Not much to report back on with last week’s fantasy installment. Cahill hit the DL right out of the chute, and the remaining five suggestions didn’t do much to move the needle. I hope to make more of an impact this time around. Do whatever it takes to get these six pitchers on your roster by way of trade or picking them off the waiver wire this week.
SP Alex Reyes (St. Louis Cardinals) – It’s only a matter of time before the Redbirds’ uber prospect is back on the big league team making some serious fantasy noise. In his first live action back on May 10, he came on in relief and tossed 3.1 scoreless innings of 4 hit ball to go along with a 6:1 K/BB ratio. He followed it up with five innings of dominant ball in which he tallied 12 Ks and not a single run. If you have room on your fantasy roster, he’s worth the stash. But don’t expect him to get the call for at least another couple weeks.
https://twitter.com/JoeTrezz/status/996427488027922432
SP Jeremy Hellickson (Washington Nationals) – “Hell Boy” was installed onto our watch list last week. I held off adding him simply because I wanted to see how he’d fare in a two start week. Well, I should’ve gone ahead and given the green light instead. He limited the Padres and D’backs to a combined 5 hits and 1 ER through 11.2 combined innings. On top of that, he tallied an impressive 13:1 K/BB ratio. If in need of depth at the back end of your rotation, you could do a lot worse than add the No. 5 arm from the red hot Nationals.
Jeremy Hellickson through 6 starts this season: 2.20 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 26 K, 5 BB. He's averaging 5.4 innings and 75.2 pitches per start.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) May 14, 2018
SP Fernando Romero (Minnesota Twins) – A 10.8 K/9 and only two walks issued through 16.2 innings might be sitting on your waiver wire as you read this. Romero is owned in less than 50 percent of leagues at the time of this writing. He looks to have the stuff that could see him stick within the Twins rotation for the long haul. He’s excelled against the Blue Jays, Cardinals and Angels with the latter two starts on the road. He gets Milwaukee at home this Saturday, and if he excels there, he won’t be on the wire much longer.
Zulgad: Fernando Romero’s success signifies arrival of the good new days for Twins pitching https://t.co/cuScXbBuEq pic.twitter.com/s060ufx88Y
— SKOR North – Minnesota Sports (@SKORNorth) May 9, 2018
SP Jack Flaherty (St. Louis Cardinals) – Adam Wainwright is back on the DL. It looks like the veteran’s ability to pitch at this level has passed. With that, the door has firmly been pushed wide open for Flaherty to make an impression on the coaching staff and his fantasy baseball owners. He won’t overpower opposing hitters with his stuff, but his sinker/slider combo has seen him go off recently at the Triple-A level. Should he carry that execution over to the big leagues, Flaherty could find himself on a number of championship teams come the season’s end.
#STLCards recall Jack Flaherty and place Adam Wainwright on DL. Flaherty is No. 2 on the @Cardinals' Top 30 Prospects list & No. 33 on @MLB's Top 100 Prospects list: https://t.co/zGqqpcDMBG pic.twitter.com/zb3UjkdmaU
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 15, 2018
SP Eduardo Rodriguez (Boston Red Sox) – What more does “El Gualo” have to do to get himself installed on your fantasy roster? While the 3.9 BB/9 average is bothersome, his 11.3 K/9 average is awfully tasty. Injuries are the only thing that’s held this young left-hander back. He’s 100 percent healthy now and looks to be in a groove. He just held the Yankees to 1 hit and no runs while racking up 8 Ks in the Bronx! Again, I ask – what more does he have to do to earn your trust? His 48 percent ownership is sure to rise after dominating the A’s Tuesday night.
Red Sox starters to hold Yankees to ≤ 1 hit & 0 ER while striking out 8+ (any length outing):
Eduardo Rodriguez, Thu
Josh Beckett, Jun 9 2009 (6 IP)
Ray Culp, Sep 21 1968 (CG, lost NH in 7th)
— Doug Kern (@dakern74) May 11, 2018
SP Marcus Stroman (Toronto Blue Jays) – This season has been nothing short of a disaster for the right-hander. He’s currently on the DL due to what’s being called shoulder fatigue, but is expected to only miss one start. If rest was needed to get him back on track, he could offer up some supreme fantasy value moving forward. He’s currently owned in only 45 percent of ESPN leagues and been outright dropped at a near 17 percent clip. If you got room for a DL stash, by all means pick him up. If he rediscovers his past season form, he’ll be an integral part of your pitching staff moving forward.
Marcus stroman has given up the joint most ER in baseball with 32 in only 37.1 IP.
Hopefully once he’s back from the 10 day DL he can turn his season around #6God #Stroshow #Bluejays pic.twitter.com/HybrzeA2mT
— Toronto Blue Jays Stats (@TorontoBlueJa16) May 13, 2018
Add To Watch List: Freddy Peralta, Tyler Clippard, Zach Eflin, Jake Odorizzi, Matt Harvey, Vince Velasquez
