Is it just me or is this season flying already? It’s going incredibly fast, but there’s plenty of time to realize all the problems with my fantasy teams! The voting in this week’s Twitter poll led me to write about strikeouts this week, after saves attracting most of the votes early on! Below, you will find three relievers, one starter and a few honorable mentions that can help boost your team’s strikeout numbers. It’s never too early or too late to make a game-changing move, and perhaps one or multiple of these guys below can take your team to the next level, even if it is just for a few weeks.

Without further ado….

Brandon Workman , RP BOS –It’s happening! Workman has it working on the mound, man. See what I did there? Through 22 appearances this season, he’s posted a 38.4 percent strikeout rate and an excellent 2.33 ERA. Sure, the walks are a huge problem, and they will need to come down at some point, but it’s hard to not salivate when you see his 31.1 O-Swing percentage and 14.0 SwStr% marks! I’m getting excited just thinking about it, and that’s even coming from a Yankees fan! Here’s something to consider: Workman is one of just 10 pitchers in baseball, of whom have thrown at least 10 innings, to have an O-Swing% higher than 31 percent, a contact rate of 63 percent or less, and a SwStr% greater than or equal to 14 percent. ONE OF TEN, PEOPLE! The other players are Robert Stephenson , Josh Hader , Blake Snell , Griffin Canning , Edwin Díaz , Giovanny Gallegos , Ken Giles , Nick Anderson , and Wandy Peralta . The majority of his work has come in low or medium leverage situations, but he does have some high exposure situations on his ledger this season. Saves may not be in his immediate future, but strikeouts sure are.

Scott Barlow , RP KC – The 26-year-old is far from a household name, and even without elite velocity or spin rates, he ranks in the 96th percentile for strikeout percentage, per Baseball Savant. He primarily relies on his slider and fastball, but has a curve he can drop in there as well. He threw 15 innings last year, and through his first 20 innings of the 2019 campaign, we have seen some changes in his usage rates, arguably leading to more effectiveness.

2018

2019

Pitch

Usage%

Whiff%

Pitch

Usage%

Whiff%

Fastball

53.0%

16.2%

Fastball

36.0%

25.4%

Slider

26.7%

33.3%

Slider

43.8%

50.0%

Curve

14.8%

46.2%

Curve

14.6%

20.7%

Change

5.5%

20.0%

Change

0.6%

0.0%


It’s worth noting that Barlow has also added a sinker to his repertoire, and when he isn’t generating a swing-and-miss (33.3%) on that pitch, it’s getting hit incredibly hard (113.3 average exit velocity). He may not pitch as much as you would like in weekly head-to-head formats, but the multi-inning outings are nice in roto set ups. Barlow hasn’t allowed an earned run since April 29th, posting a 14:1 K/BB ratio in that span. He’s a deep league add, for sure.

Tyler Mahle , SP CIN – Yes, Mahle is 0-5 on the season. Yes, he’s lost four of his last five starts, Yes, he’s allowed four or more earned runs in three of his past five starts. However, he’s struck out at least seven batters in three straight, and in four of his last five starts. His strikeout rate and K/9 marks rank in the top 25 among qualified starters in Major League Baseball, ahead of the likes of Jack Flaherty , Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Nola . The graph below indicates some good things about his increased strikeout rate in 2019 compared to last season, and perhaps an inkling that we are seeing real progress from the 24-year-old righty in Cincinnati. 

In terms of chase percentage, he’s getting opponents to chase the curveball more out of the zone, which has lead to more whiffs. However, despite getting opponents to chase less on the fastball, the whiff rate on the fastball out of the zone has increased. We’ll take the progress, but for this sort of strikeout prowess to be sustainable, opponents will have to keep chasing the zone, especially on the fastball, and the curveball will have to remain effective.

Giovanny Gallegos , RP STL – Another edition of Category Impact, and another St. Louis reliever finds himself in this week’s edition. His ERA of 4.24 is misleading, considering his FIP (3.04) and xFIP (2.39) indicate he’s been much better than that ERA indicates. Through 17 innings this season, Gallegos has posted a K/9 of 15.35 and an absurd strikeout rate of 42.7 percent, which is fifth-best among qualified relievers. In the aforementioned category, Gallegos only trails the widely-owned Josh Hader , Matt Barnes , Kirby Yates , and Nick Anderson . His fastball is solid, registering a .125 batting average against, but his wipeout slider’s 61.5 percent whiff rate has been key to the exceptional strikeout numbers this season. While he does have a changeup in its arsenal, he leaves it up in the zone far too often, making this pitch more of a “work-in-progress” than trusted sidekick. He’s worked primarily in low and medium leverage situations, so while he isn’t in the picture for saves at this moment, he’s slowly creeping up the closing depth chart. However, for now, he’s an elite source of strikeouts.

Honorable Mention: Luke Jackson , Jordan Walden, Jake Diekman