Week 22 of the Fantasy Baseball season is here. It’s playoff time for most of you and of course we can’t forget about the Roto Leagues still with a few weeks left. We have much to discuss so lets go!
Week 22 Interleague Matchups
Los Angeles Dodgers at Los Angeles Angels (3 games, Monday-Wednesday)
Colorado Rockies at Seattle Mariners (3 games, Friday-Sunday)
Week 22 Bullpen Report
The one again off again closer situation in Boston has been keeping us busy and at least at the time of this writing Jean Machi is the Red Sox closer for the moment. Since the 24th of August Machi has 3 saves abd zero blown saves and is available in over 80 percent of Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Two Start Pitchers
Clayton Kershaw (Mon-Sun), Max Scherzer (Mon-Sun), Cole Hamels (Tue-Sun), Michael Wacha (Tue-Sun), Michael Pineda (Mon-Sat), Trevor Baeur (Tue-Sun), Jason Hammel (Tue-Sun), Aaron Harang (Mon-Sat), Francisco Liriano (Tue-Sun), John Lackey (Mon-Sat), Rick Porcello (Mon-Sun), Yordano Ventura (Mon-Sun), Dan Haren (Mon-Sat), Matt Shoemaker (Mon-Sun), Rubby De La Rosa (Mon-Sun), Mike Fiers (Mon-Sun), Wei-Yin Chen (Mon-Sun), Mike Leake (Mon-Sun), Yovano Gallardo (Mon-Sat), Jonathon Niese (Mon-Sun), Carlos Rodon (Mon-Sun), Ian Kennedy (Mon-Sat), Taijuan Walker (Tue-Sun), Anthony DeSclafani (Mon-Sat), R.A. Dickey (Tue-Sun), Roeinis Elias (Mon-Sat), Jeff Locke (Mon-Sat), Raisel Iglesias (Tue-Sun), Masihiro Tanaka (Tue-Sun), Marco Estrada (Mon-Sat), Drew Smyly (Mon-Sun), Kyle Kendrick (Mon-Sun), Cody Martin (Mon-Sun), Williams Perex (Mon-Sun), Tommy Milone (Mon-Sun), Cody Anderson (Mon-Sat), Colin Rea (Tue-Sun), Matt Boyd (Tue-Sun), Aaron Nola (Tue-Sun), Randy Wolf (Mon-Sat), Zach Davies (Mon-Sat), Matt Wisler (Tue-Sun), Justin Nicolino (Mon-Sun) and Taylor Jungmann (Tue-Sun).
Week 22 Starting Pitching Options
Marco Estrada and the Toronto Blue Jays have a Monday afternoon contest with the Red Sox in Boston. Over his past 6 starts Estrada is 3-2 with a 2.15 ERA, 4.87 FIP and 5.15 xFIP. Per nine innings he’s strikong out roughly 6, walking less than 3 and allowing a bomb and a half per nine innings pitched. As a team the Red Sox have had a very strong month with a 19 percent strikeout rate, .162 ISO with a wOBA of .333 and wRC+ of 115 while slugging .443 in the month of August. Estrada is available in over 35 percent of Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Mike Fiers and the Houston Astros have a Monday afternoon road game against the Oakland Athletics. Over his last 4 starts Fiers is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA, 3.30 FIP and 3.90 xFIP. Per nine innings the numbers are solid; 8.44 strikeouts, 3.38 walks and less than a bomb per nine is not too shabby for a pitcher available in over 40 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues. Over the last month the A’s are striking out about 18 percent of the time with a .143 ISO, wOBA of .298 and wRC+ of 91 while sluggimg .388.
