Fantasy Baseball: Week 18 Weekend Starting Pitching Streaming Options

Week 18 of the Fantasy Baseball season is coming to a close. Do you need starting pitching this weekend? If you do I have some widely available options (under 50 percent owned in Major Fantasy Baseball leagues) for you to consider this weekend.

Friday

Nate Karns and the Tampa Bay Rays have a Friday night game in Texas against the Rangers. Over his last 4 starts Karns is 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA on 22 strikeouts, 6 walks and 4 bombs in 21.1 innings pitched. Super 1.08 WHIP and very good .245 BABIP with a below average 4.46 FIP and much more manageable 3.69 xFIP. The Rangers slash a .262/.327/.419/.726 line against righties and since the All Star break have a 19 percent strikeout rate, .18 ISO, .339 BABIP, .338 wOBA and wRC+ of 111. The Rangers have been hot but so has Karns and with his matchup against the struggling leftie Martin Perez I look for good numbers straight across the board for Karns....and maybe even a win also.

Kyle Hendricks and the Chicago Cubs head cross town for a Friday afternoon game with the White Sox. Over his past 4 starts Hendricks is 2-1 with a 5.01 ERA with 24 strikeouts, 9 walks and 3 bombs in 23.1 innings pitched. Below average 1.37 WHIP and .313 BABIP and solid 4.00 FIP and even better 3.24 xFIP. The White Sox slash a .254/.309/.393/.702 line and since the All Star break have struck out 22 percent of the time, .185 ISO, .327 BABIP with a .340 wOBA and wRC+ of 116. Don't let those huge sabermetric numbers fool you and focus on the strikeouts and let everything else take care of itself.

Saturday

Marco Estrada and the Toronto Blue Jays have a Saturday afternoon home game with the New York Yankees. Over his past 4 starts Estrada is 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA with 18 strikeouts, 8 walks and 1 bomb in 22.2 innings pitched. Extremely solid 1.08 WHIP and .238 BABIP with a very good 3.41 FIP and much higher 4.72 xFIP. The Yankees slash a .257/.322/.429/.751 line against righties and since the All Star break have a 18.8 percent strikeout rate, .193 ISO, .299 BABIP with a wOBA of .345 and wRC+ of 119. Estrada blanked the Yankees in his last start and this matchup at home could be a very good one with solid numbers straight across the board.

Chris Bassitt and the Oaklnad Athletics travel to Baltimore to face the Orioles in a Saturday evening matchup. Over his last 4 starts Bassitt has posted a 1-2 record with a 2.03 ERA with 27 strikeouts, 5 walks and 2 bombs over 26.2 innings pitched. Excellent 0.90 WHIP and .262 BABIP with a terrific 2.61 FIP and xFIP of 2.86. The Orioles slash a .252/.310/.429/.738 line and since the All Star break have a 21.8 percent strikeout rate, .175 ISO, .285 BABIP with a wOBA of .313 and wRC+ of 97. This doesn't get much better than this for a streaming option and good numbers should be expected from Bassitt on Saturday.

Sunday

Drew Hutchison and the Toronto Blue Jays play host to the Yankees in a Sunday afternoon contest. Over his past 4 starts Hutchison is 2-0 with a 5.57 ERA, 16 strikeouts, 7 walks and 3 bombs over 21 innings pitched. High 1.52 WHIP and .333 BABIP and average 4.57 FIP and better 4.54 xFIP. The Yankees slash a .257/.322/.429/.751 line against righties and since the All Star break have a 18.8 percent strikeout rate, .193 ISO, .299 BABIP with a wOBA of .345 and wRC+ of 119. Hutchison has been up and down all season yet hasn't had a loss since July 3^rd.

Rubby De La Rosa and the Arizona Diamondbacks are in Atlanta for a Sunday afternoon game with the Braves. Over his last 4 starts De La Rosa is 3-0 with a 3.24 ERA on 16 strikeouts, 7 walks and 3 bombs over 25 innings pitched. Solid 1.16 WHIP and .247 BABIP with a good 4.22 FIP and better 4.19 xFIP. The Braves are slashing a .240/.288/.388/.626 line with a 17 percent strikeout rate, .099 ISO, .280 BABIP with a wOBA of .275 and wRC+ of 72. It doesn't get much better than this on Sunday.

Good Luck this weekend Fantasy Baseball owner.

Don't forget to check out Phil's Fantasy Sports. On this show we discuss strategy to help you win more playing Fantasy Baseball at Fanduel, sleepers at the QB position, top Fantasy Hockey goaltenders and the Fantasy Basketball value of several Utah Jazz players and much more. You can download the show from my site or just press play below.

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