So, Week 21 hasn’t completed yet. The first player from last week’s piece, Dinelson Lamet, hasn’t even made his Week 21 start. He didn’t fare well August 20th against the Nationals, but he did rack up eight K’s in less than five innings. All in all it was a bad start, but the strikeouts compensated. Fortunately that start won’t impact his Week 21 stats. Cashner wasn’t great either. He surrendered four earned runs in six innings of work. The strikeouts were minimal at two, and he only gave up one walk and seven hits. It was a sub-par performance overall.  Carlos Rodon was stellar. After back-to-back four-strikeout performances he bounced back with a nine-strikeout performance this past Monday. He still surrendered four hits and gave up three walks, but only gave up two earned runs. Rodon faces the Tigers on Saturday for his second start this week. Even Matt Moore was awesome as the desperation play.  He threw six innings and only gave up one earned run while striking out six, but unfortunately he got the no decision. A pretty decent week for the shallow league calls.

Chad Bettis’ second start against the Braves didn’t go nearly as well as the first. He surrendered two home runs and five earned runs overall over five innings of work in a losing effort. Mike Montgomery was a pleasant surprise as he filled in for the injured Jon Lester. He got the win by throwing six innings of shutout ball while giving up four hits, one walk, and tallying four strikeouts. Edwin Jackson had a typical Edwin Jackson stat line: six innings, six hits, three walks, and just one strikeout. He only gave up two earned runs in a losing effort due to no run support. He got very lucky in this game and the damage could’ve been worse, but he did technically log a quality start. Andrew Heaney had a rough sophomore outing on the season as he surrendered three home runs in five innings of work. He’s officially avoidable since he’s given up seven HR’s in ten innings of work this year. He’s worth targeting against in DFS contests.

10-12 Team Leagues

Parker Bridwell (LAA): Since moving to the rotation on June 20th Bridwell has been a very solid pitcher. In 10 of his 12 starts he’s given up two earned runs or fewer and he has a 2.91 ERA over that span. He averages just 5.69 K/9, which is not good, but he’s given up just two walks over his last 25 innings of work. Since the All-Star Break Bridwell has only walked eight out of 198 batters, which ranks 8th out of 174 qualified starting pitchers. He gets a home matchup against the Athletics next Wednesday who are slashing just .241/.314/.426 on the year.

Eduardo Rodriguez (BOS): Ever since Danny Ainge traded IT away it’s been raining crap on Boston. Julian Edelman is likely done for the year. Then Chris Sale got lit up in his second straight start. Hopefully Rodriguez can deliver a successful road start against the Yankees next week. In his last start in the Bronx he pitched six shutout innings surrendering two hits and two walks while striking out seven in a no decision. His last two starts are far from ideal as he gave up seven earned runs in his last 11 innings of work. His 2.61 FIP over his last four starts suggests he’s still been effective and could be the victim of poor defense and bad luck. He’s also kept the ball in the park so he’s worth taking a chance on as a streamer in another matchup against the Yankees this week.

Jhoulys Chacin (SD): He’s baaaaaaaaaaaack! Chacin gets two home starts next week. The first is a juicy matchup against the Giants. The second matchup is a little more risky against the Dodgers. Chacin has had four starts against the Dodgers this season. In the first start he gave up nine earned runs. But in his last three appearances he’s only surrendered two earned runs in 15.1 innings. His home/road splits have been mentioned numerous times. He’s a lot much better at home, but regardless the walks are a concern. For the first start you can stream him confidently considering the Giants have a .249/.310/.379 slash line on the year.

Desperation Play of the Week… Luke Weaver (STL): It’s not that Weaver isn’t a good pitcher; he is. The reason he’s the despo play is because the matchup next week is pretty rough. According to Yahoo! Weaver will take on the Brewers early next week and it’s unclear whom the second start may come against. According to ESPN it appears that Adam Wainwright could be coming off the DL, but with Weaver’s strong start against San Diego he may have earned himself another start in the rotation. If he gets a start next week you should grab him. Over 18.1 innings as a starter he’s allowed six runs with a 23:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. If he can stick in the rotation he’ll be worth hanging on to the rest of the way.

Deeper League Options

Mike Montgomery (CHC): Going back to the well next week with Montgomery since he probably gets moved back to the bullpen with Lester coming back. He’ll face Pittsburgh next week and the Pirates boast a woeful .246/.322/.391 slash line on the season. He’s easily droppable after this start since it’s likely he moves to the bullpen. So whether it goes well or not you only need him Monday and then you can dedicate the roster spot to someone else.

Kendall Graveman (OAK): Graveman was a hot name to target very early this season, but a DL stint halted all his momentum and he was even awful in his return from injury. However his last three starts have gone pretty well. He’s given up just five runs over his last 20 innings of work. He’s keeping the walks down and he’s getting great defensive help. He draws the Angels in Southern California in the middle of next week.

Miguel Gonzalez (CHW): Gonzalez has quietly been on a nice run recently. Over his last four starts (28 innings) Gonzalez has collected 23 strikeouts to just eight walks. He’s given up just four earned runs and just one home run over that span. Surprisingly Gonzalez has thrown 66.1% of his first pitches for strikes (Rank: 13th out of 167 qualified SP’s) and even if he falls behind in the count opponents are hitting just .185 (Rank: 3rd out of 95 qualified SP’s).  The only worrisome part about Gonzalez next week is he goes against the Twins in Target Field, a horrible ballpark for pitchers.

Desperation Play of the Week… Lucas Giolito (CHW): This is risky mostly because there are some concerns over his development.. The Nationals were pretty content parting ways with him prior to 2017 and his velocity wasn’t incredibly overpowering in his debut. Giolito draws Tampa Bay at home next week. The downside is that he’s pitching against Chris Archer so run support will be minimal and the Rays are still in the playoff picture. There is potential for Giolito to log a quality start in this matchup, but it comes pretty late in the week so look to use him if you absolutely need to.