Holy crap, it’s September already! Hopefully, your fantasy baseball teams are enjoying great success and you’re ready to bring home some league titles! Strikeouts across the league are at an all-time high, but our pitching staffs could surely use some more down the stretch! Below are a few players that are widely available in many leagues and can make a positive impact for your fantasy team!
Without further ado…..
Nick Anderson , RP TB – THE GUY HAS 95 STRIKEOUTS IN 56.2 INNINGS THIS SEASON. WHAT MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT? He has multiple strikeouts in three straight appearances, but to be more exact, a whopping 10 strikeouts over his last 3.1 innings of work. In other words, he’s retired 10 batters over the past handful of days, eight of which have come via the strikeout. Per Baseball Savant, he ranks in the 100th percentile in strikeout percentage, and he comes in at the 96th and 93rd percentile in xwOBA and xBA respectively. The guy is downright filthy and the chart below, courtesy of Baseball Savant, illustrates that he’s gotten better as the weather has gotten warmer.
Eric Lauer , SP SDP – Lauer might have the quietest 17 strikeouts over the last two weeks in recent memory. His performances haven’t been that great minus the strikeouts, considering he allowed four earned runs to the San Francisco Giants and walked four Dodgers across six innings of work. However, it’s hard to ignore those 17 strikeouts, especially considering that he’s owned in less than eight percent of ESPN fantasy baseball leagues. Not only is he missing bats of late, but his next scheduled start comes against a Colorado Rockies squad that is dreadful away from the hitter-friendly confines Coors Field. On the road this season, Colorado is hitting a measly .233 (third-worst in MLB) and is tied for the second-most strikeouts. Lauer is a sneaky good option for your fantasy team.
Darwinzon Hernandez , RP BOS – Hernandez has been really darn good for the Boston Red Sox. He’s allowed just six earned runs since the start of August, and just one earned run since August 12. Along with helping your fantasy team’s ERA, Hernandez has been racking up the strikeouts! Sure, there were a few strikeout-prone offenses on his ledger of late, but it still takes talent and elite stuff to strike batters out at the game’s highest level. The southpaw has punched out multiple batters in eight of his last 12 appearances, not to mention a whopping 10 batters over his last four innings of work. He’s harnessed the command, and has been one of the game’s best relievers over the last two months. Despite Hernandez’s 52 strikeouts in 27.1 innings of work this year, he’s owned in less than one percent of ESPN fantasy baseball leagues. That’s asinine. Change that, immediately.
Tyler Duffey , RP MIN – 2.64 ERA in 2019. 1.13 WHIP in 2019. 12.27 K/9 in 2019. Eight strikeouts in his last 3.2 innings of work. DUFFEY IS DEALING. DEALING DUFFEY. Whatever you want to call him, he is the guy you want on your fantasy team right now. In 2019, he’s throwing his fastball and slider more, throwing those two pitches over 80 percent of the time, per Baseball Savant. This is a large difference, because last year, he was a three-pitch pitcher (fastball, curveball and sinker), but now he’s mostly fastball and slider. The proof is in the pudding, too, considering that his slider continues to generate swings-and-misses, and his fastball has even been more effective in 2019.
Duffey should be added down the stretch in all fantasy formats, because more likely than not, your team needs the strikeout and ratio boost.
Josh Osich , RP CWS – The 31-year-old southpaw may only have a K/9 of 7.94 on the season, but he’s found a little groove of late in the strikeout department, and they’ve come against some pretty potent offenses. In his last 5.1 innings of work, he’s racked up nine strikeouts, and in that span, he’s faced off against the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins. Sure, he served up two earned runs to the Indians in his last outing, but he’s allowed just three earned runs since August 5th. Overall, Osich does have some downside, especially if you look at his HR/9 mark (2.22) and his ERA (5.24) on the season, but he’s in a groove right now and pitching well. He’s improved since the calendar has turned August, and has been able to miss bats a bit more frequently of late. In deeper formats, he’s certainly worth a look.