Today, we look at the best available pitchers, starting or relief, who you can pick up for fantasy baseball, as staying on top of who’s hot can get you ahead in your league.
Alex Wood (SP) – San Francisco Giants
Alex Wood is having a below-average season for the San Francisco Giants, but he has played very well lately allowing only one earned run in his past two starts (12 innings). During those starts, he’s combined to throw 12 strikeouts and just seven hits while issuing one walk and no home runs.
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He’s had a bit of trouble going deep into games and sometimes has blow-up starts, but the Giants have won two in a row and will ideally start to give him more support on defense. Wood’s ERA (earned run average) is 4.43 on the season but his FIP (fielding independent pitching) is 3.26, significantly better. Rostered in just 47 percent of leagues, he’s more than likely available and could give you a couple of good starts. He’s worth streaming after his back-to-back strong starts.
Kutter Crawford (SP) – Boston Red Sox
Kutter Crawford is an unpredictable starter for the Boston Red Sox and has pitched just 30 innings this season. With an ERA of 4.50 and a WHIP (walks+hits per inning pitched) of 1.43, he has drastically improved his overall stats these past two starts.
He has allowed just one run in his past two starts, going 10.1 innings, striking out 14, and winning one of his two games on the season. In one of those previous two starts, he shut out the Tampa Bay Rays and then pitched very well against the stellar offense of the New York Yankees. His next start is slated to be against the Rays again, so it’s worth jumping on his hot hand against a team that struggled offensively for at least one start. Rostered at just two percent, there should be no problem adding him right now.
Brusdar Graterol (RP) – Los Angeles Dodgers
As we always do, let’s take a look at one reliever or closer to add this week in fantasy. Brusdar Graterol may be the best option available as relievers who can get saves are sometimes very hard to come by. He has three career saves, all coming since June 26th, and two of his last three appearances have resulted in a save.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a strong team, so they will typically be in situations to win and have a pitcher come in and help close out the game. The more opportunities, the better the stats. He also hasn’t given up a run in his past seven appearances, lining up with his first career save. He may not get saves all season, but if you are in need of some right now, he’s your best option at just 10 percent rostered.
Roster percentages courtesy of Yahoo.
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