Jake Bennett

Bennett is doing something that shouldn't work: posting sub-3.00 ratios with no dominant individual pitch. The secret is a wacky mid-80s changeup with 12 inches of horizontal break and a 39% chase rate outside the zone, deployed from a deceptive three-quarters slot. He just threw seven shutout innings against the White Sox and is 4-3 with a 24.1% strikeout rate. Grab him before the second half if he's under 40% in your league.

The lefty has quietly strung together four straight quality outings of 6+ innings with three wins in his last four decisions. He won't pile up strikeouts, but his efficiency and ground-ball tendencies minimize damage and eat innings. Strong streaming option through the All-Star break.

Bennett was traded to Boston from the Cubs' system last December for righty prospect Luis Perales, and the return is looking lopsided in Craig Breslow's favor. After a promising first stint (0.86 ERA in 21 IP), he was optioned to Worcester for bullpen flexibility and came back a better pitcher: four-seam fastball usage jumped from 29% to 40%, the pitch now plays at the top of the zone with more arm-side run, and opponents have to respect the heat to set up the mid-80s changeup. The contact profile tells the story — 53.4% groundball rate, 3.8% BB rate, and 87.4 mph average exit velocity allowed. At 25% ownership he's the most underpriced SP on the wire heading into the All-Star stretch.

Bennett stepped into Boston's rotation when Brayan Bello was demoted and has delivered five straight quality starts, capped by a dominant shutout at Coors — one of baseball's hardest parks to post a goose egg. His 56.4% groundball rate is elite, his 40.3% chase rate limits walks while generating weak contact, and a 12.2% swinging-strike rate suggests more strikeouts are coming as he settles in. Available in 65% of leagues — add in all formats with a week of favorable matchups ahead.

Six shutout innings with nine strikeouts at Coors Field is not fluky — Bennett's 12.2% SwStr rate and elite walk avoidance (22:5 K:BB across five starts) back it up. He posted a 1.60 ERA with 41:9 K:BB in Triple-A before the call-up. Available in 87% of leagues and worth adding in any format that uses two or more pitchers. One of the clearest add-now situations of Week 14.

The Red Sox rookie has a 3.27 ERA and 1.06 WHIP on the surface, but his underlying metrics tell a better story: 2.64 xERA (94th percentile), 55.2% ground-ball rate (94th percentile), and a 5.4% walk rate. With Connelly Early now on the IL, Bennett steps into a clear rotation spot with no competition, and Fenway's second half is historically pitcher-friendly once the summer heat sets in. The strikeout rate (19.4%) is below average and limits his ceiling in K-heavy formats, but in ratio leagues he's significantly underpriced at 30% ownership. Add before the regression pushes his ERA toward those underlying numbers.

Started @ Los Angeles Dodgers (6W-4L, 2.74 ERA)

Started vs Houston Astros (0W-0L, -.-- ERA)