Carlos Rodon and the Chicago White Sox have a Tuesday night game at home against the Cleveland Indians. Over his past 6 starts Rodon is 2-2 with a 2.56 ERA, 4.28 FIP and 3.73 xFIP. Per nine innings Rodon is striking out 8.34, walking less than 4 and allowing 1.16 bombs per nine innings. Over the past month the Indians have a 19.5 percent strikeout rate with a .139 ISO with a wOBA of .322 and wRC+ of 106. Rodon is currently available in over 55 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies host the Atlanta Braves in a Tuesday night contest. Over his past 3 starts Nola is 3-1 with a 4.37 ERA, 4.09 FIP and xFIP of 4.39. Per nine Nola is striking hitters out at a 7.46 clip, with less than 3 walks and just over a bomb allowed per nine innings pitched. The Braves have been better in the month of August but they still strikeout 19 percent of the time with a .121 ISO, .304 wOBA and wRC+ of 90. Nola is available in over 55 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Drew Hutchison and the Blue jays have a Wednesday night game in Boston against the Red Sox. Over his last 4 starts Hutchison is 4-1 with a 3.82 ERA, 4.32 FIP and xFIP of 3.91. Per nine inning numbers include strikeouts (7.34), walks (1.47) and 1.47 bombs per nine innings pitched. As a team the Red Sox have had a very strong month with a 19 percent strikeout rate, .162 ISO with a wOBA of .333 and wRC+ of 115 while slugging .443 in the month of August. Hutchison is available in just over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
J.A. Happ and the Pittsburgh Pirates are in Cincinnati for a Wednesday night game against the Reds. Over his last 5 starts Happ has a 3-1 record with a 1.98 ERA, 2.63 FIP and 3.54 xFIP. His per nine innings numbers of 7.90 strikeouts, 2.30 walks and less than a bomb per nine innings are solid. Over the month of August the Reds have struck out 21 percent of the time with a .133 ISO, wOBA of .293 and a wRC+ of 82. Happ is currrently available in just over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Jorge De La Rosa and the Colorado Rockies have a Thursday afternoon game in San Diego against the Padres. Over his past De La Rosa is 2-2 with a 2.87 ERA, 3.89 FIP and xFIP of 3.82. His per nine numbers of 6.69 strikeouts, 3.58 walks and less than 1 bomb per nine don’t jump off the page but the teams he faced included the Nationals twice, Mets, Cardinals and Pirates and all on the road with the exception of his no decision 6 strikeout six inning shutout of the Nats at Coors field. The Padres have an August strikeout rate of 19.5 percent, .163 ISO, .320 wOBA and 105 wRC+. De La Rosa is available in over 90 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leaagues.
Week 22 Waiver Wire Options
Blake Swihart C Boston Red Sox: Swihart has been solid over the past month with an excellent .500 slugging percentage to go along with a wOBA of .417 and wRC+ of 166. Swihart generally hits either 7th or 8th in the Red Sox lineup, hits righties much better than lefties and is available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Greg Bird 1B New York Yankees: With the injury to Mark Teixera being far more serious than expected Bird is now the Yankees everyday first baseman. Over the past couple of weeks Bird is slugging .429 with a wOBA of .322 and wRC+ of 110. Bird usually bats anywhere from 5th to 8th in the Yankees lineup and is available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Brett Lawrie 2B 3B Oakland Athletics: Over the past month Lawrie is starting to catch fire slugging .515 with a wOBA of .348 and wRC+ of 126. He’s hitting bombs again (6) and driving in runs (12) and soring runs (17). He’s also duel eligible, available in over 50 percent of Major Fantasy Baseball leagues and is batting anywhere from 2nd to 7th in the A’s lineup.
Eugenio Suarez SS Cincinnati Reds: Suarez has had a tremendous month of August slugging .504 with a wOBA of .342 and wRC+ of 114. He’s hitting bombs (6), driving in runs (21), scoring runs (16 and he’s even swiped a base. Suarez is available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues and generally bats 6th or 7th in the Reds lineup.
Edurado Escobar 3B SS OF Minnesota Twins: Escobar had the month of his career in August slugging .596 with a wOBA of .421 and wRC+ of 172. He hit bombs (4), drove in runs (11) and scored them as well (22). He’s triple eligible, available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues and generally bats eithe 2nd or 7th in the Twins lineup.
Ender Inciarte OF Arizona Diamonbacks: Inciarte has had a solid month and unlike some he contributes in just about every scoring category such as average (.302) and bombs (1), RBI (13), runs scored (21) and stolen bases (5). He’s still available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues and bats leadoff in the Diamondbacks order.
Marcel Ozuna OF Miami Marlins: Ozuna tore it up the last 2 weeks of August slugging .522 with 4 bombs, 7 RBI, 12 runs and 1 stolen base. His .339 wOBA and 113 wRC+ were also super and its hard to believe Ozuna is available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues but his is. Ozuna generally bats either 5th or 6th in the Marlins lineup.
Brandon Moss 1B OF St Louis Cardinals: As evidenced by a hot August Moss has come alive for the Cardinals hitting bombs (4), driving in runs (8) and scoring them (8). Terrific .545 slugging percentage and equally terrific .402 wOBA and wRC+ of 159. Moss generally bats 5th or 8th in the Cardinals order, is duel eligible and is available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Good luck this week Fantasy Baseball Owner!
On this week’s Phil’s Fantasy Sports Fake Teams Tim Finnegan join me to discuss DFS strategies like stacking as well as advice on how to win big DFS Tournaments. Fantasy Baseball legend Lenny Melnick joins me to talk 2016 Fantasy Baseball prospects and how Fantasy Baseball has changed over the years, Fasketball curator Daniel Grezlak joins me to talk about his unique and free to the public Fantasy Basketball stats site, Rotowire NBA writer Alex Rikleen joins me to discuss the Fantasy Value of Damian Lillard, what stats are the best for determining Fantasy Basketball value and much more Fantasy Hoops talk and Draft Kings Playbook writer Jason Walker and I discuss Fantasy Football Wide Receiver rankings and some sleepers. You can download the show from my site or listen below.
