Meanwhile, Miles Mikolas is making a strong pitch.
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That’s more like it for Patrick Sandoval.
The popular breakout pick turned in the sort of start we expected all along Tuesday against the Guardians, striking out nine over seven two-hit innings. The performance brings his ERA to, um … 0.00. That’s right: He didn’t allow an earned run in his first two starts either, but you’re forgiven if you don’t remember them being any measure of remarkable. Each lasted only four innings, and his swinging-strike rate between the two was a solid but less-than-studly 11.5 percent.
It wasn’t the pitcher we were promised, the one whose bonkers changeup figured to make him a bat-missing extraordinaire, and apparently, some of those who drafted him became disenchanted. I was surprised to discover his roster rate is only 82 percent.
I say “only,” but of course, 82 percent is too high for me to feature Sandoval here in Waiver Wire. Still, roster rates for starting pitchers tend to be especially high in CBS Sports leagues, for a number of reasons, so if your league is hosted by a competitor site, it’s even more likely Sandoval is available. And Tuesday’s start should serve as a reminder of what we saw in him in the first place.
That bonkers changeup? It was back in full force, his most-thrown pitch at 34 percent and responsible for nine of his 15 swinging-strikes. He threw it only 19.2 percent of the time in his first two starts, which would explain the so-so whiff rates, but coming off a shortened spring training, it stands to reason it wasn’t in midseason form yet. Now that he’s over that hump, you can expect him to throw the changeup more.
And you can expect more starts like Tuesday’s.
Let’s see who else is available …
Possible waiver wire pickups
