Week number eight of the Fantasy Baseball season begins Monday May the 25th. Please remember that Monday is Memorial Day and there are nine afternoon contests on the schedule. The first game is at 1pm eastern so please plan accordingly.
Interleague Matchups This Week
San Diego Padres against the Los Angeles Angels (Three games Monday to Wednesday)
Kansas City Royals against the Chicago Cubs (Three games Friday to Sunday)
Two Start Pitchers
The following are scheduled two start pitchers for week eight. Please check your lineups daily for any last minute scheduling changes, injuries, etc.
Danny Salazar (Tue, Sun), Madison Bumgarner (Tue, Sun), David Price (Tue, Sun), Tyson Ross (Mon, Sat), Julio Teheran (Tue, Sun), Dallas Keuchal (Mon, Sun), Matt Shoemaker (Tue, Sun), Jake Odorizzi (Mon, Sun), Jesse Chavez (Tue, Sun), Bartolo Colon (Tue, Sun), Carlos Martinez (Mon, Sun), Jordan Zimmerman (Mon, Sun), Jered Weaver (Mon, Sat), Wei-Yin Chen (Mon, Sat), Clay Buchholz (Tue, Sun), Adam Warren (Tue, Sun), Brett Anderson (Mon, Sun), Roenis Elias (Mon, Sat), Carlos Rodon (Mon, Sat), Drew Hutchison (Mon, Sun), Yordano Ventura (Mon, Sun), Shaun Marcum (Mon, Sat), Kyle Lohse (Mon, Sun), Chris Tillman (Tue, Sun), J.A. Happ (Tue, Sun), Chase Anderson (Mon, Sun), Nathan Eovaldi (Mon, Sat), Shane Greene (Mon, Sat), Joe Kelly (Mon, Sat), Tim Lincecum (Mon, Sat), Jeff Locke (Mon, Sat), Charlie Morton (Tue, Sat), Williams Perez (Mon, Sat), David Phelps (Mon, Sun), Wandy Rodriguez (Tue, Sun), Eddie Butler (Mon, Sun), John Danks (Tue, Sun), Odrisamer Despaigne (Tue, Sun), Severino Gonzalez (Mon, Sun), Jesse Hahn (Mon, Sat), Phil Klein (Mon, Sat), Jason Marquis (Mon, Sun), Ricky Nolasco (Mon, Sun), Tsuyoshi Wada (Mon, Sun)
The Weekly Bullpen Report
Brad Ziegler is now closing games for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He is currently owned in 14.7 percent of Major Fantasy Baseball leagues. In 19.1 innings pitched he’s posted an ERA of 0.93, WHIP of 0.78 with 13 strikeouts and 5 walks.
A.J. Ramos is now closing games for the Miami Marlins. He is currently owned in 44 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues. In 20 innings Ramos has posted a 0.90 ERA, 0.75 WHIP with 26 strikeouts and six walks.
Brett Cecil is now closing games for the Toronto Blue Jays. He is currently owned in 37 percent of Major Fantasy Baseball leagues. In 13 innings pitched Cecil has posted an ERA of 3.46, 1.15 WHIP with 15 strikeouts and 4 walks. He’s also given up 3 bombs so be careful with him.
Shawn Tolleson of the Texas Rangers is the closer; for now that is. He’s currently owned in just 12 percent of Major Fantasy Baseball leagues. In 19 innings pitched Tolleson has an ERA of 3.26, WHIP of 1.19 with 26 strikeouts and just 4 walks.
Starting Pitching Waiver Wire Suggestions for Week Eight
Chase Anderson Arizona Diamondbacks: Anderson has a Monday away start against the Cardinals and stays on the road Sunday against the Brewers. Over the last two weeks (3 starts) Anderson has posted an ERA of 1.33, WHIP of 0.89 with 7 strikeouts and 6 walks over 20.3 innings pitched. Anderson also has a great GB/FB ratio of 1.61 and serves up .04 home runs per nine innings pitched.
