If you’re reading this you’re either a) in the fantasy baseball semifinals or championship matchup, b) a die hard Razzball fan that reads everything posted, 3) you enjoy my writing, or d) you thought this was fantasy football. Since all of the options besides the first only happen in my midnight delusions of writing (which is currently happening), I’ll just lock it in that you’re in the fantasy baseball playoffs. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Now, for you the strides towards striving are already in lock step. But, as I’ve found out too many times, the hottest team towards the end is the one that normally wins the crown, not necessarily the strongest team all year. For 24 weeks I may have steered you right, but one false move this late in the game can be disastrous. Take the 2007 season when I finished 241-100-27 in an 8×8 H2H league. Only to come up against the bananas September of Matt offing Holliday. Or this year in the CBS Experts Points League, where I got the bye as the #1 seed, but am likely to get bounced in the semis thanks to some pitchers deciding to suck now that summer’s over, and a few choice hitters taking days off since the Cubs clinched already (insert Robert Downey Jr. eye roll gif here). Or perhaps you’d like to go the real baseball route. Well, look no further than the every-other-year Giants from the past few years with mediocre hitting but a freight train of a starting rotation that carried them to titles. And here we go again. The Giants, and you, need the SP in San Fran to overly dominate in Week 25. Sitting just outside the division lead and setting the pace for the Wild Card is barely hanging on.
Johnny Come Lately? Nope. Johnny BUM Lately. Cueto and Bumgarner are poised for huge weeks by pulling the Padres in Petco and, for Bumgarner, the always epic matchup against Kershaw is bound to happen in just a few more nights. The joy! You know, like the picture above when Madison Bumgarner did his best Stone Cold Steve Austin?!? Oh wait, that is Stone Cold? Haha, well, you’re welcome. Or how about the joy when I just overtly bragged about fantasy accolades from a decade ago while still being saltier than a bag of pretzels about it? Effing Matt Holliday!!!
Here’s how the rest of the pitchers stack up for Week 25!
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Pitchers are listed in order by rank. Colors represent worst 8 or best 8 opponents according to team wOBA for last 14 days.
THE BEST
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton Kershaw LAD | SF, COL | 1.81/1.70 | 10.81/0.63 |
| Madison Bumgarner SF | @LAD, @SD | 2.60/3.20 | 10.08/2.27 |
| Noah Syndergaard NYM | ATL, PHI | 2.43/2.26 | 10.60/2.07 |
| Jose Fernandez MIA | WAS, ATL | 2.99/2.40 | 12.44/2.84 |
| Johnny Cueto SF | @LAD, @SD | 2.86/3.06 | 7.86/1.82 |
THE REPLICAS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Hill LAD | SF, COL | 2.06/2.35 | 10.56/2.78 |
| Rick Porcello BOS | @BAL, @TB | 3.12/3.45 | 7.45/1.29 |
| Julio Teheran ATL | @NYM, @MIA | 3.18/3.77 | 7.99/1.96 |
| Michael Pineda NYY | @TB, @TOR | 4.94/3.77 | 10.33/2.58 |
| Carlos Martinez STL | @COL, @CHC | 3.15/3.68 | 7.77/3.15 |
| Carlos Rodon CHW | @KC, @CLE | 4.04/4.03 | 8.76/2.88 |
| Kevin Gausman BAL | BOS, ARI | 3.43/3.90 | 9.06/2.42 |
| Taijuan Walker SEA | TOR, @MIN | 4.28/4.91 | 7.88/1.99 |
THE STANDARDS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rubby De La Rosa ARI | @SD, @BAL | 4.26/4.48 | 9.59/3.55 |
| Yordano Ventura KC | CWS, @DET | 4.42/4.70 | 6.74/3.88 |
| Marco Estrada TOR | @SEA, NYY | 3.78/4.29 | 8.37/3.32 |
| A.J. Cole WAS | @MIA, @PIT | 4.71/4.85 | 8.73/2.83 |
THE KNOCKOFFS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Anderson COL | STL, @LAD | 3.65/3.59 | 8.11/2.32 |
| Matt Boyd DET | @MIN, KC | 4.43/4.72 | 7.56/2.82 |
| Joe Musgrove HOU | @OAK, LAA | 4.71/4.57 | 8.52/2.36 |
| Robert Gsellman NYM | ATL, PHI | 3.08/3.29 | 7.18/3.42 |
THE 
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Skaggs LAA | @TEX, @HOU | 4.13/3.85 | 9.38/3.94 |
| Matt Wisler ATL | @NYM, @MIA | 5.00/4.80 | 6.73/2.80 |
| Edinson Volquez KC | @CLE, @DET | 5.40/4.46 | 6.58/3.34 |
| Josh Tomlin CLE | KC, CWS | 4.75/5.11 | 6.52/1.17 |
| Brad Peacock HOU | @OAK, LAA | 2.70/4.88 | 7.56/3.24 |
| Steven Brault PIT | @MIL, WAS | 3.90/4.48 | 7.16/3.90 |
| Yovani Gallardo BAL | BOS, ARI | 5.77/5.42 | 6.54/4.67 |
| Eduardo Rodriguez BOS | @BAL, @TB | 4.98/4.86 | 7.07/3.19 |
| Paul Clemens SD | ARI, SF | 4.94/6.23 | 6.59/4.91 |
| Jake Thompson PHI | CWS, @NYM | 5.64/5.81 | 6.04/4.43 |
| Tim Adleman CIN | @CHC, @MIL | 4.21/5.89 | 5.96/3.16 |
| Tyler Duffey MIN | DET, SEA | 6.39/4.74 | 7.69/2.25 |
| Jake Esch MIA | WAS, ATL | 5.54/7.22 | 6.92/4.15 |
All pitchers are projected for two-starts as of Friday night.
DROP THOSE COMMENTS! Good luck in Week 25 for those of you still going. Just TWO more weeks!
