Week 22 of the Fantasy Baseball season is here. It’s playoff time for most of you and of course we can’t forget about the Roto Leagues still with a few weeks left. We have much to discuss so let’s go!
Week 22 Bullpen Report
The one again off again closer situation in Boston has been keeping us busy and at least at the time of this writing Jean Machi is the Red Sox closer for the moment. Since the 24th of August Machi has 3 saves and zero blown saves and is available in over 80 percent of Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Two Start Pitchers
Clayton Kershaw (Mon-Sun), Max Scherzer (Mon-Sun), Cole Hamels (Tue-Sun), Michael Wacha (Tue-Sun), Michael Pineda (Mon-Sat), Trevor Bauer (Tue-Sun), Jason Hammel (Tue-Sun), Aaron Harang (Mon-Sat), Francisco Liriano (Tue-Sun), John Lackey (Mon-Sat), Rick Porcello (Mon-Sun), Yordano Ventura (Mon-Sun), Dan Haren (Mon-Sat), Matt Shoemaker (Mon-Sun), Rubby De La Rosa (Mon-Sun), Mike Fiers (Mon-Sun), Wei-Yin Chen (Mon-Sun), Mike Leake (Mon-Sun), Yovani Gallardo (Mon-Sat), Jonathon Niese (Mon-Sun), Carlos Rodon (Mon-Sun), Ian Kennedy (Mon-Sat), Taijuan Walker (Tue-Sun), Anthony DeSclafani (Mon-Sat), R.A. Dickey (Tue-Sun), Roenis Elias (Mon-Sat), Jeff Locke (Mon-Sat), Raisel Iglesias (Tue-Sun), Masihiro Tanaka (Tue-Sun), Marco Estrada (Mon-Sat), Drew Smyly (Mon-Sun), Kyle Kendrick (Mon-Sun), Cody Martin (Mon-Sun), Williams Perez (Mon-Sun), Tommy Milone (Mon-Sun), Cody Anderson (Mon-Sat), Colin Rea (Tue-Sun), Matt Boyd (Tue-Sun), Aaron Nola (Tue-Sun), Randy Wolf (Mon-Sat), Zach Davies (Mon-Sat), Matt Wisler (Tue-Sun), Justin Nicolino (Mon-Sun) and Taylor Jungmann (Tue-Sun).
Week 22 Starting Pitching Options
Marco Estrada and the Toronto Blue Jays have a Monday afternoon contest with the Red Sox in Boston. Over his past 6 starts Estrada is 3-2 with a 2.15 ERA, 4.87 FIP and 5.15 xFIP. Per nine innings he’s striking out roughly 6, walking less than 3 and allowing a bomb and a half per nine innings pitched. As a team the Red Sox have had a very strong month with a 19 percent strikeout rate, .162 ISO with a wOBA of .333 and wRC+ of 115 while slugging .443 in the month of August. Estrada is available in over 35 percent of Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Mike Fiers and the Houston Astros have a Monday afternoon road game against the Oakland Athletics. Over his last 4 starts Fiers is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA, 3.30 FIP and 3.90 xFIP. Per nine innings the numbers are solid; 8.44 strikeouts, 3.38 walks and less than a bomb per nine is not too shabby for a pitcher available in over 40 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues. Over the last month the A’s are striking out about 18 percent of the time with a .143 ISO, wOBA of .298 and wRC+ of 91 while slugging .388.
Carlos Rodon and the Chicago White Sox have a Tuesday night game at home against the Cleveland Indians. Over his past 6 starts Rodon is 2-2 with a 2.56 ERA, 4.28 FIP and 3.73 xFIP. Per nine innings Rodon is striking out 8.34, walking less than 4 and allowing 1.16 bombs per nine innings. Over the past month the Indians have a 19.5 percent strikeout rate with a .139 ISO with a wOBA of .322 and wRC+ of 106. Rodon is currently available in over 55 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies host the Atlanta Braves in a Tuesday night contest. Over his past 3 starts Nola is 3-1 with a 4.37 ERA, 4.09 FIP and xFIP of 4.39. Per nine Nola is striking hitters out at a 7.46 clip, with less than 3 walks and just over a bomb allowed per nine innings pitched. The Braves have been better in the month of August but they still strikeout 19 percent of the time with a .121 ISO, .304 wOBA and wRC+ of 90. Nola is available in over 55 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Drew Hutchison and the Blue jays have a Wednesday night game in Boston against the Red Sox. Over his last 4 starts Hutchison is 4-1 with a 3.82 ERA, 4.32 FIP and xFIP of 3.91. Per nine inning numbers include strikeouts (7.34), walks (1.47) and 1.47 bombs per nine innings pitched. As a team the Red Sox have had a very strong month with a 19 percent strikeout rate, .162 ISO with a wOBA of .333 and wRC+ of 115 while slugging .443 in the month of August. Hutchison is available in just over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
J.A. Happ and the Pittsburgh Pirates are in Cincinnati for a Wednesday night game against the Reds. Over his last 5 starts Happ has a 3-1 record with a 1.98 ERA, 2.63 FIP and 3.54 xFIP. His per nine innings numbers of 7.90 strikeouts, 2.30 walks and less than a bomb per nine innings are solid. Over the month of August the Reds have struck out 21 percent of the time with a .133 ISO, wOBA of .293 and a wRC+ of 82. Happ is currently available in just over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Jorge De La Rosa and the Colorado Rockies have a Thursday afternoon game in San Diego against the Padres. Over his past De La Rosa is 2-2 with a 2.87 ERA, 3.89 FIP and xFIP of 3.82. His per nine numbers of 6.69 strikeouts, 3.58 walks and less than 1 bomb per nine don’t jump off the page but the teams he faced included the Nationals twice, Mets, Cardinals and Pirates and all on the road with the exception of his no decision 6 strikeout six inning shutout of the Nat’s at Coors field. The Padres have an August strikeout rate of 19.5 percent, .163 ISO, .320 wOBA and 105 wRC+. De La Rosa is available in over 90 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Good luck this week Fantasy Baseball owner!
On this week’s Phil’s Fantasy Sports Fake Teams Tim Finnegan join me to discuss DFS strategies like stacking as well as advice on how to win big DFS Tournaments. Fantasy Baseball legend Lenny Melnick joins me to talk 2016 Fantasy Baseball prospects and how Fantasy Baseball has changed over the years, Fasketball curator Daniel Grezlak joins me to talk about his unique and free to the public Fantasy Basketball stats site, Rotowire NBA writer Alex Rikleen joins me to discuss the Fantasy Value of Damian Lillard, what stats are the best for determining Fantasy Basketball value and much more Fantasy Hoops talk and Draft Kings Playbook writer Jason Walker and I discuss Fantasy Football Wide Receiver rankings and some sleepers. You can download the show from my site or listen below.
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