As Week 13 winds down, you may be searching for just a bit more to help push you to a victory in your Head to Head leagues, or maybe need someone to fill in for a pitcher that has been injured or disappointing in recent performances. With that in mind, let's look to some end of the week starting pitching options. Remember, all these SPs are owned in less than 50% of leagues, meaning they may be available to pick up in your league, either for a streaming start or for long term use in the appropriate case.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Jarred Cosart HOU vs ATL Mike Minor

Daisuke Matsuzaka NYM @ PIT Vance Worley

Vance Worley PIT vs NYM Daisuke Matsuzaka

Cosart's ownership percentage just keeps hovering around 30%, despite having pitched well enough to provide his owners nine QS out of his last 11 starts, and having help opponents to three or less earned runs in all 11 of those starts. Granted, the strikeouts are not exceptional, but as a predominately ground ball inducing pitcher, he keeps the ball in the park and provides a usable 3.78 ERA. You could do worse with your SP6/7 on a regular basis.

Matsuzaka and Worley face off, and I would feel comfortable using either one, or both here. Matsuzaka has a nice 2.68 ERA on the season, and is racking up a strikeout per inning pitched. Worley in two starts has a superb ERA and WHIP (1.89 and 0.80 respectively), though you have to expect some regression soon. He also has a 9:1 K/BB ratio over 13.2 innings.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Kevin Correia MIN @ TEX Nick Martinez

John Danks CWS @ TOR R.A. Dickey

Rubby De La Rosa BOS @ NYY Vidal Nuno

Kyle Kendrick PHI vs ATL Julio Teheran

Bud Norris BAL vs TB Erik Bedard

Jake Odorizzi TB @ BAL Ubaldo Jimenez

Chris Young SEA vs CLE Trevor Bauer

Correia is coming off three consecutive QS, where he has given up zero, one and one earned run. I will concede the strikeouts are not there, but he has been displaying excellent control, setting himself up for those elusive wins we treasure. Pitching on the road is not as enticing as a home start, but then again, the Rangers' lineup is not as potent as it once was, either.

Danks is still available in over half of leagues, despite having given up just 12 earned runs over 40.2 innings (2.66 ERA), and that includes the six he yielded in his latest appearance against the Twins. Before Sunday's loss, he was essentially a QS machine. Note though that he has struggled against the Blue Jays over his career.

De La Rosa has bounce back after a couple of tough starts in early June, holding Minnesota scoreless for seven innings and only allowing one earned run to the Athletics on the road in his last start. He has a 30:8 K/BB ratio over five starts (32.1 innings) as well. The return of Clay Buchholz may end up bumping him from the rotation, but if he goes, this is a good place to start him.

Kendrick is not an exciting option, but he is coming off two QS where his command has been excellent and he also has racked up 11 Ks in 13 innings. With the Braves and their free swinging ways on tap, I like this matchup, at least for strikeouts.

Norris may not make his scheduled start, having left the game this past Saturday with a groin issue. If he goes, however, his recent efforts give hope for continued production, as he has been excellent with a 0.92 ERA and 0.97 WHIP over his past three starts, together with 15 Ks over the same period.

The Rays and Orioles play a double header on Friday, thus the reason why Odorizzi faces a different Baltimore SP than Norris, pitching as he is in the afternoon game. Odorizzi is pitching much better of late, having racked up 20 Ks in 20 innings over his last three starts (note that 10 of those whiffs were by the Astros, notable free swingers). He only has given up three earned runs over that time, too, which is why I like him in this start.

Young has been an unheralded addition to the Mariner rotation, providing a veteran presence together with some very good pitching. He has exhibited good control and sporadic strikeout numbers, but with a 3.23 ERA and 1.17 WHIP on the year, he really should be owned in more leagues, or at least enough not to consistent make this list of streaming options.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Jhoulys Chacin COL @ MIL Matt Garza

Chacin is the sole entry on this date, as most of our past candidates have caught the attention of enough owners to no longer satisfy the ownership percentage cutoff. Chacin has a tough match up, facing the Brewers on the road, as he has struggled away from Coors Field this season. He has tossed three consecutive QS, however, with decent but not amazing strikeout numbers.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

David Buchanan PHI vs ATL TBA

Kyle Gibson MIN @ TEX Colby Lewis

Jeremy Guthrie KC vs LAA Hector Santiago

Buchanan has been throwing better in his past two starts, holding the Cardinals to one earned run over 7.2 innings in his most recent start. He has demonstrated excellent control and is notching decent number of strikeouts, so as a streaming option, he has potential.

I had given up on Gibson, but with three consecutive starts without allowing an earned run, I have to recommend him here. A 16:5 K/BB ratio over his last 21 innings/three starts is also a point of recommendation for him. As I noted above, the Rangers are not the scary offense of the recent past, so I like this match up, although I would like it a lot better if Gibson was pitching at home, where he has been superb.

Guthrie has suddenly discovered how to whiff batters, racking up nine Ks in back to back outings. He has been hot, and so have the Royals, at least until their recent four game loss streak. I would not trust Guthrie to join my rotation for the long haul, but his recent performance makes him a potential option. You might want to take a look at what he does against the Dodgers on Monday before making a claim, however, just to hedge your bets.

Should you have questions regarding fantasy baseball, especially starting pitching, you can reach me at ia@fantasyalarm.com to continue the discussion.