Fantasy Baseball Week 21 Weekend Starting Pitching Options

Week 21 of the Fantasy Baseball season comes to a close and a long season is nearing an end. If you need pitching help this weekend I have some suggestions for you to consider. Each of the suggestions below are available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues and are the scheduled starting pitchers at the time of publication.

Friday

After a rough start to his season and subsequent demotion to the minors the Red Sox Joe Kelly has started to find his groove. Over his last 5 starts Kelly is 5-0 with a 1.69 ERA and just over 6 strikeouts per nine innings. He's walking less then three hitters per nine and less than a bomb a game during this 32 inning five start stretch. His 4.04 xFIP is manageable and he'll face a Phillies team on Friday night who over their past 14 days are striking out 23 percent of the time with a wRC+ of 107. This one could be a dandy straight across the board on Friday.

Drew Hutchison is another that has had his struggles this season but over his last 4 starts is 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA with just over 8 strikeouts and less than 2 walks and 1 bomb per nine innings pitched. He has a solid 3.73 xFIP during this very solid 25.2 inning stretch and he'll face a Orioles team that over the past 2 weeks who have struggled through a 25 percent strikeout rate with a week .122 ISO and wRC+ of 66. The Orioles have a dangerous lineup but in Rogers Park against the on fire offense of the Blue Jays this is another matchup that is too hard to pass up.

Saturday

The Oakland Athletics Jesse Chavez had a terrific start to his 2015 season, cooled off a bit but seems to have regained his form. Over his past 5 starts Chavez is 2-2 with a 4.11 ERA and just over 8 strikeouts and less then 2 walks per 9 innings pitched. The low walk rate is a good thing as Chavez has also aloowed almost 2 bombs per nine innngs pitched. Terrific 3.45 xFIP and he's facing a Seattle Mariners team on Saturaday night who over the past 2 weeks has whiffed 25 percent of the time with a huge .180 ISO and wRC+ of 114. I like the strikeouts and the big ballpark should help Chavez keep the ball in the yard on Saturday night.

The Minnesota Twins Ervin Santana has been incredibly frustrating for Fantasy Owners this season. One night he's strong and the next he isn't. Over his past 5 starts he's 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA and I should stop right there but he's also fanned almost 7 per nine innings including 10 Houston Astros hitters. As luck would have it he faces this same Astros team in Houston on Saturday evening. The Astros over the past 2 weeks have been struck out almost 25 percent of the time with .172 ISO and wRC+ of 97. This should prove to be interesting for Santana as for you the Fantasy Owner brave enough to stream him Saturday night.

Sunday

The New York Mets are rolling right along and Bartolo Colon has been doing his part with a 2-0 record and 2.70 ERA over his last 5 starts. Colon is whiffing over 9 hitters and walking just under three batters per nine innings pitched. He still allows almost 2 bombs per nine innings and his 3.30 xFIP is awesome and with the Miami Marlins in town for a Sunday afternoon game bombs shouldn't be too much of a problem. Over the past 2 weeks the marlins have a 17 percent strikeout rate with a .152 ISO and wRC+ of 88. The Marlins don't score runs and lately Colon doesn't allow many so he should be a good streaming option on Sunday.

I don't care what anybody says I think Lance McCullers is an elite pitcher. Over his last 5 big league starts he is 1-2 with a 4.97 ERA whiffing almost 8 and walking less than 3 hitters and allowing just over one bomb per nine innings pitched. He also has a awesome 3.75 xFIP during that stretch and while the Twins roughed him up a bit the last time McCullers faced them he'll have a chance to redeem himself this Sunday afternnon at home against the Twins. Over the past 2 weeks the Twins have whiffed 26 percent of the time with a .163 ISO and wRC+ of 98. Revenge is always sweet and hopefully McCullers can exact some on the Twins Sunday.

Good luck this weekend Fantasy Baseball owner!

On this week's Phil's Fantasy Sports Fake Teams Ray Guilfoyle joins me to discuss the top 25 starting pitchers for 2016, Draft Kings Playbook writer Jason Walker and I have a great Fantasy Football discussion regarding sleepers at the running back position, Rotowire NHL Fantasy Hockey expert Brian Rutherford and I discuss defensemen who might be considered Fantasy Hockey sleepers and SLC Dunk NBA expert Amar joins me to discuss the Fantasy Basketball value of several NBA rookies as well as the Fantasy Basketball value of Nicolas Batum, Aaron Afflalo, Robin Lopez and Lou Williams. You can download the show from my site or just listen on the player provided below.

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