Fantasy baseball forecast: Getting ready for May 15-21
By Jason Burke
Well, it’s Sunday again, which means it’s time to get your lineups set up for another week of fantasy baseball dominance.
This Sunday we’re going to focus on starting pitchers, but primarily those that will be starting two games during the upcoming week. There are quite a few big names out there like Chris Archer, Carlos Carrasco, Marco Estrada and Yu Darvish that fit the bill, but we’re solely going to focus on pitchers that are owned in less that 50% of ESPN leagues.
Due to this super serious limitation that I came up with on my own, there are a couple of pitchers that may be worth taking a look at in your particular league, but which don’t fit our specific criteria here.
The first is Wade Miley, who is expected to start on Wednesday in Detroit. The well-travelled southpaw is off to a solid start this season, rocking a 1-1 record to go along with a 2.45 ERA and a 10.55 K/9 rate. With Baltimore being one of baseball’s best teams in the early going, Miley could definitely be in line for a win, rack up a bunch of strikeouts, and help keep your ERA total low for the week.
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On the downside, Miley is walking over five per nine innings, which is going to inflate your WHIP total. He’s not necessarily a slam dunk given that he’s still Wade Miley, but he’s worth a look at just 39.9% ownership in ESPN leagues.
The other pitcher that is definitely worth taking a look at this week will be making two starts, but just barely surpasses my own 50% rule. That pitcher is Eduardo Rodriguez of the Boston Red Sox, who is owned in 53.8% of leagues and is set to face the St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics on the road this week.
Rodriguez, like Miley, is 1-1, and holds a slightly higher 2.80 ERA. His strikeout rate is at 10.70 per nine so far, and his walk rate is a decent 3.82. The one hitch with Rodriguez has been his home run rate, which sits just over one per nine frames. In facing the Cardinals and A’s this week, you’re likely to get a couple of different stat lines from the Sox left-hander.
The Red Birds may put up more runs than Oakland, but they’re more likely to do it in a slow, methodical way as opposed to the A’s bloop and a blast approach. St. Louis could be a game to watch out for ERA and WHIP, while his start against Oakland should be a nice way to rack up some strikeouts and a win.