MLB Week 20 Pitching Waiver Wire: A Couple Royals To Consider

1. Luis Severino | SP | New York Yankees

Severino is set to make another rehab start on Friday, August 13th. If all goes swimmingly, it’s not entirely out of the question that he is activated after this start. One way or another, we’re not far away from seeing him suit up in pinstripes again. Severino, who is just 27 years old, has a 3.46 ERA in 530 career innings with 589 strikeouts and 150 walks. Ideally, Severino might be full-systems-go by the time the Yankees hit a stretch that goes Baltimore, Toronto, The Mets, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Texas starting on September 3rd. If you’ve got the roster flexibility, take the flyer!

2. Kris Bubic | SP | Kansas City Royals

Bubic is the first of two Royals that made the list for this week and he’s becoming a familiar name in the waiver wire world as a quintessential spot starter. He missed April, but has been for the most part been making starts for Kansas City since. Overall, he owns a 4.43 ERA in 85 innings over 20 appearances, 12 of which have been starts. Lately, however, Bubic has been much better. Over his last five appearances, Bubic has a 2.51 ERA in 28.2 innings pitched with 24 strikeouts and 13 walks. Lastly, here are the remaining series matchups for Kansas City: Houston, The Cubs, Houston, Seattle, Cleveland, The White Sox, Baltimore, Minnesota, Oakland, Seattle, Cleveland, Detroit, Cleveland, Minnesota. All in all, not bad.

3. Marco Gonzalez | SP | Seattle Mariners

Ahh, Marco Gonzalez. It’s been a minute, but here we are. Marco Gonzalez is finally back. After a solid 2018, 2019, and 2020 three-year stretch, Gonzalez plummeted out of fantasy relevance after an a bad April, missing May, and a not-much-better June. Gonzalez has made five starts since giving up seven runs to the Rangers on July 3rd and has been pretty dang good. Over that stretch, he owns a 2.48 ERA with 19 strikeouts and eight walks in 29 innings pitched. The strikeouts are still a bummer, but they’ve never been very high for Gonzalez and he’s always managed to get the job done regardless. If he’s healthy, and back on track, he’ll be a valuable player down the stretch. Be wary as Seattle’s schedule is not the best down the stretch. Gonzalez has proven in the past be can be a matchup proof asset, but by no means is he un-droppable right now if he can’t handle the tougher matchups.

4. Austin Gomber | SP | Colorado Rockies

What a roller coaster of a season Austin Gomber has been on this year. Those fantasy players that have been involved with Gomber from the start know what I am talking about. Through 19 starts this year, Gomber owns a 3.79 ERA. However, this does not tell the whole story. After an ERA north of six in April, he had a 3.15 ERA over six starts in May and a 1.29 ERA over four starts in June before hitting the IL. He missed a month and has made four starts since returning on July 21st. In those four starts, he owns a 4.26 ERA but still managed an awesome 22-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio and picked up three wins as well. While he hasn’t been as sharp since returning, he was a must-roster prior to the injury an is worth adding in the event he can return to form.

5. Daniel Lynch | SP | Kansas City Royals

Daniel Lynch is our other Royals player to make the list today. Lynch, who is one of Kansas City’s top-ranked prospects, was not good in his first taste of the major leagues. He gave up 14 runs in eight innings pitched over three starts back in May before getting sent back down. However, he’s back up now and has made four starts going back to July 25th. In those starts, Lynch is 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA in 23.2 innings pitched. He owns a 19-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio over that stretch as well. Needless to say, he’s been much better. Just like Bubic, Lynch has a bit of mixed bag in terms of schedule the rest of the way. Given his high prospect pedigree, he’s worth the add to see what he can do down the stretch.