The list of two-start starters for Week 16 is pretty ugly. Not only did it take some time to materialize as teams figured out their rotations following the All-Star break, but once the dust settled and we had a good idea of who would be starting when many of the names we were left with were not all that appealing. Sure, the high-end options like Kershaw (for now), Strasburg, and Greinke were there, but the meat and bones of the list were lacking.
Just ignore Clayton Kershaw. At this point in the season, I am convinced that Dave Roberts reads this post every week and then trolls us all by changing his rotation on Sunday night. He is at the top of the list as of this writing, but that could easily change in the next few seconds. The Dodgers have a dozen or so possible starting pitchers, and Roberts shuffles or adjusts his rotation pretty frequently.
One name to take a look at this week is the soft-tossing Brent Suter. While he does not exactly light up the radar gun, he has been very effective in his recent stint as a starter for the Brewers. In his last two starts, he shut out the Orioles over six innings while striking out eight and then allowed just two earned runs over 6 ? innings against the Yankees while striking out five before the break.
Throughout his career in the minors, Suter has been consistently solid-yet-unremarkable. In other words, he has never really been great but hasn’t been bad, either. He has a 3.44 ERA across six seasons in the minor leagues while throwing to a 3.12 ERA during his time in the show. His 2.96/2.78/8.23/2.63 (see chart below) is also solid.
Streamonator does not like him as much as I do. The ‘nator has Suter up around its 20th best option or so (with a negative value), while I have him at the top of the Standards category below, which puts him around 15th or so. He is, however, only owned in 1% of all RCLs, so he should be available to everyone reading this except the one person who is in the league with that one guy or gal who already picked him up.
If you are in need of an arm in the short term, especially in a two-start week, you can do worse. You can do better, too, but I like Suter as a guy who can offer some solid short term numbers. Other guys Streamonator likes for the upcoming week who are owned in less than 50% of RCLs: Matt Moore, Zack Wheeler, and Rafael Montero.
- Eduardo Rodriguez – E-Rod returns this week for the Red Sox and is scheduled to start twice in Week 16. It can be tough to rely on starting pitchers who are returning from injury in weekly leagues because there is always the chance he either gets scratched or just lasts an inning or two before heading right back to the DL. E-Rod should be OK, though. He made three rehab starts in the minors, and his last one was a gem in AAA. He was also pitching pretty, prettyyyyy, prettyyyyy well before he got hurt again.
Pitchers are listed in order by rank. Colors represent 8 toughest or 8 easiest opponents according to team wOBA for last 14 days.
THE BEST
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton Kershaw LAD | @CHW, ATL | 2.18/3.01 | 10.81/1.50 |
| Stephen Strasburg WSH | @CIN, @ARI | 3.43/3.13 | 10.22/2.64 |
| Zack Greinke ARI | @CIN, WSH | 2.86/3.16 | 10.13/1.78 |
| Lance McCullers Jr. HOU | SEA, @BAL | 3.05/2.73 | 10.45/2.66 |
| Gio Gonzalez WSH | @LAA, @ARI | 2.66/4.07 | 8.58/3.77 |
THE REPLICAS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Verlander DET | @KC, @MIN | 4.66/4.34 | 8.43/4.42 |
| Jon Lester CHC | @ATL, STL | 4.25/3.97 | 9.17/3.08 |
| Jason Vargas KC | DET, DET | 2.62/3.79 | 6.60/2.12 |
| Matt Moore SF | CLE, SD | 6.04/4.81 | 7.51/3.75 |
| Zack Wheeler NYM | STL, OAK | 4.86/4.74 | 8.29/3.79 |
| Michael Wacha STL | @NYM, @CHC | 4.10/3.51 | 9.04/3.26 |
| Eduardo Rodriguez BOS | TOR, @LAA | 3.54/4.07 | 9.59/3.10 |
| Adam Wainwright STL | @NYM, @CHC | 5.20/3.80 | 8.26/3.06 |
| Ivan Nova PIT | MIL, @COL | 3.21/4.13 | 5.00/1.12 |
| Marcus Stroman TOR | @BOS, @CLE | 3.28/3.88 | 7.45/2.32 |
THE STANDARDS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brent Suter MIL | @PIT, @PHI | 2.96/2.78 | 8.23/2.63 |
| Rafael Montero NYM | STL, OAK | 5.77/3.53 | 9.92/5.54 |
| Jake Odorizzi TB | @OAK, TEX | 4.63/5.68 | 7.75/3.23 |
| Jason Hammel KC | DET, CHW | 5.02/4.54 | 7.27/3.05 |
| Ty Blach SF | CLE, SD | 4.60/4.06 | 4.21/2.05 |
| Josh Tomlin CLE | @SF, TOR | 5.90/4.47 | 6.77/1.06 |
| Sean Newcomb ATL | CHC, @LAD | 4.26/3.49 | 8.53/3.98 |
| CC Sabathia NYY | @MIN, @SEA | 3.81/4.19 | 7.27/3.12 |
| Jordan Zimmermann DET | @KC, @KC | 5.87/5.82 | 6.35/2.84 |
| J.A. Happ TOR | @BOS, @CLE | 3.54/4.43 | 8.85/2.07 |
THE KNOCKOFFS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dinelson Lamet SD | @COL, @SF | 5.93/4.88 | 12.07/3.29 |
| Chris Smith OAK | TB, @NYM | 4.50/4.48 | 6.00/1.50 |
| Julio Teheran ATL | CHC, @LAD | 4.79/5.49 | 6.53/3.48 |
| Chad Kuhl PIT | MIL, @COL | 4.96/4.24 | 7.28/3.69 |
| Adam Morgan PHI | @MIA, MIL | 6.23/6.10 | 9.97/2.91 |
| German Marquez COL | SD, PIT | 4.36/3.97 | 7.90/3.07 |
| Dylan Bundy BAL | TEX, HOU | 4.33/4.87 | 7.00/2.92 |
THE 
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Koehler MIA | PHI, @CIN | 8.00/6.70 | 8.00/4.80 |
| Scott Feldman CIN | WSH, MIA | 3.94/4.26 | 7.54/2.89 |
| Sal Romano CIN | ARI, MIA | 4.50/6.65 | 9.00/5.63 |
| Adalberto Mejia MIN | NYY, DET | 4.43/5.30 | 7.48/4.43 |
| Tyson Ross TEX | @BAL, @TB | 5.33/5.16 | 6.39/4.62 |
| Ariel Miranda SEA | @HOU, NYY | 4.15/5.23 | 6.92/3.20 |
| Sam Gaviglio SEA | @HOU, NYY | 4.31/5.90 | 5.91/3.04 |
| Andrew Cashner TEX | @BAL, @TB | 3.54/4.52 | 4.43/3.98 |
| Chris Tillman BAL | TEX, HOU | 7.90/6.25 | 6.61/4.78 |
| Luis Perdomo SD | @COL, @SF | 4.54/4.19 | 7.45/3.24 |
| Miguel Gonzalez CHW | LAD, @KC | 5.15/5.18 | 5.15/2.97 |
All pitchers are projected for two starts as of Friday night.
If you would prefer to see the above tables as a color-coded graphic, we’ve got that too!
(Click to enlarge.)
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