Two Startapalooza, Week 24: Wade Through The Azure Waters Of LeBlanc

Like a fair portion of you out there in Razzland, I had my fantasy football draft over this past weekend. It’s easy to shift gears and pay more attention to the fooze at this point in the season, but we aren’t done here yet! We have matchups to win, standings points to gain, glory to achieve! I enjoyed a tasty chunk of smoked brisket over this past weekend, and it got me thinking…how many things in life do I enjoy more than this delicious meat? I didn’t come up with much – cats, Aubrey Plaza, the feeling you get when you have a four-alarm tummy grumbling emergency when you’re rolling down the highway and eventually find a rest stop to end your suffering. Those things, and the glory of winning a fantasy baseball league.

The names in Tier 1 require no convincing. Tier 2 has some names you wouldn’t have expected coming into the season though, in German Marquez, Miles Mikolas, and Zack Wheeler. There are also a plethora of strong options in Tier 3, with the likes of J.A. Happ, Mike Minor, and Dereck Rodriguez that are largely dependable. Tier 4 is a bit down this week, but there are still names like a surging Jake Junis that are worthy of a look. Tier 5 is what happens when you have that four-alarm emergency on the highway and don’t find a rest stop in time.

• Zack Greinke (ARI) – Greinke has been an ace for you this year, no doubt. Nearly a strikeout per inning, great walk rate, 3.08 ERA…the sub-90 MPH fastball hasn’t been his demise. That said, he has been really lucky. A .266 BABIP with a 41% hard contact rate is hard to do. He has also stranded 83% of baserunnners, roughly 10% above league average. He has to head to Colorado this week, as well as face a tough Astros offense. I considered dropping him a Tier, but in the end it doesn’t matter much. You’re starting him anyway. There are so few pitching options to trust this season, Greinke is a must-start despite the looming regression.

• German Marquez (COL) – This (hopefully) is the week your German Marquez shares pay off. The Coors Kielbasa has been filthy since the break, tossing 61.1 innings with a 2.79 ERA/0.99 WHIP, 11.45 K/9, and 2.20 BB/9. This has come thanks to improved breaking balls and more use of them, pushing him up into near must-start territory. If he can avert disaster in his first start at home against Arizona, which he should, he has a glorious matchup against the Giants in AT&T in his second start. The Giants offense is embarrassingly bad these days (dead-last .269 team wOBA over the second half) so Marquez should dominate.

• Rich Hill (LAD) – Hill is about as least consistent a pitcher as you could conjure up. You could tell me Hill will toss a shutout in his next start or give up seven earned in the first inning, and I wouldn’t argue either way. So we go on what we’ve got so far, and what we’ve got in the second half is a 2.87 ERA over 53.1 innings. His strikeout and walk rates have been ace-like as well, with a 10.29 K/9 and 2.87 BB/9 since the break. He’s been far less homer prone as well, which bodes well for his matchup in Cinci. The Reds and Cards have each handled lefties well this year, and Hill’s general lack of consistency is enough to drop him to Tier 3. Even so, I’d be hard pressed to find a league I wouldn’t start him in next week. Roll him out while he’s still Rich Hill and not Poor Hill. Or maybe if he has no money, he’s Nil Hill? Hmm. No Bill Hill. If you start him, you reside on Thrill Hill! Let’s move on.

• Wade LeBlanc (SEA) – LeBlanc LeBlanked the Orioles and A’s over each of his last two outings, and next week he gets the Padres and Angels. He has put up a sturdy enough 3.44 ERA over the second half, but of course his upside is capped due to very little strikeout upside. His 7.91 K/9 since the break is up from his first half mark of 6.65 at least, and the Padres are very free swingers. You probably have better options in standard mixers, but you could do worse in deeper leagues.

• Lucas Giolito (CHW) – The name Giolito always reminds me of Jared Leto, and that’s an interesting way to sum up how things could go for you if you start him. You could get Mars Leto, with a strong performance and great success to hearken back on. Or you could get Joker Leto, making you cringe when you look at the box score. The matchups are there; the Royals and Orioles are as cupcakey a two-step as you can order up. However, to me Giolito is matchup-proof in a bad way. No matter who he is playing he will either show up…or he will not. The only way I roll with Giolito is if I have massive leads in ERA/WHIP and am just chasing dubs or K’s. Honestly, the same goes for the rest of Tier 5.

*All starters are projected for two starts as of Friday evening.

You can find Dokken on Twitter @NathanDokken