Fantasy baseball: 3 starting pitchers who could be valuable adds

Michael Wacha, San Diego Padres

At first glance, playing Padres starter Michael Wacha at home Sunday versus the Red Sox doesn’t seem to be that risky of a play. Wacha, who went 11-2 with a 3.32 ERA for Boston last year, has the most wins (four) of any Padres starter, including two wins in his last two starts … and the fun doesn’t stop there. The 11-year veteran has had a stellar month of May. In three starts this month, his ERA is an impressive 0.47 over 19 innings pitched, giving up just six hits. What’s not to like?

Well, here’s the risky part about Sunday’s start at Petco Park. Even though they’re in last place, the Red Sox have scored the third most runs (248) of any team this season and possess the second-best team batting average (.272) in the entire league. Boston is 10-9 on the road and 6-9 versus National League teams. Again, seems favorable for Wacha and the Padres, but San Diegois 2-8 over their last 10 games. Even more worrisome is a five-game losing streak in that stretch of games and the Padres just dropped two of three to Kansas City at home. Yikes. All of it adds up to the heat really being on Wacha in Sunday’s risky matchup against his former team.

Well, that’s it. Have fun living dangerously this weekend and good luck out there.