Spot D'jour: Your Daily Pitcher Pickup...For Tomorrow

Brian Tallet (Toronto Blue Jays) vs. Angels. LHP. 5 percent owned

Stat Potential: Win, ERA, WHIP

Risk Factor: Moderate

Dave Bush just missed the cutoff (exactly 25 percent owned), but the more intriguing option may still be Tallet, surprisingly owned in just five percent of Yahoo! leagues.

If you erase Tallet's April 29 outing against the Royals of all teams, when he gave up 10 runs in four innings, the Toronto lefty has pitched quality outing after quality outing. He got his call to the rotation after Jesse Litsch hit the DL in mid-April, and has managed to solidify his spot, while the Blue Jays continued to shake up their starters.

Tallet had a stellar month of May, posting a 3.00 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and .173 BAA in six starts. His record was only 2-2, and 3-3 overall, but the numbers show that Tallet has pitched better than the win-loss column suggests, usually the case for a successful hurler receiving no love on the waiver wire.

In the Angels, Tallet faces a middle-of-the-pack offense that doesn't strike out a whole lot, which is why I didn't include Ks in stat potential, despite Tallet's solid K/9 rate of over seven. I usually don't encourage spot starting against a smart, good hitting team like the Angels, but the fact is they don't blow teams out, and a matchup against a struggling Jon Lackey bodes well for Tallet's win potential.

Bush, on the other hand, faces the extremely tough Josh Johnson at Florida. He is still a good option in any league he's available, but Tallet is the guy going way under the radar and has the potential to be owned outright in mixed leagues. Aside from the ten spot he served up against KC, Tallet has not allowed over three runs in any of his other eight starts.

That consistency would be welcomed on a number of struggling fantasy rotations.