Brett Anderson Los Angeles Dodgers: Anderson has a Monday home start against Atlanta and a Sunday away start against St Louis. Over the last two weeks (3 starts) Anderson has posted a 2.70 ERA, a 1.30 WHIP with 16 strikeouts and 5 walks in 16.7 innings of work. Anderson has an awesome GB/FB ratio of 3.6 and just .6 homeruns per nine innings pitched.
Roenis Elias Seattle Mariners: Elias has a Monday start at Tampa Bay and a Saturday start at home against Cleveland. Over the past two weeks (3 starts) Elias has posted a 2.14 ERA, 1.10 WHIP with 11 strikeouts and just 3 walks in 21 innings. Very good GB/FB ratio of 1.48 and has allowed 1.1 bomb per nine innings pitched.
Carlos Rodon Chicago White Sox: Rodon has a Monday start at Toronto and a Saturday start at Houston. Over the past two weeks (3 starts) he has a 4.50 ERA , WHIP of 1.75 with 17 strikeouts and 15 walks over 16 innings pitched. I really like his GB/FB ratio of 1.25 and strand rate of 77 percent not to mention his outstanding 0.4 home run rate per nine innings.
J.A. Happ Seattle Mariners: Happ has a Tuesday start at Tampa Bay and a Sunday start at home against Cleveland. Over the last two weeks (3 starts) Happ has posted an ERA of 3.86, WHIP of 1.29 with 14 strikeouts and 5 walks in 14 innings of work. Really good GB/FB ratio of 1.51 and while his 1.0 home runs per nine innings is a bit scary he doesn’t walk too many so three run bombs aren’t that big a worry.
Colby Lewis Texas Rangers: Lewis has just one start this week on the road Wednesday against Cleveland. Over the past two weeks (3 starts) Lewis has posted an ERA of 5.30, WHIP of 1.23 with 15 strikeouts and 5 walks in 18.7 innings pitched. Decent GB/FB ratio of 0.86 and 0.6 home runs per nine innings.
Chris Young Kansas City Royals: Young has a Wednesday start on the road against the Yankees. Over the past two weeks (3 games) Young has posted a 0.51 ERA, 0.96 WHIP with 7 strikeouts and 4 walks in 17.7 innings pitched. He’s also 2-0 during that same 17.7 innings pitched so grab him while he’s hot.
Jesse Chavez Oakland Athletics: Chavez has a Tuesday start at home against Detroit and a Sunday home start against the Yankees. Over the past two weeks (3 starts) Chavez has posted a 4.34 ERA, 1.23 WHIP with 16 strikeouts and 5 walks in 18.7 innings of work. Decent GB/FB ratio of 1.02 and awesome .04 home runs per nine innings plus two home starts makes him a very good pickup this week.
Phil Hughes Minnesota Twins: Hughes has a Wednesday home start this week against the Red Sox. Over the past two weeks (3 starts) Hughes has posted a 3.54 ERA, 1.23 WHIP with 10 strikeouts and just 2 walks over 20.3 innings pitched. Decent GB/FB ratio of 0.92 but he does allow roughly 1.6 home runs per nine innings. 2-0 during that same 20 inning stretch so maybe he picks up another win on Wednesday.
Joe Kelly Boston Red Sox: Kelly has a Monday start at Minnesota and a Saturday start at Texas this week. Over the past two weeks Kelly has posted a 4.26 ERA, 1.42 WHIP with 12 strikeouts and 11 walks in 19 innings pitched. Kelly has a terrific GB/FB rate of 1.6 and a horrible 1.1 bombs per nine innings but he should be okay against the Twins and Rangers this week.
Starting Pitching Streaming Options Monday-Thursday
Besides the starting pitched previously mentioned below are some other options you may want to consider.
Monday: Tim Lincecum of the Giants (61% owned) is on the road Monday against the Brewers. Over the past two weeks (3 starts) he’s posted a 1.53 ERA, 1.19 WHIP with 16 strikeouts and 10 walks in 17.7 innings pitched. The Brewers bat .229 at home and as a team hit .236 against righties. If he’s on your waiver wire put him out there on Monday.
