With just a little over two weeks left until the All-Star Game festivities and the ostensible “middle” of the season, now is a great time for managers to take a step back and take stock of their roster’s areas of need to determine where incremental improvements can be made.

The upcoming Futures Game also reminds us that there is plenty of talent to be mined in the ever-growing youth movement in baseball. But not all Futures Games participants come from lofty draft pedigree; many were late picks and some were never picked at all, which goes to show that the young stars of tomorrow can come from anywhere – even potentially your waiver wire.

Let’s see if we can find a future All-Star in the names below!

DJ Herz – SP – WSH – 10% Yahoo, 34% CBS

This DJ spins a mean fastball, rather than records – but fantasy managers hope that he can make sweet music for them nonetheless.

Herz has never been regarded as a top prospect, either for the Nationals or overall,  but he put forth strong ERA (3.69) and strikeout (13.09 K/9) numbers in his time in the minors. Those numbers have come at the expense of his control however, as Herz gave out 200 walks in 307.1 innings pitched (5.86 BB/9). But so far, through five starts, Herz has managed a 2.95 BB/9 and if he is able to continue exhibiting that level of command, his 11.39 K/9 in the majors becomes a whole lot more interesting.

Despite a 5.48 ERA, those strikeout and walk rates have provided Herz with a 3.77 xFIP and 4.00 xERA so positive regression seems likely for the young lefty. In particular, the difference between his batting average allowed on his four-seam fastball (.313) versus the expected average (.215) is quite stark and partially explains his elevated BABIP (.339).

So what we have in the end is a high-strikeout, low-walk pitcher, who has also been incredibly unlucky. Things won’t always be flowery for Herz, especially if he can’t bring down his HR/9 from an absurd rate of 2.11, but he is yet another exciting pitcher to come out of the National’s pitching development system this year.

League size recommendation: 16-team leagues

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