exist. With that, let’s take a look at some pitchers you should be starting this week, and some you should just leave on your bench.

This week’s edition will be an abbreviated version due to the number of unconfirmed starting pitchers.

Elite

Matt Harvey | New York Mets

Opponents: TBA (LAD & WAS)

Both the Dodgers and Nationals are good hitting teams, but they’ve been pretty bad in the month of July, especially the Nationals (LAD: .235 BA, WAS: .211 BA). With numbers like that, Harvey should have a field day striking out players from both teams. He sports a very impressive 1.09 WHIP and has a 109:26 K:BB ratio. The Mets are still a garbage hitting team, so a win is will be hard to come by, but if your league doesn’t care about the W that much (can’t believe some leagues still do), Harvey is as good as it gets this week.

Jacob DeGrom | New York Mets

Opponents: Gio Gonzalez (WAS), TBA (LAD)

(Read Matt Harvey breakdown)

I’m kidding, sort of. DeGrom has been sensational this year, posting even better numbers than his teammate Harvey. His 0.92 WHIP and 112:21 K:BB ratio are elite, so there’s nothing really to consider here. The 27-year-old is a must start every time he takes the mound, and this week is no exception. Roll him out there with confidence.

Danny Salazar | Cleveland Indians

Opponents: TBA (MIL & CHW)

Salazar gets both the Brewers and White Sox this week. The White Sox have hit the ball better in the month of July, but they still love to strike out a ton (104 Ks in 14 July games), making this a wonderful match up for Salazar.

The Brewers for their part are hitting .300 heading into Saturday night (I know, I LOL’d too). I’m not buying those numbers and neither should fantasy owners. They’re still a middle of the pack hitting team that’s striking out just over 7.5 times a game. Look for the 25-year-old to have no problem mowing down both lineups.

Mediocre

Gio Gonzalez | Washington Nationals

Opponents: Jacob DeGrom (NYM), TBA (PIT)

The pool of two-start pitchers this week is quite limited, making Gio the best non-elite option out there. He does get to play the Mets, who are hitting a woeful .229 this month (.233 this season, 30^th in the league). He’s not a strikeout machine, but the Mets could easily finish the night with 10-plus strikeouts.

The Pirates are a better hitting team than New York, but they don’t scare me very much. Their 15^th this month in team batting average, so I expect them to get some hits but not score many runs (averaging four runs per game this season). Like I said, the options aren’t great, but if I had to pick a mid-tier starter this week, Gonzalez is the best option.

Other options to consider: Matt Shoemaker, Alex Wood, Yordano Ventura.

Bench

Matt Moore | Tampa Bay Rays

Opponents: TBA (PHI & BAL)

In two starts since coming back from Tommy John surgery, Moore has a 7.07 ERA, a 1.93 WHIP and eight strikeouts. Woof. He’s still a bit rusty and needs a few more starts to find his game. Even against the Phillies, I can’t say I trust the Rays offense to score runs. They’ve been a disaster all season in almost every offensive category and the month of July hasn’t been that much better:

As a Matt Moore owner, this makes me very sad. Fantasy owners will need to be patient with the Rays’ starter, but even when he gets back to 100%, he may have quite a few difficult nights playing on a terrible Tampa Bay team.

Michael Lorenzen | Cincinnati Reds

Opponents: Clayton Richards (CHC), TBD (COL)

Lorenzen is heading to Coors Field to take on the Rockies. I’d continue, but that should be enough for anyone to stay away from him this week. The rookie hasn’t been terrible this season, but I can’t recommend a pitcher with a 1.47 WHIP heading to Coors Filed, I just can’t do it!

He also takes on the Cubs earlier in the week for the second time this season. His first starting didn’t go very well—lasting just 4.1 innings, giving up six runs (five earned), on five hits while striking out six. Stay clear of him this week and let him ruin someone else’s fantasy team.

Other pitchers I’d avoid: Clayton Richard, Brian Johnson, Kendall Graveman, Ian Kennedy.

Stats and references provided by www.MLB.com and www.ESPN.com

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