Fantasy Baseball 2021: Notable Pickups to Target on Waiver-Wire for Week 4

Detroit Tigers pitcher Matthew Boyd has been a peculiar hurler for fantasy baseball players to evaluate for most of his career.

Boyd typically is not on the winning side of ball games, but he carries the potential to record high strikeout totals.

Early on in the 2021 season, the southpaw has put together everything to earn a pair of wins in three starts.

Boyd and JT Brubaker of the Pittsburgh Pirates have proved to be valuable fantasy contributors in their first few starts, which makes them two of the top waiver-wire candidates for the next week.

Meanwhile, in the relief pitcher category, Lou Trivino emerged as the Oakland Athletics' top closer candidate with Trevor Rosenthal on the injured list.

Some pickup combination of Boyd, Brubaker and Trivino could provide the boost that pushes your fantasy team to victories in the coming weeks.

Boyd is the veteran face of a rotation headlined by top prospects Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal.

In his last start, the 30-year-old limited the Houston Astros to a single earned run over six innings while striking out four batters. That came six days after Boyd whiffed eight Minnesota Twins hitters.

Boyd has the potential to strike out six or seven opponents in each start, and if he combines that with a low run concession, he may carry more fantasy value than in previous seasons.

The southpaw owns a career 36-55 record, and some of those losses can be attributed to a high total of home runs allowed. He was tagged for 54 long balls in the past two seasons alone.

In three starts this year, Boyd has not given up a home run, and he could continue that streak against the Oakland Athletics on Sunday inside their spacious ball park.

After Sunday, Boyd's next start is scheduled to take place against the Kansas City Royals, who have the seventh-fewest hits total in the majors entering Sunday.

JT Brubaker has been a pleasant surprise in the Pittsburgh rotation.

The 27-year-old conceded three earned runs over 15.1 innings and owns a 1.76 ERA and 1.043 WHIP through three appearances.

Brubaker contained the production of the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs, and he had a deeper progression into games in each contest.

He threw a six-inning gem Friday versus Milwaukee to pick up his second straight win and reinforce his potential fantasy value.

His next scheduled start against Detroit could elevate his fantasy status since the Tigers have a .214 team batting average and have the fourth-most strikeouts behind the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays.

Now could be the perfect time to add Brubaker to the back end of your fantasy rotation because one or two more quality starts should boost his roster percentage.

Trivino is the top closer to add off the waiver wire.

He earned saves in his past two trips to the mound, and he conceded a single hit against Arizona and Detroit in those outings.

Trivino should be in line for a good chunk of save opportunities since Oakland's bats are starting to heat up. The Athletics scored seven runs Saturday versus Detroit.

The best save opportunities for Trivino in the coming weeks should be against the Baltimore Orioles, whom Oakland faces six times between now and May 2.

A four-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays is in the middle of the two Orioles series, and if those contests are close, Trivino may be on the mound every night.

The consistency Trivino displayed early in the season combined with Oakland's potential to win a good amount of games in the coming weeks could make him the most intriguing pitcher to add right now.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Baseball Reference.