Fantasy Baseball: 5 Buy-Low Options for Season-Long Leagues

Nick Pivetta, SP, Philadelphia Phillies

Nick Pivetta had some low-key breakout appeal heading into this year's campaign thanks to a 24.0% strikeout rate in 133 innings last season. The reason it was low-key and not more of a known thing -- despite that strikeout rate -- is that Pivetta had an ugly 6.02 ERA a season ago.

Well, in a lot of ways, Pivetta has lived up to the breakout billing, but his ERA, which sits at 4.58, is once again causing him to fly under the radar.

Pivetta is owned in just 33% of ESPN leagues and 37% of Yahoo leagues. That's criminal, because his advanced stats paint a picture of someone who is really darn good. For the season, Pivetta is sporting a 3.43 SIERA, 27.4% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 11.9% swinging-strike rate.

Among qualified starters, Pivetta sits 15th in both SIERA and strikeout rate. A pitcher of that caliber shouldn't be floating around on the waiver wire.

He can be a real difference maker over the second half, and in a lot of leagues, all it takes to get Pivetta on your squad is a waiver claim.