Getty Images
Streaming starting pitchers can be one of the most effective strategies in fantasy baseball. Here are three pitchers who are widely available and should be useful on June 30.
Zack Wheeler @ Atlanta Braves
Wheeler has pitched much better this season than his 4.45 ERA reflects; his 3.28 FIP and .332 BABIP indicates to me that he’s been hit with a lot of bad luck. Wheeler is 14th this season with a 24.1 percent strikeout percentage and he’s 15th with a 53.5 percent groundball percentage He racks up strikeouts and induces a lot of weak contact; things are going to start going his way.
On Monday, he gets to face a Braves offense that is one of the worst in baseball against right-handed pitching. Atlanta’s .291 wOBA against righties is the fourth worst in baseball and their 21.9 percent strikeout rate is the seventh highest.
Collin McHugh vs. Seattle Mariners
McHugh has been awesome this year, there’s really no easier way to say it. He currently boasts a 2.86 ERA to go with a 1.05 WHIP and 81 strikeouts in 72.1 innings, and he’s allowed just three runs or fewer in 10 of his 12 starts. He hit a little rough patch in May (3.94 ERA for the month), but he’s bounced back nicely in June; so far this month he has a 2.96 ERA to go with a 1.17 WHIP and 31 strikeouts in 27.1 innings.
On Monday, McHugh gets to take on a Mariners team that’s hitting just .239 — and is 25th with a .301 OBP — against right-handed pitching this season.
Jesse Hahn vs. Cincinnati Reds
Hahn has a 2.38 ERA to go with a 1.06 WHIP and 27 strikeouts in 22.2 innings so far this season, and his 3.06 FIP and 2.65 xFIP suggest that this hasn’t been a fluke. In his last three starts, he’s given up just two runs total and he’s recorded at least seven strikeouts in all three.
Hahn throws a four-seam fastball, a sinker that has been great at inducing groundballs and a curveball that has been absolutely devastating. With his sinker, 67 percent of balls that have been put in play against it have stayed on the ground and it’s the biggest reason why he currently has a superb 52.7 percent groundball rate. And his curveball? Well, so far he’s thrown 111 curveballs and hitters are hitting just .033 off of it to go with a .100 ISO and a 17:2 strikeout-to-walk-ratio.
Billy Moy is a Fantasy Sports writer at www.RantSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter @william_moy6, “like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
