The Week Ahead: Week Ahead: Blazing Fiers
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Milwaukee’s Mike Fiers is one of baseball’s foremost strikeout specialists, at least when it comes to starting pitchers. He averaged 10.0 K/9 in the minor leagues, and that aptitude has transferred to the majors where he has notched 310 whiffs in 297 career innings for the Brewers.
This year, Fiers ranks 10th among qualified MLB starters in K/9 rate. The names ahead of him? Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale, Danny Salazar, Chris Archer, Max Scherzer, Francisco Liriano, James Shields, Carlos Carrasco, Corey Kluber.
Good company.
Fiers has had his occasional struggles overall this year, because while he has done a great job of missing bats, opposing hitters are doing damage when they make contact. He was knocked around by the Royals for six runs over five innings in his latest start. But prior to that outing, he had a 2.97 ERA in his past seven starts, and his inflated .370 BABIP suggests that bad luck has been at play in an underwhelming 4.50 ERA on the season. (His career BABIP entering this year was .290.)
Fiers is available in 45 percent of Yahoo! leagues and a shocking 74 percent of ESPN leagues. In The Week Ahead, he is lined up to face the Mets and Twins, two of the least potent offenses in the majors, both at home. Go get him.
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* On the AL side, a strong option that is available in quite a few leagues is Hector Santiago. The lefty has been quietly excellent for the Angels this year, with a 2.77 ERA and 78-to-30 K/BB ratio in 81 innings, and he’s got good match-ups on tap with the Astros and Mariners at home.
* Drew Hutchison continues to be a very different pitcher at Rogers Centre (2.38 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 2 HR) and elsewhere (9.46 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 8 HR). He goes once at home and once on the road this week, so tread carefully.
* Jeff Locke is a nice mid-tier option in the NL with two starts scheduled at home, where he has a 3.05 ERA in seven starts this season.
* Tommy Milone has allowed three runs over 14 innings, with 13 strikeouts and one walk, over his past two starts and is slated to face a couple of lousy lineups in the White Sox and Brewers.
* Carlos Martinez has a 1.19 ERA with 50 strikeouts over 45 innings in his last seven starts. Yeesh. Still available in a few leagues.
Going Twice…
American League
Strong Plays
Felix Hernandez: KC, @LAA
Jesse Chavez: @TEX, KC
Michael Pineda: PHI, @HOU
Hector Santiago: HOU, SEA
David Price: @CLE, CWS
Trevor Bauer: DET, @BAL
Decent Plays
Wandy Rodriguez: OAK, @TOR
Drew Hutchison: @TB, TEX
Matt Andriese: TOR, BOS
CC Sabathia: PHI, @HOU
Tommy Milone: CWS, @MIL
Collin McHugh: @LAA, NYY
Brett Oberholtzer: @LAA, NYY
Jeff Samardzija: @MIN, @DET
Ubaldo Jimenez: @BOS, CLE
At Your Own Risk
John Danks: @MIN, @DET
Joe Kelly: BAL, @TB
Joe Blanton: @SEA, @OAK
Kyle Ryan: @CLE, CWS
National League
Strong Plays
Jordan Zimmermann: ATL, @PHI
Madison Bumgarner: SD, COL
Carlos Martinez: @MIA, CHC
Mike Fiers: NYM, MIN
Clayton Kershaw: @CHC, @MIA
Johnny Cueto: @PIT, @NYM
Jason Hammel: LAD, @STL
Decent Plays
Jeff Locke: CIN, ATL
Jose Urena: STL, LAD
Alex Wood: @WAS, @PIT
Chase Anderson: @COL, @SD
At Your Own Risk
Odrisamer Despaigne: @SF, ARI
Kevin Correia: @NYY, WAS
Jon Niese: @MIL, CIN
Kyle Kendrick: ARI, @SF
Tsuyoshi Wada: LAD, @STL
Streamer City
The following pitchers are generally available in over 50 percent of fantasy leagues and have favorable match-ups this week:
American League
Tuesday, June 23: Mike Pelfrey vs. CWS
Pelfrey is 3-0 with a 1.41 ERA at Target Field this year. The White Sox are far and away the worst offense in the American League. Hard to ask for a better match-up than this.
Wednesday, June 24: Roenis Elias vs. KC
Elias was rocked in his last outing at Houston, but had been pitching extremely well up to that point and should fare better at home against the Royals.
Thursday, June 25: Nick Martinez vs. OAK
Owned in only 36 percent of Yahoo! leagues, Martinez has been quality in 10 of his 13 starts this season.
National League
Thursday, June 25: Anthony DeSclafani @ PIT
DeSclafani has won three straight decisions and owns a 3.36 ERA overall. He matches up well with a mediocre Pirates lineup.
Thursday, June 25: Tyler Lyons @ MIA
It’s hard to bet against any Cardinals starter, and Lyons — while certainly not on par with his rotation-mates in terms of quality — offers enticing strikeout potential.
Friday, June 26: Chad Bettis @ SF
Bettis has been solid, with a 3.74 ERA and 1.25 WHIP to go along with an impressive 38-to-13 K/BB ratio, and the Giants rank 10th in the NL in runs per game.
Total Games
American League
6: BAL, BOS, KC, LAA, MIN, OAK, SEA, TB, TOR, TEX
7: CLE, CWS, DET, HOU, NYY
National League
6: ARI, ATL, CIN, COL,MIA, MIL, NYM, PIT, PHI, SD, SF, STL, WAS
7: CHC, LAD
The Infirmary
You can get a full listing of injured players at Rotoworld’s Injury Page but here’s the latest on a few prominent players who have been out of action:
Jonathan Schoop: Out until early July (knee)
Jon Moscot: Out for the season (shoulder)
Zack Cozart: Out for the season (knee)
Tony Cingrani: Out indefinitely (shoulder)
Corey Dickerson: Out indefinitely (foot)
Jordan Lyles: Out for the season (toe)
Yordano Ventura: Out until early July (hand)
Jason Vargas: Out until late June (elbow)
Martin Prado: Out until late June (shoulder)
Aaron Hicks: Out until early July (elbow)
Jerome Williams: Out indefinitely (hamstring)
Wil Myers: Out until late August (wrist)
Hunter Pence: Out indefinitely (wrist)
Delino DeShields: Out until early July (hamstring)
Aaron Sanchez: Out indefinitely (back)
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