Tuesday: Jeremy Guthrie of the Kansas City Royals (3% owned) is on the road Tuesday against the Yankees. Over his last 3 starts Guthrie has posted a 1.96 ERA, 1.20 WHIP with 7 strikeouts and 3 walks in 18.3 innings pitched. Guthrie also has a decent GB/FB ratio of 1.03 and so so 1.03 bombs per nine innings. The Yankees bat .250 at home but just .245 this season against righties striking out 21 percent of the time.
Wednesday: Sean O’Sullivan of the Phillies (1.5% owned) is on the road Wednesday to face the Mets. Over his past three starts O’Sullivan has posted a 2.65 ERA, 1.12 WHIP with 9 strikeouts and just 4 walks in 17 innings pitched. Excellent GB/FB ratio of 1.53 and a not so excellent 1.6 home runs per nine innings. The Mets have only hit 17 bombs in 747 at bats at home so that shouldn’t be very worrisome.
Thursday: Chris Heston of the Giants (31% owned) is at home Thursday against the Braves. Over his last 2 starts Heston has posted a 4.91 ERA, 1.00 WHIP with 12 strikeouts and 2 walks in 11 innings pitched. Heston has also posted an awesome GB/FB ratio of 2.41 and even better 0.6 home runs per nine innings. The Braves hit .0015 home runs on the road and have a road batting average of .255. They also strike out 17 percent of the time against righties.
Position Players Waiver Wire Suggestions
Each of the position players listed below are available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues at the time of this writing.
Chase Utley 2B Philadelphia Phillies: Writing established players off early is never a good move and over the last two weeks Utley has slashed .302/.380/.465/.845 with 4 RBI and 7 runs scored. Pick him up now or he won’t be around for very long.
Ryan Howard 1B Philadelphia Phillies: Howard is another player owners seemed to have written off but he’s cranked 4 bombs and 8 RBI with a slash line of .327/.365/.633/.988 over the past two weeks. Howard is still a very good source for bombs, RBI and should be owned in every format.
DeLino DeShields 2B OF Texas Rangers: DeShields has slashed an line of .361/.511/.500/1.011 with 5 RBI, 12 runs scored and 2 stolen bases over the last two weeks. He’s also duel eligible with a BABIP of .378.
Chris Carter 1B DH Houston Astros: Over the past two weeks Carter has slashed a line of .178/.296/.400/.696 with 3 bombs, 10 RBI and 5 runs scored. With Carter one of three things usually happens; he strikes out (35.8%), walks (12.6%) or hits a bomb. If you need bombs and can afford to get beat in just about every other category Carter is your guy.
Caleb Joseph C Baltimore Orioles: Over the past two weeks Joseph has slashed a line of .270/.317/.432/.749 that also includes 1 bomb, 9 RBI and 6 runs scored. Nice .154 ISO and good .351 BABIP for the Orioles everyday catcher.
Eric Aybar SS Los Angeles Angels: Over the past two weeks Aybar has been hot slashing a line of .345/.379/.473/.852 including 1 bomb, 5 RBI and 10 runs scored. Great 84% contact rate, awful .056 ISO but he’s batting leadoff now for the Angels and if he continues to get on base he’ll score a bunch of runs.
Cameron Maybin OF Atlanta Braves: Over the past two weeks Maybin has slashed a .289/.373/.378/.751 line with 7 RBI, 8 runs scored and 4 stolen bases. Good .167 ISO and decent .300 BABIP and just 8 strikeouts in 44 at bats.
Andre Ethier Los Angeles Dodgers: Over the past two weeks Ethier has slashed a .333/.421/.485/.906 line including 1 home run, 5 RBI and 4 runs scored. His .220 ISO is a thing of beauty and .329 BABIP is also nice to see. Low 14.9 percent strikeout rate and 12.9 percent walk rate suggest better days are ahead.
Yasmany Tomas OF 3B Arizona Diamondbacks: Over the past two weeks Tomas has slashed out a respectable .333/.362/.467/.829 line that includes 1 bomb, 5 RBI, 3 runs scored and 1 stolen base. Extremely high .405 BABIP and lousy 0.87 ISO makes him a decent pickup this week.
Good luck this week Fantasy Baseball owner!
