10-Team League

Mike Soroka – Soroka is coming off a seven-inning shutout of the Cardinals in his last start and he gets to face them again this upcoming week with the only change being that this start will come on the road in St. Louis. Soroka has been remarkable for the Braves this season, having allowed just FOUR earned runs over six starts this season. That is correct, he has more starts than earned runs allowed on the year. Though he only had three strikeouts in his last start that hasn’t been the case for the majority of the season as his K/9 sits at 8.35, only going down because of his last outing. If there is a sign of regression it would be that he has yet to allow a home run on the season and that is pretty hard to maintain and his 3.44 BB/9 is high so the wrong combination of putting men on base and a well timed first HRA (home run allowed) could lead to a bad outing. For now however I am riding the hot streak, especially against a team he just shut down.

Zach Davies – We have seen Davies pitch well in stretches before but the Brewers SP is seemingly locked in on a different level right now having not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his nine starts this season. The only draw back to Davies is the lack of strikeouts as he owns just a 6.15 K/9 on the year which is not good. Because of the balls in play his peripheral stats do show some regression, but I tend to believe he is closer to the 3.75 FIP pitcher than the 4.68 xFIP because of his groundball rate will help keep the home run number down. His start this upcoming week will be against the Reds who rank last in team batting average against right-handed pitching this season at .212 with their wOBAranking  27th at .288 and the team’s strikeout rate a tick under 25-percent at 24.6-percent.  This should be another strong outing for Davies who will also benefit from not having to pitch in the hitter’s haven that is the Great American Ballpark.

12-Team League

Luke Weaver – Is anybody paying attention?

Weaver was in this article last week and yet his ownership is just under 60-percent in standard league formats while he is out there cruising on the mound.  Since the start of April he hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any single outing while striking out 52 over 47 innings during that span. Through three May starts he has a 2.25 ERA while striking out 19 over 20 innings. He has a two-start week on tap as he faces the Padres and the Giants both on the road which is good news as both are historically strong pitcher parks.  Weaver allowed two runs over 6.1 innings while striking out eight against the Padres in a start earlier this season.  On the year the Giants and Padres rank 23rd and 25th respectively in wOBA against RHP while striking out 27.9-percent (SD) and 24.1-percent (SF) against righties on the season.

Chris Bassitt – Like Weaver, Bassitt made this article last week as well, his ownership jumped just 6-percent in standard leagues making him available still in nearly 70-percent of leagues. Since last week when I told you to stream him he went out and tossed eight shutout innings while striking out seven Tigers…..He has been unreal since joining the A’s rotation yet everybody is still slow on the take here. In five starts he has 38 strikeouts over 32.2 innings with a 1.93 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. What exactly is everybody waiting for at this point? His next start will come against the Indians, you know that powerhouse offense that is hitting .219 against RHP this season while ranking 28th in wOBA with a 24.2-percent strikeout rate against righties. Pick him up and keep him on your roster until he deserves to be dropped and I don’t see that coming here.

Lucas Giolito – This one makes me feel like I am crazy for an entirely different reason. Can a pitcher go from being among the worst in baseball to then becoming one of the leagues better arms? Is that honestly possible? I’m sure there is a solid case history for it but prior to this season over 45 career appearances (43 starts) he boasted a 6.24 FIP and a 5.23 xFIP. He then enters 2019 and has dominated, going 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA, 3.01 FIP, 3.89 xFIP and 3.94 SIERA. After never posting a K/9 over 6.75 it is as 10.47 through eight starts. He was a former top prospect but the Nationals had no real issues parting ways with him for Adam Eaton and it was looking like neither team really got what they wanted out of that deal with Eaton often injured and Giolito looking like a bust. This next start will be a true test to see if Giolito really is turning into that diamond as he will draw the rolling Houston Astros offense. I’d take a speculative add this week and see if he can put forth yet another strong outing.

15-Team League

Daniel Norris – This is a streaming starters article, so the options aren’t always going to be pretty but sometimes the matchup overrides the talent and I think that is going to be the case with Norris for me this week as he draws the Miami Marlins for a start. Norris has largely been “meh” this season, going 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Not exactly numbers that are going to win your matchup on a week-to-week basis but in the right matchup he can be worth a look. The southpaw will draw the Marlins this week who rank last in wOBA (.265), 29th in ISO (.098) and 22nd in average (.233) against left-handed pitching this season.

Danny Duffy – Duffy’s ownership is around 8-percent in standard leagues. He draws the Yankees this week which would normally be a pretty tough draw but he will be at home in Kansas City and well, the Yankees lineup isn’t exactly the “Bronx Bombers” at the moment. Duffy has been solid since returning to the Royals rotation and in deep leagues he should be picked up and kept on rosters not just streamed based off the matchup. Over the last two weeks the Yankees rank 23rd against LHP, hitting just .215 with a .239 wOBA and a 27.8-percent strikeout rate.